The following diary was kindly noted by Mr. Bill Maule

March 7:

    Mr. He's long flight from Tokyo ended at 7:45 a.m., about 20 minutes early. Local sponsor, Bill Maule, awaited outside the International Arrivals door. A very nice young lady, who had befriended Mr. He at Tokyo's Narita airport, emerged to say she feared that Mr. He was having difficulty with Customs as he had been becalmed there for some 20 minutes. Mr. He then emerged smiling and was greeted with a hug. He had no complaints about Customs. When I picked up his heavy suitcase, I wasn't surprised that Customs may have had questions. Mr. He brought with him stacks upon stacks of his two books to give away on his travels.

March 8:

Mr. He wished to spend most of his time in preparations for his College appearances, as he is apprehensive about speaking in public in this strange new country. We finally persuaded him to take a little time for sightseeing. He enjoyed a tour of the nearby Naval Undersea Museum, featuring the history of underwater exploration and undersea warfare. He joined the Maules in several shopping expeditions, including a visit to the huge warehouse store Costco and later to a modern super market. An interesting footnote was an encounter with a gentleman who was carving corned beef for sampling.

Mr. He was surprised, of course, that Bill walked off without paying for this treat. Of greater surprise had been the gentleman's response when Bill introduced Mr. He - a quick "Nee How". (We learned that the carver had had an introduction to Chinese in elementary school decades before and remembered two or three phrases). In the evening, Mr. He, Bill and Sue had dinner and conversation at the home of the Maules' son, Brian and his wife Leslie. Mr. He clearly enjoyed meeting 8-year-old Simone and nearly 2-year-old Annika, as well as a veritable menagerie of pets.

Bill drove Mr. He around the convoluted Puget Sound waters, through Tacoma, over the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, then north again to the Maule house in Bremerton. Sue returned from her trip to Alaska in the afternoon to join the celebration of Mr. He's safe arrival.In the evening, Mr. He witnessed American democracy at its grassroots level. He accompanied the Maules to the neighborhood Democratic Party caucus, the first step in the selection of Washington's convention delegates. Most Americans have difficulty comprehending the complexities of delegate selection, so we must presume that this exercise was a bit confusing for Mr. He!

March 9:

Mr. He, Sue and Brian visited Simone's elementary school. In the morning Mr. He talked to a group of 4th and 5th graders, then ate in the school lunchroom, and finally met with a large group of second graders. Typical of Mr. He, when it came time to tell a story he insisted on moving his chair right in the middle of the children. Thanks to his animated style and infectious enthusiasm, he charmed everyone.
Bill drove Mr. He around the convoluted Puget Sound waters, through Tacoma, over the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, then north again to the Maule house in Bremerton. Sue returned from her trip to Alaska in the afternoon to join the celebration of Mr. He's safe arrival.In the evening, Mr. He witnessed American democracy at its grassroots level. He accompanied the Maules to the neighborhood Democratic Party caucus, the first step in the selection of Washington's convention delegates. Most Americans have difficulty comprehending the complexities of delegate selection, so we must presume that this exercise was a bit confusing for Mr. He!

March 10:

Today was the day for a quick look at Seattle. Sue, Bill and Mr. He walked aboard the ferry for the hour-long cruise to downtown. Mr. He enjoyed a climb up Seattle's hilly streets and a walk through a building or two.
The highlight was the quick ascent to the 73rd story of the Bank of America Building for a sweeping view of the area and a dizzying glance or two at the toy-like cars and ferries in the foreground. After a quick lunch in the building's food court, the threesome returned to Bremerton aboard the faster passenger-only catamaran ferry. Soon it was time to return to the ferry dock to meet Dean Birkenkamp, Mr. He's former publisher, who had flown in from Boulder. Now the house party had grown to four. All enjoyed a supper of Pacific Northwest salmon and shrimp and a great round of conversation.

March 11:

Mr. He, with Dean, Sue and Bill, were soon in the car, bag and baggage, bound for another visit to Seattle. After a drive along the waterfront and alongside Seattle's trademark Space Needle, there was a visit to the locks that join salt-water Puget Sound to the fresh water of higher lakes. Mr. He enjoyed the workings of the locks and the parade of private boats, but could not learn much from the now empty fish ladder. After a drive through the grounds of the University of Washington, the foursome drove over the floating bridge and took a quick look at the Microsoft "campus".Then it was southward through up-market mega-houses and on to the airport neighborhood where Mr. He and Dean checked into a motel. There they were joined by another of Mr. He's many friends, Jon Kapplan, who had flown to Seattle from Berkeley, with his friend Shari, just to enjoy a few hours with Mr. He. All six enjoyed a Thai meal and much talk of memorable trips to Dali. Bill and Sue could then leave Mr. He in good conscience, as Dean would be there to escort Mr. He to his 6:20 a.m. departure for Maine.

　

Impressions of the Seattle area:

It was fascinating, and enlightening, to share Mr. He's first impressions of the United States. There is so much that one can learn by viewing the prosaically normal through the eyes of a newcomer. That first drive from the airport was mostly on superhighways. Mr. He was puzzled that he had seen thousands upon thousands of cars, but in the entire 90 minutes, only three people on foot. At each store, mall or school, Mr. He was amazed, or aghast, by the acres of automobiles. What a car-dependent society we are! The huge grocery stores were also a great source of interest.

 Even food bargains in Costco seemed very expensive in comparison to markets in Dali.  While hefting a ten-pound bag of potatoes, Mr. He calculated that for the same money he could buy ten times as much in Yunnan. He enjoyed the minutia that seem so ordinary to us. At the school where the caucus was held he was interested in every detail  from the large dining hall, to drinking fountains and individual lockers for every student.
There is so much that we take for granted. We who have visited China know how technologically advanced that country has become in some ways, a modern China where there are cell telephones everywhere and it is common to see a child playing his own collection of video CDs. 
In contrast, Bill had a mighty struggle to figure out how to play Mr. He's video disk of Dali. Bill had never before even touched a video disk, but eventually convinced his computer to treat us to a showing. (All of you should try to see that disk Dali and environs are so beautiful). In contrast, Mr. He was completely mystified by something we take for granted, an ordinary vacuum cleaner. Mr. He had never seen such a device and enjoyed a demonstration.
Every day brought new sources of interest and puzzlement. He was fascinated by the number of obese folk who walk our streets, by the number of telephones on the street or in hotels and puzzled by high prices of everyday items and especially of luxury houses. He was intrigued by the availability of hot water 24 hours a day and by beds "large enough for a family".  And finally, he expressed great surprise at the cleanliness of public rest rooms.  Those of us who have traveled to China can well understand his surprise!

I am certain that Mr. He was intrigued by his first few days in this country. I am even more certain that Sue and Bill were enlightened by seeing our everyday environment from a fresh perspective. It will be interesting to learn of Mr. He's reactions as he travels to other corners of this land.     Back To Top

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