How are you? Have you had a good weekend? I do hope that you are doing well and enjoy your weekend.

When you get this letter, I have been in Sydney, Australia for 3 days.

I came here to see my son since he has completed his study in Australia for 9 years -- from high school, to get his bachelor degree, and than finished the last examination for his master degree on Feb 14, 2011; we have not met for 2 and a half year; my health did not allow me to have a long distance travel as usual after I came back from my own study in USA.

As all of the parents in the world, I love my son very much and I often feel sorry to him for I could not be able to look after him in person since he was just 15 years old. I would really like to offer as much as help and support at the key time when a child starts his new life. At least, I hope that my own lessons and experience will have little referenced value to him. So, even though my fingers are ache and change bigger as long as I do not act, my stomach has been uncomfortable so that I had to change my clothes to make myself feel better before the long time flying at the Hong Kong Airport and to take medicine on the airplane, I am so happy to see my son has grown up higher, a little bit like a young adult and to pick up me by his own car first time.

So, these days, except we are going to an opera in the Sydney House and to see the Ocean together, I have used/ would like to use whole of my time to help him to find a job, to discuss and to plan his career and life. A good feeling is that I do find the Western education has offered him a quite independent quality and behavior style ? even though I am here, he keeps working on his part time job as he has been doing in the past several years. He has also known how to look after his mother and to reduce the financial burden of his father, a child who is quite responsible and considerate. Another good feeling is there are so many sincere friends and family members around us. Just in the first 2 days, from far away China and in Australia, more than 50 friends who are my former bosses, colleagues, classmates, doctors and my family members gave their warm hands or their kind wishes to us. His aunt has invited me to be in her home and had a lunch together. His boss has asked him to finish his work earlier and brought me some Singapore food.

With a grateful heart, I guess that my son will grow up better among the friendly and warm environment abroad.

During the travel, I have seen and thought many things. One was happened at Hong Kong Airport. It was at about 1:00am, there were few people around the restaurants. But, by the Mcdonald's there were still many people in the line. With a big surprise, I counted the number of people. It was 21. At the same time, by the other 7 restaurants next to the Mcdonald's, there were just 6 people. I could not help asking myself. Why Mcdonald's is so welcome in an Asian Airport? What makes it to be welcome so much? What I should learn from it and to use its experience into my own management work and Cross-culture learning and exploring?

Another interesting thing is at about 9:00pm in Sydney Friday night, most of the stores were closed. Instead of finding a Mcdonald's, I saw 3 Stores of Seven Eleven during the drive for about 15 munities. Then I found at this time, among the closed stores, almost all the opened restaurants were run by Asians and there were still many people in the Chinese and Malaysian restaurants. Saturday morning, many people were in the line to wait for their tables out of a Cantonese restaurant.

Once more, I feel that Sydney in Australia is really a little bit similar with San Francisco in USA, not only for its landscape, but also for its multi ? cultures:

Shirley's 150th Friendly Greeting From Australia --July 28th,2008

Shirley's 151st Friendly Greeting From Sydney

Shirley's 152nd Friendly Greeting From Sydney -- August 4, 2008

Shirley's 153rd Friendly Greeting -- August 10, 2008

Have you been in Australia? How do you think of my idea? Do you have anything special this week?

I am just a student on Art of Painting, Music, English and Management, to work on the web site in my free time. I would really like to do a few things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be an Electronic Bridge of Inter-Art & Cross - Culture Exchange, Chinese Language Learning & Friendship Making. To help the others while to improve myself.

I would like to appreciate you for your understanding, directions, supports and help.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you are welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or leave your message on Message Board.

Shirley Yiping Zhang
Feb 19, 2011