Thought I would spruce the place up with a simple yet special design for the Christmas season.

Oracle Bones
By: Peter Hessler

I read Peter Hessler’s first book, River Town, and enjoyed it so much that I immediately brought his second book, Oracle Bones. While I enjoyed the many separate stories interspersed throughout the book, it also caused a disjointed feeling at times and made the book somewhat difficult to read and follow.

The main topic of the book and its loosely connecting feature is the study of oracle bones. These pieces of bone and shell contain some of China’s earliest written language. Peter Hessler also examines the lives and work of several individuals who studied the oracle bones. He goes back and forth between archeology; the Cultural Revolution and how it affected the oracle bone scholars; the life of Polat, a Uighur middleman in Yabaolu, who eventually travels to the United States and seeks political asylum and the lives of four of his former students. In reading I received wide insight into the lives of individuals during the Cultural Revolution as well as the lives of modern young adults in the People’s Republic of China.

Peter Hessler was witness to China during several key international incidents that involved the United States and/or China. The first being the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium by the United States and the second being the United States spy plain that was forced to land on Hainan Island. He was also witness to the reaction of people in China to the terrorist attacks of September 11th. I got a real sense of how modern adults in the People’s Republic of China view the United States through the way they reacted to these three incidents and the questions and comments they had for the author knowing he was from the United States.

I feel these reactions are a key to a better understanding of current relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a better understanding of the People’s Republic of China and how its people view the United States.

Today was our town’s annual Christmas parade.

Floats and bands lined up along mom’s street in preparation for the start of the parade. Eliana, Karys and a friend enjoyed sitting on the front steps and watching all the activity.

Once it was over, mom used a hair dryer to warm Eliana’s hands ‘cause baby it was c-o-l-d outside!

The teachers at Karys’ preschool laid out quite the spread today for their annual Thanksgiving meal. Parents were invited to come and eat with their children so I was able to visit with Karys for the very first time.

Before eating, each class gave a small presentation of songs they had learned. Here is our little squaw following her performance.

We told Eliana some time ago that she and Karys would not travel with us to China when we go to pick up their brother. Finances is the big reason (of course) but there are others. Needless to say, Eliana wants desperately to go.

Tonight we went out to eat after church with our Youth and Children’s Pastor’s family. Their middle child, a daughter who is 3 years older than Eliana, rode with us.

When we arrived at the restaurant, I heard their daughter tell Eliana that she was saving up her money for a Nintendo DS. Eliana replied that she is saving up her money so she can go to China.

The child is determined to find a way.

I left work at 4:00 today and took Karys to her pediatrician. Karys wasn’t scratching or complaining of any pain but the bumpy areas on her body were redder than yesterday and she wouldn’t be allowed back into preschool without a doctor’s note. So off we went.

As soon as the doctor walked in, she confirmed what Carmi and I suspected all along. She said Karys had classic symptoms of a reaction to the antibiotic. Give her a few days, the docs said, and she should clear right up.