just...

four more days. we've been busily gathering things together and readying our documents for our trip to china. did you know a simple travel visa into china is now $110?!? up until august 1st, it was a mere $60. i think the price was nearly doubled for next summer's olympics. prior to the change, you had a thirty day limit w/ a ninety day window to use it. and you could only enter once. with the jacked up price, you now have six months (from the day it was issued) to use it...still w/ a thirty day limit but w/ multiple entry (only if you apply for multiple).

it is so convoluted

when we applied a couple weeks ago, a slight problem nearly sidetracked our trip. upon finding out that my mom was born and raised in china, the consulate immediately wanted mom to submit her chinese passport (so they could cancel it). thing is, when mom came over in 1948, she didn't need a passport to get into the united states. her entry was assured by my father, who was a u.s. citizen. when they got married in china, he brought her back...case closed.

so when we found out that her required, yet non-existent, chinese passport was an issue...we scrambled to find an alternative. apparently, for those passportless chinese immigrants of the late 40's, naturalization papers are the way to go. we ended up faxing her u.s. citizenship and chinese marriage license to the consulate, thereby soothing their suspicious concerns. now they can be rest assured that my mom has NO intentions of visiting china and spending her twilight years there. geez.

crappy...

mood. i really don't feel like working today so maybe if i blog it'll improve my attitude...it can't hurt.

i see that i promised to blog about mike. hmmm. mike is a pima indian who has worked with me in field before. he's not classically trained but he has a good eye for detail and is always willing to help. he's about 6' tall, 200 lbs., has long, jet black hair (although some of it is graying), and likes his beer.

we have an inside joke regarding someone's keys. many years ago, we worked at a site that was not far from his friend's house. well, we were lucky enough for the guy to let us stay at his home while we were in field. it was downright palatial. a two-story mountain home with a wraparound porch, a great view of boulder, a sauna, and a 5-foot deep hot tub. man, it was heaven.

for the six weeks of the survey, i was keeper of the keys. just two dirty brass keys on a plastic green key chain. it was a welcome convenience because we wouldn't get up to his house until after he had left for work.

after a long hot (or rainy) day in field, we'd come home and kick back w/ some beer and work on some notes or just watch the day turn into night. that is, if we hadn't stopped in town for some pizza and beer ;) it was during this survey that i had gotten to know mike better. we had already known each other for about six or seven years, but only in a social (i.e., beer swilling) setting. sometimes after the other guys were asleep, we'd hang out in the living room, listening to music and just talking. he kinda reminded me of my older brother, sandy.

well, after the survey ended, i still had the keys in my possession. i think we were all supposed to go to dinner up in boulder but i had other work commitments...so i remained the holder of the keys. and since the guy lived up in the mountains, we never saw each other to coordinate the key return (yeah...that's a cop out but he seemed okay with it ;). i guess we both knew that if i wanted a soak in that killer hot tub w/ the awesome view, at least i didn't have to break in...

anyway, it was mike who was the "go-between" to return the keys. after all, it was his friend who owned the house and they hung out regularly. so the few times a year i'd see mike, he'd ask me if i had brought the keys. at first, it was a sincere, "damn, i forgot 'em." after a few times though, it became a running joke between us and ended up being, "keys?!? what keys?"

unfortunately, the running joke about the keys has run its course. last week, i got a very unexpected email from one of our mutual friends, saying that mike had died and that his memorial was in three days. i was more than stunned. although i had seen mike in the spring, i had no idea that he was sick. i was expecting to see him for some wings and beer in the fall...

this video is for mike. i hope every day is like saturday in the park for him. i heard that he suffered the last couple months and i just hope his last six words weren't, "Spencer, where are those DAMN keys?!?"

btw, we have a connection to this video. although it was made in the early 70's, mike and i ended up mapping the structure and property where the video is taking place...but 25 years later :)

China...

remember when i was talking about wanting to go to china? well, in 20 days, that is what i'll be doing!!! my eldest sister, shirley, and i are accompanying our mom back to guangzhou for her 60th(!) high school reunion! unfortunately, we'll only be able to go for a couple weeks while mom is going to stay for another ten days. so we've got to make the most of the roughly ten days we have with her (since the reunion is a three-day affair).

it'll be an eye opener for all of us; we've never been and mom hasn't been back since january 1948 although she, dad, and shirley went to hong kong in 1961. open the below map and look for taishan in the bottom left hand corner, guangzhou near the top left, and hong kong near the bottom right corner. this is the area from which my parents came. my father was born and raised in a tai shan village while mom is from guangzhou (although she didn't go to school there) and hong kong will be our starting point. i have so much research to do...but that's a good thing ;)



from what my mom tells me, of the 140 or so in her graduating class, fewer than 30 are still alive. this is gonna be one emotional gathering...