When I was a college student in 1988, I experienced homestay with the Burroughs Family in San Jose.
They were kind enough to take me around to a lot of places including Yosemite National Park, Sacramento, Monterey and so on.
In Monterey, I had a picture taken next to the statue of Steinbeck and listened to their explanation on Steinbeck.
That experience made me interested in him. (By then, I had read his short novel The Pearl.)
When I had to decide on topics for my master thesis, I decided to write on him because of this experience.
Without the Burroughs, I might have ended up choosing something else, and there aren’t any chance for me to be able to attend this recent Steinbeck Festival to do a presentation at the podium of one of the most distinguished Steinbeck places in the world, National Steinbeck Center in Salinas.
Randy was the teacher when I stayed in San Jose.
She and her husband are good friends with the Burroughs, and I sort of was able to be included in their friendship circle.
Elaine is my host grandmother.
She is my host father’s mother.
She and her husband invited me to their home, and we exchanged gifts.
Some of the gifts I brought that time were my grandmother’s handmade things. They were well received then, and my host grandparents gave her special needles to my grandmother, and a Mark Twain book Roughing It.
Elaine took a very good care of my grandmother’s handmade koalas, and she gave them back to me saying that it is the time for them to come back to you and your son.
I was very much moved to be able to see and have my late grandmother’s handmade koalas after 22 years.
The Burroughs gave me a gorgeous dish for our belated but thoughtful wedding gift, their homemade jam from their backyard, and some gifts for our son.
At the reunion, we had a wonderful and joyous dinner at a Thai restaurant. We had a lot to talk about each other then and afterwards.
Next time I am in California, I would like to bring my family and spend some time with my special long-time friends.
It was a Sweet Saturday!
They were kind enough to take me around to a lot of places including Yosemite National Park, Sacramento, Monterey and so on.
In Monterey, I had a picture taken next to the statue of Steinbeck and listened to their explanation on Steinbeck.
That experience made me interested in him. (By then, I had read his short novel The Pearl.)
When I had to decide on topics for my master thesis, I decided to write on him because of this experience.
Without the Burroughs, I might have ended up choosing something else, and there aren’t any chance for me to be able to attend this recent Steinbeck Festival to do a presentation at the podium of one of the most distinguished Steinbeck places in the world, National Steinbeck Center in Salinas.
Randy was the teacher when I stayed in San Jose.
She and her husband are good friends with the Burroughs, and I sort of was able to be included in their friendship circle.
Elaine is my host grandmother.
She is my host father’s mother.
She and her husband invited me to their home, and we exchanged gifts.
Some of the gifts I brought that time were my grandmother’s handmade things. They were well received then, and my host grandparents gave her special needles to my grandmother, and a Mark Twain book Roughing It.
Elaine took a very good care of my grandmother’s handmade koalas, and she gave them back to me saying that it is the time for them to come back to you and your son.
I was very much moved to be able to see and have my late grandmother’s handmade koalas after 22 years.
The Burroughs gave me a gorgeous dish for our belated but thoughtful wedding gift, their homemade jam from their backyard, and some gifts for our son.
At the reunion, we had a wonderful and joyous dinner at a Thai restaurant. We had a lot to talk about each other then and afterwards.
Next time I am in California, I would like to bring my family and spend some time with my special long-time friends.
It was a Sweet Saturday!
