Hi all,
Please excuse me for writing again so quickly (looks like 9 days ago,
less than my 2-3 week average). We just got our 1st email from Nick
confirming that he made it to China ok and is doing well, so wanted to
pass it along.
Helen and I made a quick trip to New Hampshire last weekend, to bring in
the new year with her parents and kidlets. We had great visits and I
learned what it is like to be in a small Russian food store on New Years
eve day … very crowded (New Years is a big celebration for Russians),
but in a fun could-be-done-once-a-year way.
Brought back a few pictures. The first is Helen and her Mom having fun
with the the jacket and scarfs they knitted for each other. The 2nd is
is Helen’s Dad, with a little wire deer that he made from the wire of
our New Year’s champagne bottle.
The 3rd photo is a photo of a charming photo I found that shows Helen
looking on a bit apprehensively as her grandmother holds a young Noah,
Helen’s now 21 year old son, who, as you can see by the 4th photo,
survived the grandmother hand off just fine. The last photo is
daughter Aya and her boyfriend Julian, who both had fun in Minnesota, as
evidenced by their new clothing.
Bruce
———
Hey all,
I don’t have much time to Internet because Beijing is so cool. I made
it no problem, spent too much money on a cell phone because the SIM
card almost worked in my normal phone, and met up with Clark. Lucky
monkey’s on a two-month break from school! So we’re touristing it up
right now, hit Tiananmen and the Forbidden City today, Great Wall
tomorrow, you know. I’m trying to resist taking pictures of the
architecture. Soon I will fly on to Chongqing, and start getting real.
Thought I’d let you all know that I’m far from dead and I haven’t
gotten sick yet from all the tasty food. I’m staying in Clark’s CET
dorm for now, which is very convenient. Internet bar is not a far walk,
but I don’t know if I’ll be back before leaving Beijing. I don’t think
I have much time on this phone, but if an international person really
needs to get a hold of me, the number in China is 13718707414. I don’t
remember what the country code prefix stuff is.
Clark’s guiding me well and everything is easy, so no one worry about
anything (Emily). All the Chinese I’ve talked to so far are very
friendly, and I don’t have too much trouble getting through, although I
rely on Clark overmuch. It’s a blast.
I’d better go. Walk slow,
–Nick