Shanghaied into Chinese
Learning mandarin Chinese (a.k.a. "pu tong hua") is a real challenge compared to most European languages. In some ways it is easy, as words do not change with gender, number or even tense, and there are few grammatical traps. However you got to pronounce the five tones correctly (flat, down-up, up-down-up, up-down, neutral) and peculiar sounds such as "c", "x", "ch", "sh", "zh" ... (as transcribed in pinyin) or you might say very rude or totally absurd things without being aware.
Wooden scale models
Finished Project
Endeavour (Amati)
The Schooner Endeavour staked a claim on the America's Cup, winning the first two races.
http://www.amatimodel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&…
Baillien Modelbouw (Antwerpen): 107,00 euro
Lessons learned
Don't paint bow line with free hand, tape instead
Use finer brushing paper (scratches on bow)
Type of farnish for better wood expression (instead of emanel transparent)
Not too much glue, fit part better together (such as deck on hull or cabin on deck)
Glue mainsail prior to fixing mast
Bibliographical Re-Search
English novels
Current IT/Strategy books
Philosophy
BE/NL novels
Chinese translations (Warring States)
Greek literature
French novels
German novels/poetry (Rilke, Goethe …)
Winter/skiing in Japan
Zao mountain ski resort in Yamagata prefecture
Outdoor bath in steaming hot sprint water known as onsen
Meigetsuso inn http://meigetsuso.co.jp
Tadaya inn on windswept Noto Peninsula http://tadaya.net
Part of Wakura Onsen