Christmas Dinner 3—My Present To The Group

    I had brought a set of Harry Potter Nos. 1–4 as a Christmas present to the group. I let Wenjie be the one to open it because she had unwittingly given me the idea in an earlier E-mail message. Those smart students guessed what it was before she got it open!

Here is Zhang Wenjie about to start opening the present. She was honored to be chosen for the job, but did not yet know why I picked her. Yele looks like he knows already.

Tearing it open.

Yele is the first to examine the set of books. Note the look of interest on the others' faces.

I have taken them back temporarily to make a point.

Prof. Zhuang is recording the scene for posterity.

The point is that each book gets longer than its predecessor. The biggest jump here is between 3 and 4. I am demonstrating the size of #5, which is nearly twice as long as any of the previous volumes.

Ahead to Fun Afterward
Back to Beijing Dec 03–Jan 04