Paper-pusher, financial aid.  Nadine was always cheerful and kept me smiling.  She left us halfway through the trip.  I missed her.

            An old ankle injury kept her a bit slower than the rest of us, especially on stairs.

            Art historian by training, but wealthy from family money.

            My wonderful Chinese teacher.  30-something years old.  A native of Beijing, Mrs. Yu helped ignite my interest in China and the Chinese language.  She was always fun to have around, except when she was busy mothering Marta.

            Yu Liping’s daughter.  She turned 11 on this trip.  I imagine she is much like any 11 year-old.  Very talkative.  I think she will be very beautiful in a few years.

            Art historian teacher at LSU, Ph.D.  She was one of our leaders and she helped plan out this trip.  She speaks pretty proficient Chinese, though she has no tones.  She has many interesting stories to tell.

            Rikki’s son.  He was a quiet guy, but very nice.  Also really skinny.  He left us, or rather we left him, in Xi’an.  He is staying there for a year to study art at the Xi’an Institute of Fine Arts, and with Wan Ding.

           Art historian student.  She was usually a cheerful person, despite having been made fun of by Chinese at times because of her weight.

            Emily was one of the artists.  She and I had a few disagreements in the beginning and I really didn’t like her for a while, but we got over it.  It was just messing around, really.

            Artist.  Most people’s first impressions of Erica, including mine, were not too good.  She is a loner.  But if you talk to her a while, you’ll see that she’s a really nice and interesting person.

            Photographer working on a master’s degree.  He brought with him a $3000 camera and 100 rolls of 120 mm black & white film, 100 speed, 15 shots per roll.  He certainly knew his stuff.  He has traveled to other countries (Europe), too.

            On the other hand, he’s an asshole.  He always tried to put himself in charge, even though he’s only 23 years old and doesn’t know any Chinese.  He doesn’t treat people very well, either.

            19 year-old language student.  She wants a Ph.D. in economics.  She is a very forward-looking person, too much so in my opinion.  She also loves school, and is very liberal politically.  Argh!

            Like me, she has a Taiwanese mom and an American dad.

            Artist, teacher.  She was a nice person to hang around with and talk to.  I always enjoyed her company.

            Language student, my roommate.  He turned 23 or 24 on this trip.  He is planning to study international relations for a master’s and then get a Ph.D. in political theory.  He’s big on Nietzsche.  I like him; he’s an easy guy to get along with.

            Landscape architect.  One of the most polite guys I’ve ever known.  He’s 32 years old and just about to complete his master’s degree.

            Mother-hen of the group.  She basically took care of us.  She was in charge of  “counting” us to make sure no one got left behind anywhere.  Very nice lady.

            Our happy buddha, Ed has a big gut.  Ed is a smart and nice guy, but he seemed like to argue, and win.