americans came to work today

A delegation of almost a dozen professors and researchers from the U.S. dropped by our office today. My boss, Huai Hui, held a meeting with them for about an hour; she let me sit in and listen as they questioned her about legislative elections and rejected-weapons packages.

Most of them were from the Cato institute, GW, the Naval War College, and the Center for National Policy, but two of them were from closer to home -- professors at UMaryland and Towson.

It goes without saying that I love people in Taiwan, but after so many weeks here, seeing twelve American faces was a refreshing moment for me. Having spent so much time in a foreign country, it also made me appreciate something: Americans might have a reputation for being loud sometimes, but most of us really are friendly people. I mean that.

I added two more pictures to the account at http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1385542. They are pictures of me standing with this girl Evelyn who is another intern at the DPP office. She's French-Brazilian, but her family has lived in Taiwan for several years. She graduated from college here in Taiwan this June.