No, I won’t be teaching next semester.  I’ll be under treatment until October and most likely I’ll be hospitalized for at least some of the time.  And once it’s over, I’ll need a few weeks to recuperate.  What about my work?  What about my salary?

My boss, Thomas Lee, has come up with a brilliant solution: he’s switching my semesters around.  I was supposed to do research in the spring of 2009, but now I’m getting this time off from teaching already this fall.  It’s great to know I don’t have to stress myself to get back to the classroom and that money won’t be a problem.  Funnily enough, I might even get some research done.

I’m very impressed with this way of solving the problem.  In Britain, my boss would have washed his hands of the issue and called in Human Resources.  In Sweden, the boss would have talked to the trade union representatives and the relevant government agencies.  In the US, I would most likely have been fired and my house repossessed to pay for the medical bills.  In Taiwan, however, they rely on friendly, informal, solutions.  It’s a very efficient, compassionate, system.

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