August 25th, 2006
Jann is now in Malaysia after spending approx 9 days with me in Surabaya. She arrived on the evening of
Aug 15th. We went to Mount Bromo on the 17th. We ascended the lookout point at about 3 a.m. to watch
the sun rise at approx 5 a.m. The sun rising over Bromo was a magical sight, like a giant spotlight slowly
focussing on the slopes of Mount Bromo and the surrounding volcanoes. By about 6 a.m. our fingers were numb
from the cold (Bromo is > 2,000 m above sea level - don't quote me on that!) At about 7 a.m. we
went down to the sand fields from which rise several volcanoes, and we climbed up (via a short horseback ride and 250 steps) the crater of Bromo. We were short of breath climbing up due to the sulfury fumes emitted by the volcano.
On the 19th to 22nd, we were in Jogjakarta, Central Java. There, we visited the "kraton" or the Sultan's palace. I think any visit to Indonesia warrants a trip to this palace, because it is thick with local mysticism, which is part and parcel of local Javanese culture. In the afternoon we went to an old Hindu temple, the Prambanan, which is still under repair after the earthquake in June. The next day we visited the Borobudur, a Buddhist temple built in the 5-7th centuries AD.
This structure has been restored, but unfortunately, many stones seemed
mismatched, and many carvings are missing = stolen? We also visited the
site where the lava and hot ash from Mount Merapi's eruption in May/June
had covered an area of about 10 kilometers from the volcano. It was a
desolate sight, meters of white/grey ash covering buildings and trees.
The rest of the time we spent in Surabaya, eating......
In a nutshell, Jann & I had a whale of a time together, sharing our
new experiences, as well as stories of our lives, our parents, her children
(I have none), reminiscing about those days when we were 12 years old.
So, you see, actually, in each one of us, that little kid that we used to
be is still there, somewhere, covered by onion-like layers of other masks
that we learn to don as we face more and more complicated facets of life.
Love to all,
Lita
Note: Lita will be sending in photos of the two of them in the near future.
August 22nd, 2007
Michael Sun sent me an email that he would be in the Seattle area in August and hoped he could take me and my husband out to dinner. We ended up meeting at Ivar’s Acres of Clams on the Seattle waterfront, not too far from his hotel. It was a great location to watch the Seattle lights and the ferry come and go, but I don’t think we noticed any of that because we were so involved in getting caught up with 35 years of changes! And we both recognized each other immediately! Boy, did the evening go fast! We met at 8 PM and finally at 10:30 we realized we better get on our way as there was work waiting in the morning. It was such an enjoyable evening and we are both hoping to have future get-togethers with more alumni. Since Michael hasn’t posted a bio yet, I’ll just share a little of his news. He lives and works in the LA area as a lawyer. Michael is fortunate that unlike many in the LA area he doesn’t have a long commute. His brother, Russell (class of ’69), and family live nearby as does his father. Michael enjoys coaching soccer which helps to keep him in shape. He has one daughter, Alexis, 24, who graduated from Boston College and is currently living in London with a job doing web design. Michael has been able to make several trips back to K.L., but unfortunately the reunion in Jan 2009 will be bad timing for a trip for him. But August 22, 2007 was a great mini-reunion for us!
By Joy Kenney Fitzwater
