Happy new year Everyone!
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Dear Family and friends,
Happy New Year!! We want to begin by wishing you a Joyous holiday and the best of luck for 2011. The Daddy is sorry that this letter is late, but it was delayed by the passing right before Christmas of the Daddy's Uncle. Instead of writing this letter, then, the Daddy penned a brief eulogy on Xmas day itself. The Daddy should add that the Mummy’s grandfather died in March and in thinking about a holiday letter, the Daddy felt that it was only appropriate to note that these events—neither completely unforeseen—punctuated our year. The passing of family members and friends is a normal part of life and in our case will certainly frame our view of 2010.
Our Little One’s growth and maturation in the last 12 months has been impressive. He really enjoys his mornings in his School, achieving the promotion from the Koala to the Wombat. Having made the transition to Wombat, Our Little One spends a good part of his time at the school in active play: he loves to run, dance and climb. No less important, he engages any toy which has wheels. At home, it is safe to say that Our Little One has introduced his parents to the world of T the Tank Engine. While his first encounter with a battery-powered T toy was sheer terror (in fact, with his feet stomping up and down, it might have been a hit on YouTube), he soon fell in love with the program and its world. Not surprisingly, watching the videos and collecting tank engines has become a priority (especially when the weather is hot) in our house. Our Little One is starting to speak and we anticipate that he will begin music classes in January.
The Mummy has had a very interesting year. She has recently completed her course work for her MA program at Leicester University. In the meantime, she worked for a particular publishing firm during the first quarter of the year. While we were in Australia on vacation, she was recruited to work for General Electric, where she now does public relations. The Mummy was able to start her job in mid-September; despite two 75 minute commutes each day she really loves this job. More important, she loves being a Mother and treasures the time that she gets to spend with Our Little One.
2010 has been a very fast-paced year for The Daddy as well. In September The Daddy began my 4th year as HOD of the Department, which was up for Re-Accreditation. This process which is now nearing completion has demanded a great deal of work, but it has gone well and taught me much. In addition, The Daddy have managed to get several articles accepted for publication—one of which will be translated into Danish and the other into Korean. In March The Daddy participated in a Research Cluster devoted to studying how Southeast Asia has been understood. As such, The Daddy was recruited to join an international team to come to Seoul and present our findings. It was a great trip, in which The Daddy learned a lot and it will not be my last to Seoul. The Daddy also delivered two more papers in Singapore (which The Daddy hopes find publication) and great thing about those events for The Daddy was watching a healthy number of my former students present papers and organize events.
Happily enough, this followed a nice long summer holiday for all of us in which we spent nearly three weeks in Singapore. We then went to Australia (which might just become a ritual event for us) where we rented an apartment in Brisbane and just relaxed! Afterwards, we went to Sydney and Melbourne, enjoying those cities as we visited family. We returned to Singapore and then the UAE and rested for a couple of weeks before we went to the U.S. We spent time in Bethany before embarking on a trip to see family. We went to HS College in rural Virginia (where The Daddy's brother was recently made chaplain) to then to WV, where we saw a good number of relatives, including the now deceased Uncle. From WV to Chautauqua, New York, where we visited Dad and Anne; we were able to enjoy both Lake Chautauqua and Lake Erie—and both of these experiences were treats for Our Little One. We then hustled across upstate New York to return to Bethany. Finally, we returned to the Desert in mid-September wishing that the long summer, could have been even longer.
In closing, we want to wish all of you who read this letter a Happy New year and success in 2011. We also hope that our paths cross so that we can see you.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!! We want to begin by wishing you a Joyous holiday and the best of luck for 2011. The Daddy is sorry that this letter is late, but it was delayed by the passing right before Christmas of the Daddy's Uncle. Instead of writing this letter, then, the Daddy penned a brief eulogy on Xmas day itself. The Daddy should add that the Mummy’s grandfather died in March and in thinking about a holiday letter, the Daddy felt that it was only appropriate to note that these events—neither completely unforeseen—punctuated our year. The passing of family members and friends is a normal part of life and in our case will certainly frame our view of 2010.
Our Little One’s growth and maturation in the last 12 months has been impressive. He really enjoys his mornings in his School, achieving the promotion from the Koala to the Wombat. Having made the transition to Wombat, Our Little One spends a good part of his time at the school in active play: he loves to run, dance and climb. No less important, he engages any toy which has wheels. At home, it is safe to say that Our Little One has introduced his parents to the world of T the Tank Engine. While his first encounter with a battery-powered T toy was sheer terror (in fact, with his feet stomping up and down, it might have been a hit on YouTube), he soon fell in love with the program and its world. Not surprisingly, watching the videos and collecting tank engines has become a priority (especially when the weather is hot) in our house. Our Little One is starting to speak and we anticipate that he will begin music classes in January.
The Mummy has had a very interesting year. She has recently completed her course work for her MA program at Leicester University. In the meantime, she worked for a particular publishing firm during the first quarter of the year. While we were in Australia on vacation, she was recruited to work for General Electric, where she now does public relations. The Mummy was able to start her job in mid-September; despite two 75 minute commutes each day she really loves this job. More important, she loves being a Mother and treasures the time that she gets to spend with Our Little One.
2010 has been a very fast-paced year for The Daddy as well. In September The Daddy began my 4th year as HOD of the Department, which was up for Re-Accreditation. This process which is now nearing completion has demanded a great deal of work, but it has gone well and taught me much. In addition, The Daddy have managed to get several articles accepted for publication—one of which will be translated into Danish and the other into Korean. In March The Daddy participated in a Research Cluster devoted to studying how Southeast Asia has been understood. As such, The Daddy was recruited to join an international team to come to Seoul and present our findings. It was a great trip, in which The Daddy learned a lot and it will not be my last to Seoul. The Daddy also delivered two more papers in Singapore (which The Daddy hopes find publication) and great thing about those events for The Daddy was watching a healthy number of my former students present papers and organize events.
Happily enough, this followed a nice long summer holiday for all of us in which we spent nearly three weeks in Singapore. We then went to Australia (which might just become a ritual event for us) where we rented an apartment in Brisbane and just relaxed! Afterwards, we went to Sydney and Melbourne, enjoying those cities as we visited family. We returned to Singapore and then the UAE and rested for a couple of weeks before we went to the U.S. We spent time in Bethany before embarking on a trip to see family. We went to HS College in rural Virginia (where The Daddy's brother was recently made chaplain) to then to WV, where we saw a good number of relatives, including the now deceased Uncle. From WV to Chautauqua, New York, where we visited Dad and Anne; we were able to enjoy both Lake Chautauqua and Lake Erie—and both of these experiences were treats for Our Little One. We then hustled across upstate New York to return to Bethany. Finally, we returned to the Desert in mid-September wishing that the long summer, could have been even longer.
In closing, we want to wish all of you who read this letter a Happy New year and success in 2011. We also hope that our paths cross so that we can see you.
Happy New Year!
