Bravo... tres bien

Well your brother’s done it. He’s well on his way to catching up with you. Auntie Choo2 and I attended his MSc graduation and yes you guessed right. There will be at least one more to come. Maybe 3 years from now. He’s doing well! His PhD is funded with a stipend to boot. We are all very proud of him just as we were of you. I can imagine your elation at this news as well.

Last year the three of us had a simple lunch after his graduation and dinner was an affair at home with us, Dorcus and her parents. This year Auntie Choo2 and a close “family friend” treated us to a fancy French restaurant joined by Dorcus of course and CS’s quirky friend from China. Wished you could have been here to celebrate with us. I imagined you sitting next to him at dinner toasting with the rest of us to his achievement.

This trip was another adventure for us. We took a leisure hike up the Helsby hills the first weekend I arrived. We also climbed Tryfan’s in Wales or part of it. We did not go up Adam & Eve since mom would probably suffer a heart attack coming down the steep and rocky trail. If it can be called a trail! Anyways you brother’s description of his experience was enough to fill my need for adventure. Switzerland was amazing as well. My favorite was Zematt where climbers accessed the Matterhorn the highest peak in Switzerland. Of course your brother and I gleefully signed up for the climb up Briethorn (at 4164 meters, it is the 2nd highest peak in Switzerland).

But lo and behold, the thin air did me in. My muscles gave up the will to take another step up the peak at 3800 meters. We were told during the climb that we were crazy to have attempted the climb without at least 3 days of acclimatization. Even though I did not finish, I was really glad to have made the attempt. Next time….I shall be more prepared and I will conquer Breithorn! Your brother did well. He finished and was rewarded with a certificate of achievement. Bravo!

Oh oui … I finally took the plunge and signed up for French lessons. Classes are 3 times a week for 3 months totaling something like 72 hours! So far its still very basic so I am able to follow but we’ll see how I fare once the heavy artillery is dispatched….!

Tu me manques ma fille cherie! Love, Mom

Brian May

It's the second time I attended your brother's convocation. This year, it was for his Masters degree. I'm getting more familiar with the city of Liverpool, the dockyards, and of course, the Cathedral where the convocation took place. The weather was also lovely, cool and cloudy, hovering around 18-20 degrees C unlike the year before when the wind chill factor brought the temperature down to 10 degrees.

Your mom and I were there early to get the best seats to snap pictures. The convocation started promptly at 3pm followed by some VIP introductions and speeches. When the JMU Chancellor was introduced to make a speech, someone sitting next to me exclaimed excitedly: `it's Brian May'! Brian May? I must confess that I didn't know who Brian May is. But I was curious to find out, so I googled Wikipedia. Brian May studied physics at Imperial College but along the way found fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen and as a rock musician for some 30 years before he returned to complete his PhD in Astrophysics in 2007; that sums up his colorful and distinguished career path. All that, however, couldn't take away the happiness we felt when we saw Chean Shen receiving his honors in Masters, and from none other than the distinguished Brian May himself.