Prologue

It was a happy time when I, Alexander, arrived on the West Coast in '92. I was able to take advantage of the new-found freedom; hence, I embarked on a course of self-improvement on two fronts— arts and public-speaking. In the artistic direction, I took up the discipline of Chinese calligraphy with a renowned artist & calligrapher in Vancouver’s Chinatown. In the public-speaking aspect of things, I became a member of Toastmasters International.

My wife, Eva, and I are devoted Christians, and members of the Burnaby Alliance Church where we were team members on our church’s Short-Term Mission to Panama (’03 & ’04), when we worked closely with the local Chinese community and Chinese churches.

And then there was our China Tour of May '05 when we’d visited the province of Sichuan (pronounced as “Si-chuan”, meaning “four rivers” ). We started the tour in the City of Guangzhou, where we met up with Eva’s cousin, Mei, who served as our in-house tour guide. Cousin Mei is an avid photographer and frequent traveler to the more exotic locations in China. She was also our tour guide in February 2006, when the four of us visited the mountain (rice) terrace of the Yunnan Province (just to the north of Vietnam); once again, time permitting, there will be another online photo album.

In view of the erratic nature of my profession (CN Rail ), it is truly a blessing for me to still be able to find a niche in serving in the BAC Family, for I was invited to be our senior pastor’s translator for the weekly column in the Sunday Worship Service bulletin, since 1997. It is for this, I’m grateful. However, may the Lord willing, and I’m able, I’ll be looking forward to renew my commitment in serving in the very near future: Here I am, on the final countdown to my official retirement date, 31 Jan.2007; advance that ahead by 6 weeks (annual vacation allotment) that would make it 20 December, 2006; that is 97 days, and counting down… having spent 33 years on the rails is time enough to call it quits…only from the perspective of being a locomotive engineer.

It was from the translation work that I’d developed a keen sense of diction, and writing styles; and from the days of Toastmasters, I'd become a good storyteller; at times, a tall-tale teller …

The beautiful thing about writing in the digital age is that more than one copy, or parts thereof, can be used repeatedly, and for different purposes…

I’ve always used the writing of e-mails as my way of communicating my occasional rants & raves. Moreover, whenever there is a live-audience, he, or she, will get an earful of my stories. You, my friends, will be hearing plenty more of my stories. Thus, this will be my way of launching my new book “ACT II”; sort of like, my version of Peter Gzowski’s “This Country in the Morning”. To be certain, creating this personal weblog to share with family and friends is a natural progression.

You may not yet be aware, that my wife, Eva and I are awaiting the proposal from CCAA for our China-adoption; hence, my ACT II is about to begin with a BANG! Over the course of the last year, ever since we submitted our application on this adoption, I’ve also been bombarded with questions by well-meaning friends, in bewilderment, about our imminent adventure of child care at this age; and I’ve turned philosophical in my handling of these inquiries…

“So, let me see, you’re attempting to psycho-analyze my behavior in this matter of China-adoption, at the early stages of my retirement; in view of the fact that I already have four grown-children, and three grand-children?”

“First of all, AGE has never been an issue in terms of energy. Secondly, FINANCE is not a question, for children in any family are extremely adaptable to the resources available, whatever that may be.”

“And as for you, my friend, who is trying to make a study of my behavior into some sort of SCIENCE; I say, you’re trying to find a BLACK CAT in a very DARK ROOM. Or perhaps, you’re thinking of some sort of PHILOSOPHICAL reasoning behind this kind of behavior; then, you’re trying to find a BLACK CAT in a very DARK ROOM, where there is NO BLACK CAT. Further still, this is the third time you’ve asked me the same question, which gives me reason to believe that you’re attempting to psycho-analyze my behavior in this matter of China-adoption; then I must say, my dear friend, you’re trying to find a BLACK CAT in a very DARK ROOM, where there is NO BLACK CAT, but you’d thought that you’ve found one anyway!”

This will be our first, and likely our only, adoption; in light of my early-retirement. My four grown-children and 3 grand-children gave me all the experience I need. As a result, we've consented to a set of twins if God so gracefully bless us; short of this, we're prayerful for a healthy child, of any gender.

Visitors to this blog are encouraged to leave a comment, as a mutual exchange of good cheers and blessings. If you have an adoption blog and wish to share, leave us an URL.