The view outside my hotel window on Sunday morning, December 8, showed an elderly man doing Qigong exercises in a lovely park.

Two other U.S. participants and I were the guests of two Changsha families that day. In the morning two lovely young ladies, Cyan and her classmate met us in the hotel lobby. The duo wore two traditional Chinese dresses, from the Tang and Song dynasties! A nice touch!

On the way to the host family’s home, we stopped at the studio of Hunan TV, where Cyan’s Dad works as an executive, and a nearby traditional Chinese pavilion, which somehow matched Cyan’s historical outfit for the day. Cyan’s maturity and poise amazed me.

After arriving at the host family’s apartment, on the 17th floor, Cyan’s Dad served us traditional Chinese tea.

Then we started making the dumplings for lunch. Everyone pitched in to help. We made a lot of dumplings!

Dumplings and more dumplings

In China, men cook. Here is Dad making one of the many dishes for lunch.

The host family’s living room. Some lunch dishes already on the table.

We sat down for lunch. Another teenage friend of Cyan’s showed up to join us. One of the dishes on the table is a plate of hairy crabs. These are river (fresh water) crabs that the Chinese love. They are expensive, and served to honored guests. I devoured two. Or maybe three. They are as tasty as Maryland blue crabs, maybe more so.

Cyan’s Mom and friends (neighbors) at the restaurant for dinner. Notice the plate of hairy crabs. We had a wonderful time!

A group photo marking the end of what turned out to be my most pleasant and enlightening day of all of 2019. I am now further inspired to keep up with my Chinese, and especially to improve my Chinese reading ability…

Dennis M. Delehanty (丹尼斯), received a B.A. in Russian from Colby College in 1974 and received a M.A in Russian Studies/ International Affairs from George Washington University in 1978. He also is fluent in Spanish and French and besides Russian, has extensive knowledge of Mandarin, Portuguese, German. In 1979, Dennis entered U.S. Postal Service headquarters as a junior international affairs officer, and from 1986 to 1992, worked as the sole American at the Universal Postal Union in Bern, Switzerland, the only UN specialized agency where French remains the official language. Returning to the Postal Service in Washington, Dennis led the effort to create the UPU’s Express Mail Service Cooperative, a rare institution within the UN system where weighted voting applies. In 2004, Dennis was appointed Director of Postal Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, where he served as the principle official responsible for U.S. policy regarding international postal and delivery services. During his career, Dennis has taken part in or led U.S. delegations to dozens of postal (and private-sector delivery service) conferences throughout the world, and retired from government service in 2012. Dennis had visited 70 countries, either solely for business or personal travel. Dennis’s choice of a dream career, regardless of the position title, would one where he could help to improve relations between the American and Chinese peoples.

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