Date: Thursday, February 26, 1998
Subject: Hello from China

Ni men hao!

Hello from China. Please forgive this mass note, but now that I see how easy it is for me to write and receive email here, I want to give you all my email address. (Nicole, feel free to pass this on to everyone at KP.) I'll give you my phone number, too, but you'll want to read all the various disclaimers before any of you dare to phone me here.

I've been here just under 24 hours now and things are going well. The flight was not too Chinese, that is, things went smoothly, without too much administrative nonsense or delays. Unfortunately, what passes for entertainment on a 13-hour Chinese airline is 5 let's call them straight-to-video US movies. Never heard of any of them, but one starred Lou Gosset, Jr. At any rate, they were all remarkably sexy and violent for an in-flight movie. And for those of you who asked me whether they stir-fried our in-flight meals, no, there was no wok aboard. Western food all around.

The school is small for a university, but it is indeed a university. This morning, I took a walk and came across people practicing their French, Korean, and English. The dorm is not too bad; I do have a phone, for those of you who want to call, but keep the following things in mind: First, think about what time it is. We are 15 hours or so ahead of California, so no matter what time it is in the US, it's the middle of the night here. Or something like that.

Ok, so after you dial whatever you need to dial to get to China, you dial 62317531 then tell the operator you want extension 2878. Now, I haven't tried this, and if you're lucky, you can just punch in my extension. If you're not, you will need to ask for--now pay attention here--"ar ba chi ba."

Ok, let's say you accomplish that. My roommate or I will answer, "wei?" If it's me, you can say hi. If it's my roommate, you can say hi as well, but the woman is Korean and while her Chinese is two years ahead of mine, her English seems limited to "actress," "Celine Dion" and "Gone with the Wind." (She understands I'm a writer and she understand that I'm old--she's 25 and nearly fainted when she realized that I was nearly as old as her mother--and I'm pretty sure she understand that I didn't actually write Gone With the Wind, but our chats are rather frustrating for both of us.) Did I mention that she's dyed her hair a lovely maroon? So, if she answers, say Hi and if the next voice you hear isn't mine, well, I don't know what to tell you.

Actually, she's very sweet and great for a roommate, despite her concern about my frail age. She insists on maintaining a conversation. I do my best and she's incredibly paTiant and I wish I could tell her how much I appreciate her paTiance, but she's a third-year student and I'm a beginner. Sigh.

Mark, perhaps you could ask Brad how to say "you are very paTiant with me."

So write if you like. This is fun but I miss my friends and family and kitties. Today was orientation and school starts tomorrow; I'll get back to check my email in a day or so.

I hope you're all well. Don't feel obliged to write back.

Except you, Mark. You have to write back.

Love to you all.

Jin De Fang (Debra)