vailian

Well, we landed safely here in Beijing, the weather might be a bit better, now off with the Ossie in tow to check out the Forbidden City.

The model is one of the finest young soloists around but complained that she was not photogenic, and worried about her figure (she has a young son). I don't think she needs to complain.

Ask any ex-pat what he misses about the home country: 80% will be edible.

These are some of the things I brought back with me (spent a blissful hour and a half in Target).
Not pictured: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (already, I regret to say, gone the way of all consumables), Triscuits (I left the packaging behind), Grapenuts (ditto), chili powder, 2 cans of Clam Chowder; a nice Merino sweater, 2 pairs of trousers, underwear, and a Veronica Mars video.

I realize that everyone's list will be different, so I would be interested in yours!

These two love performing, and are looking for paid venues.

One of the first events was a swimming pool birthday party for my nephew William. John and L and their cousin Sophie were happy to join in the pool fun.



This is Eric, who is an engineer in Minneapolis. We call him The Guru because he is very very wise.



Vince and his wife Anne were our gracious hosts. They put up with an awful lot while we were there.



And here is Sarah, who flew in specially from Hawaii. Hard to believe she will turn 50 in a few weeks.



Cecily, Sarah's Big Sister, lives in Seattle, and was a calming influence on us all.



This is Ned, who lives in Washington, DC and is a senior producer at NPR. He is my baby brother. So if he is Senior, what does that make me, ferchrissake?



..and here is the birthday girl with her cake. She is a remarkable woman-- brought up 6 kids under really difficult conditions, taught generations of kids in California and North Dakota, and continues even now to teach university students who are training to be teachers. She plays a mean piano (she did a solo for us on Wednesday night) and is an inspiration to us all... (example: because she doesn't speak german, she communicated with my daughter-- who has been living in Barcelona the last few years-- in Spanish that she had learned in high school over 60 years ago)

We assembled over a period of 3 days in St. Paul, me and my son L from Germany, the others from North Dakota, Seattle, Arlington, and Hawaii. Fortunately my brother Vince has a big house!
L had never met his younger sister CC until this reunion. Really. But they turned out to be made for each other.
My other son, John, who has been living in Minnesota for the last year and a half, was showing off his brother to his American friends "like a shiny new toy" as he said. When we took L to the airport (he had a concert to do in Italy), it was emotionally difficult. John said, as we drove away from the airport, "Well, I managed THAT without crying", and then (about 60 seconds later) "..almost..." and we both broke into tears.

Everything going more or less to schedule, the cousins meeting for the first time get on fine, despite a serious language barrier!
C and Lionel are turning out to be a fantastic musical team.
Lots of activities and no time for blogging, but will post this picture of C and her cousin S at the Mall of America.