Farewell...Dawukou....

---

Newsletter 34

By: R. Draeger Jr.



Leaving on a Jet Plane…



I am forever grateful to my fifth grade teacher for introducing my class to the trio of Peter, Paul and Mary. In the fifth grade our teacher taught us the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. She also taught us other things that dealt with the arts so I gained an appreciation for drama and the oldies. We must have put on two or three plays that year, and I have had an appreciation for the arts ever since. But I digress, sorry. I’d be grateful to see Peter, Paul and Mary in concert, if they have not yet retired. I’d like to especially hear the song, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”.



My appreciation of air craft is due to the fact that I grew up in the United States Air Force. I was surrounded by aircraft, except for the time we spent inWaukesha,WI. In the month of May alone I was on 4 jet planes as I went to Xian andBeijing. The reason for this is that when I initially came toChinaI became sick on the flight. That was due to the fact that I sat next to a kid who was sick. Needless to say that left a sour taste in my mouth as far as flying went.



Can you believe how fast time has gone for me here? I can barely believe it myself. It seems that I wrote the first of these newsletters yesterday. Now here I am writing the final one as my time comes to an end in this wonderful place. As that happens, my friends are inviting me out for lunch and dinner. I am grateful for the distraction that those meals provide. Because when I come to my pad the reality that my time is coming to and end is very evident.



I know that this newsletter is rather short. This is because my time here is short. For those of you who live in WI, I’ll see you sometime in the near future. Well, I’m off to another distraction.



Zaijian….

---