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Published: March 26th 2010
Pop and co.
my brother Gary, niece Laurie, nephew Tyler, "Pop", son Eric and yours truly
(Gary's girlfriend Bonnie and Eric's girlfriend Patti were also there but aren't in the photo) On a sunny day at the end of February, we celebrated my Dad's 90th birthday in Santa Barbara. No party, just a small, partial-family, get-together, which included a few meals in restaurants and playing "petanque" on the beach. I think he was pleased.
I'm still in Berkeley and enjoying it as much as ever. Very busy. Will start my final classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) next week: a class on Scandinavian films, a class on gender, and a workshop on digital photography. By the way, last term I took a website design class and built a new web site, which will soon replace my present one on the net at
www.hilarykaiser.com . I'm also continuing with conversational Spanish, attending talks at the U.C. School of Journalism, going to a weekly writing group, and taking a storytelling class at Stagebridge, a community-based theater company in Oakland. If you want to read about Stagebridge,
click here .
Because of the landslides near Machu Picchu and a bad ear infection, I've decided to put off a trip to Peru to another time. Instead, I'm going to return to Shanghai in May for a brief visit, from May 4-13.
I want to visit the Universal Fair--Expo 2010-- and also hope to go out to the orphanage where I volunteered last year and to the French school where I taught. I'm very fortunate because some very kind friends have offered to put me up.
This sudden decision to return to Shanghai came about last week following a lecture I attended at the Kensington Library about an exhibit on Shanghai at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Seeing the slides and hearing about Shanghai's history made me not only want to see the exhibit (I'm going next week), but also made me very nostalgic for the city and my friends there. And I discovered a real coincidence: Shanghai and San Francisco are sister cities! No wonder I love them both. When I return from Shanghai, I may travel with a friend for a week somewhere in the U.S. or Mexico.
In April, I have a number of speaking engagements. I'll be giving talks on my book on French war brides at the Alliance Francaise in Santa Rosa, at the Berkeley Alliance, and at the Peninsula French Fair in Saratoga. Then on May 3rd--in
commemoration of Victory in Europe Day on May 8th--I'll be speaking to the students at the French Lycee of San Francisco about American soldiers in Europe during WWII.
Then, at the end of May, I return to France in time for the birth of Granddaughter No.1, but I may come back to California. I love it here!
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS:
--My son Eric John Kaiser, who's a songwriter and musician based in Portland, Oregon, is presently on an Alliance Francaise USA-sponsored tour throughout the U.S. and Canada with his friend Tete. See
Eric John Kaiser for details.
--I've written a new piece entitled "Smiling in Berkeley, Paris and Shanghai" on my weblog. To read it, visit
Hilary Kaiser's Weblog: Thoughts and Travels of a Franco-American .
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Gaby Barnes
non-member comment
Hi Hilary Sorry I will miss your Shanghai visit as I'll still be in the UK.Have a Margarita on me.I've just listened to your son's music and enjoyed it very much. You always remind me,that I need to do more of the things I love.You are certainly showing us all the way. Cheers GABY