A Letter to Swathi

I just sent another letter to Swathi, which I thought you might like to read. Swathi started the eleventh grade this fall.

Dear Swathi,

I thought I would send you some pictures that I took in different parts of the world during the last few months of travel. On the back of each picture is a letter of the English alphabet. Below you will find the same letters followed by a brief description of the picture. I hope you enjoy the pictures and also learn something about me and my family from them.

For the past six years I have been going to China at least twice each year. During my spring trip this year, I decided to travel to India and begin to learn about the country you live in. I flew from Wuhan, China to New Delhi and then down to Chennai. While in Chennai I went to the beach and took a picture of the Bay of Bengal. Just a few miles north I believe is where you live.

When I returned to the United States from China, I brought with me Jiajing’s mother. Jiajing is a Chinese college girl I met several years ago in China. She has been living with Connie and me and studying at a nearby college. During her mother’s visit we traveled to another part of the United States to visit more of my family who live near my younger sister. This picture was taken in the garage where we had space to set up tables for everyone. In this picture are Jiajing, her mother, and me.

This picture is inside my sister’s home. Her name is Donna. I have another sister and a brother.

My sister lives in western New York. While we were there we did some sightseeing. We went to Niagara Falls, where Jiajing and her mother had a great time. In this picture they are looking at some of their pictures.

This is another picture of Niagara Falls. The falls on the left is called the American Falls and the one in the distance is on the Canadian side and is called the Horseshoe Falls. It is a very beautiful place.

We took another trip to Letchworth State Park. There we found this very large chair, which they thought was pretty cool.

We took another trip to Silver Lake where my nephew, John, has a motorboat. He took us for a ride on the lake, which we all enjoyed.

Later in the summer, after Jiajing’s mother had returned to China, I went back to stay with Donna for three weeks and work on a project there. While I was there another nephew, David, has his pilot’s license and has a friend who has a small airplane. David took me up for a ride. That was sure fun.

When flying with David, we flew over the family farm where I grew up. I took a picture of the farm. It was very cool to see it from the air. Notice the train on the left side of the picture. When I was a child there used to be a second railroad on our farm. Can you see where it was on the right side of the picture?

David and I had a great time flying, but it was time to land. We are approaching the grass runway at the small airport where the plane is kept.

Soon it will be time for me to travel back to China again where I will find many different kinds of foods. I like Chinese food, but I found that I also liked the food I had in India.

They also have pretty dresses there like you have in India.

Just a short way from where I live in Wuhan, China is a very large river called the Yangtze River. Here is a small Chinese girl playing beside it.

Here is the neighborhood where I live in China. I live with Jiajing’s family on the seventh floor of the building closest to the trees. It is an older part of the city, but a nice apartment. The picture shows construction of a new building. It will be a school where English will be taught. When I traveled to India I found many people who spoke English very well. It was easy for me to travel there.

I thought I would include one more picture. This is my youngest grandson who lives in Arizona. His dad is doing some construction at their home and Elliot is checking things out.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Maybe someday I can take some pictures of you. You said that you want to be a teacher. Are you willing to work hard to accomplish that? How much English do you know and how much more do you think you can learn before you graduate?

Remember that God loves you very much and has a great plan for your life.

Steve