March 18:
He Li-yi's plane was exactly on time Saturday night the 18th of March, 2000. We recognized each other immediately, then picked up his luggage and drove the 1 1/2-hour trip from the Pittsburgh airport to Greenville.
| Mr. He was glad there was no snow on the ground. He got settled in his room and had porridge (oatmeal) for his evening snack. We worried over the schedule for a while that evening. He forgave our black cat (I think) for chewing on the sandwich he had saved from the plane and left on the dresser. |  |
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March 19: It was time to head to Pittsburgh for the opera. Mr. He was interested in everything. He thought the winter fields were "wasteland", so we explained that crops can only grow here in the warm season, and that soon there would be hay and corn in the fields. We saw barns and cattle. We stopped at Arby's for a hurry-up lunch, and Mr. He was fascinated with this fast-food restaurant where he had chicken fingers and tomatoes. He soon made a friend of the nice-looking young man behind the counter. We have a picture, I hope. |
| We parked in a parking garage and walked to Benedum Center in downtown Pittsburgh, exactly on time for the performance. I think the hurry-up all the time was a little disconcerting for Mr. He. I also hate to hurry; it takes away from the quality of life. Mr. He's didn't say much about "Werther", but asked how many the auditorium held (2800), asked how much a ticket cost (wouldn't tell) and noted that the audience was mostly middle-aged. Afterwards we walked around Point Park where the Allegheny and Monongehela Rivers converge to form the Ohio River. |
| At home we had porridge again for supper out of respect for Mr. He's new teeth, and worried about the dentist who had not called or e-mailed about an appointment Monday, and about the next day's slide show and readings. Mr. He learned how to use the camera to replace the one which didn't seem to be working right. Then I told Mr. He, "You are tougher than I am, I have to go to bed", and I did! When I got up briefly early in the morning, there was a light under He's door. He doesn't sleep much! |  |
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March 20: |
| We headed for Thiel where Mr. He visited for bit with G.Khalsa, chemistry professor, and presented copies of his books to the various recipients. We have photos of the presentations to Dr. Robert Olson, Dean, and to librarians Lida Mason and Dorothy Brenoel. We stopped to admire the cemetery next door to Thiel, and took a couple of photos. |  |
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| We were home by a little after three, and started getting ready for the dinner for the Global Heritage teaching team in honor of Mr. He. Mr. Qin, our visiting Chinese scholar, came a bit early to visit with He. Soon, as predicted by Mr. He, there was a gathering of about one car per person outside, and a gathering of a total of fourteen for the dinner. These were Dr. Chris Moinet, Dr. Henry Barton, Dr. Joyce Cuff, Dr. Greg Peterson, Prof. Qin Weigang, Dr. & Mrs. Patrick Hecking, Dr. & Mrs. Allan Hunchuk, Dr. Evelyn Ramming, Dr. Fatimata Pale, Em and me, and our guest of honor, Mr. He. We ate Chinese food from the local restaurant, some stir-fry vegetables from Dr. Emerson Heald, and pie. |
| We had to hurry-up again to get to Thiel for the slide show, questions, and readings, in Bly Hall. About 90 students, faculty, staff and townsfolk comprised the audience, an excellent attendance for a Monday evening affair. Mr. He entranced everyone. There is a video of all of the slide show and of the first reading "Never Heard of That Before" from "Butterflies". We had cookies and punch between the show and the readings. |  |
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March 21:
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