One year ago (I): A Weekend with 深圳的舅舅和舅妈 (Jiujiu and Jiuma from Shenzhen)

I couldn’t believe that we missed Jiujiu and Jiuma at the exit of their flight in Logan airport even we came to the airport much earlier than their flight.

Papa told Mama confidently, “You guard the baggage claim area and I guard the exit here. This way we won’t miss them”. It turned out that they did not even check their baggage and Papa let them slip away from his eyesight. Thanks to the modern technology, a phone on hand, they found us.

Yes, Jiujiu and Jiuma came to Boston from Shenzhen, China. It was their first time to visit America and it was also my first time to meet them.

They stayed at our house for the weekend as their start for their first Journey in America. On Saturday, we went to MIT, Harvard and Boston public library.

MIT, in front of main building,

Harvard square, can you believe that this thing makes beautiful sound?


Harvard university,

Charles river near Harvard University,

Boston public library on Bolyston street,


On Bolyston street,


Being sweet to Juju

On Sunday, we went to Quincy Market, North end, and had dinner at Maurizio's, one of Papa’s favorite restaurants. Chef Maurizio Loddo hails from the Italian Island of Sardinia and brings a wealth of additional cooking experience from France, Germany and Spain [1]. Did I already mention this place someplace else?

At Quincy Market,


North End Park,


Outside of Maurizio's restaurant,


When we visited MIT, Jiujiu said that he wishes he will have an opportunity to study at MIT in the near future. I knew that he was not joking. He studied Cold Region Engineering at University of Cambridge as a visiting scholar in early 1990s. After he came back from UK, he earned a PhD from Tshinghua University with a major in Soil Mechanics and Foudation Engineering. Now he is the Vice President at Shenzhen Metro Co. Ltd. When he plans vacations, he needs the approval from the Mayor of Shenzhen city, which states how important a person he is.

When we took the T from point to point, Jiujiu took tons of pictures of inside and outside of the T. These pictures would be part of his research on underground structure in America.

While I couldn’t stop talking about my Jiujiu, I wanted to say something about Jiuma as well. Jiuma speaks an authentic Mandarin and her voice has a quality like a pure jade. She taught Chinese for half year in UK while she stayed at University of Cambridge with Jiujiu. She also sings. She sang a Deng Lijun’s song in the car for me while we were driving to town. She sang a lot to her son, Xixi when he was little. Now, singing has been part of Xixi's life.

In front of my famous Jiujiu and Jiuma, I felt very humble.



Reference:
1. http://www.mauriziosboston.com/