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Just a short note (in a somewhat jet-lagged state) to report that my new bride and I have just returned from three weeks on an exotic and wonderful professional and honeymoon trip. Ilene L. Dillon (a psychotherapist) and I were married on October 18, 1998, and on the 20th, we left for Beijing, China, where we were both guests of the China Rehabilitation Research Center at a Symposium on Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation. Aside from the presentations, which included professionals from China, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the USA, we were taken on the complete "tourism thing", including visits to the great temples, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City (where the film "The Last Emperor" was filmed), the Great Wall of China; this along with veritable feasts of Chinese cuisine and cultural education. The final banquet for the Symposium was at the Great Hall of the People, in Tian An Men Square, this as guests of the Chinese Government. A great deal of what is often reported about "Chinese Communism" is not what it is reputed to be. The people are, by many Asian standards, relatively free, the economy is booming (thanks to more connection with Japan and the West); the culture is amazing and the Chinese are warm and very positive towards Americans. The downside of Beijing is the teeming population (11 million in the city and 20 million in the metropolitan area), the horrendous air pollution (from millions of cars), and the crush of humanity makes travelling even a few short blocks an exercise in frustration. The vehicle is "king", the bicyclist (of which there are many) is second, and the pedestrian is expendable, as cars make U-turns in the middle of the block across four lanes of traffic. China is making great progress as a "developing country". I made some really positive connections during our visit there, and I have been appointed a "Visiting Professor" with plans to return again soon. My wife, likewise, has made inroads in psychological concepts (western psychological ideas are rare thusfar) and her work with aspects of anger, denial, and depression in people with physical disabilities was of great interest to her Chinese counterparts. After two weeks in China, we spent the final week of our trip in a beach cottage on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii, where we reverted to a vegetative state for a "real" vacation. It is back to work now; but this has been a real odyssey in many ways. Best to all, Bob *********************************** ROBERT A. FINK, M. D., F.A.C.S. Neurological Surgery 2500 Milvia Street Suite 222 Berkeley, CA 94704-2636 USA Phone: (510) 849-2555 FAX: (510) 849-2557 WWW: <http://www.dovecom.com/rafink/> mailto:[log in to unmask] "Ex Tristitia Virtus" ***********************************