Disease Control

Our parish nurse, Marie Cope has been on a campaign to get ministers to use hand sanitizer before handling communion elements. I think she's the one responsible for there being a bottle of the stuff on the communion table at Cherokee Church, and I guess it's a good idea.

Marie thinks the Chinese government's attempts to control the spread of swine flu make a lot more sense than the laissez-faire attitude in the US.

Above: Marie with her Gordon Center, who recently became a certified therapy dog.

Reentry

Heraclitus said we can never step into the same river twice, for new waters are always flowing toward us. Travel changes us and meanwhile during our absence our home is changing.

We returned a week ago. Our house and lawn have been well looked after friends; though many branches had fallen during a recent storm. Our cats were healthy and happy to see us. At Warf-Pickel Hall, home of the College of Education, people were boxing things up and moving out of their offices in preparation for asbestos abatement. A phone message from an old friend informed me that Horatio Wood, an elder member of Community Friends Meeting in Cincinnati had passed away. Years ago, I stayed with his family.

This was our fifth trip to China, and we leave behind many friends. The sightseeing is always fun, but far beyond that is the joy of international teaching and friendship. Part of our life is on the other side of the world. We plan to return to China next year; two universities have already invited us.

The other day, I greeted some colleague by saying "Ni hao!" in the Warf-Pickel elevator, an indication that I I'm not psychically home yet. I continue to study Chinese using the Rosetta Stone program-- it's a kind of link with what I've been doing. Next week, I'll get to resumbit my article on Chinese reading pedagogy-- one journal recently rejected it.