Mandarin in Massachusetts

lucky day... Gerry and I got to meet with Judy B. from "Panda Land" in one of my favorite seaport towns, Salem, MA (home of the great Federalist architect Samuel Mcintire and also home to the witches, it's true).  Judy has offered to help with translating when Aoli gets home (including the random phone call from me), as well as helping with English language instruction, and continued studies in Mandarin (and any pre-travel needs as well!).  Judy is wonderful, very smart, and also very funny which is appreciated.  She is a computer scientist turned language instructor from Beijing.  We met at Judy's dining room table, headed by a life sized stuffed panda...

Oh, and G. learned at least one new sentence "“Wǒ shì nǐ bà ba” -  Apparently, the accent must be on the first "ba"; otherwise, one is saying "I am your dog poop (vs. daddy)"!  We spent a little time practicing until he got the tone down just right...