Happy Chinese New Year of the Ox!

春节快乐! Happy Chinese New Year to you all!

Today is the Chinese New Year.  Chinese people around the world are in celebration.  Last year, our family was in France, and we shared in the celebration in Paris’ Chinatown.  This year, we celebrate together with our friends in Salem.

What in particular I personally want to celebrate is my newly started enterprise, Panda Land.

Since I have spread the word of my Chinese lessons around town, I have received many positive responses.  People think it is a great idea with many eager to start the lessons.  A wonderful lady from Marblehead has started her Chinese lessons and enjoyed it very much.  Right now I am working with people to start lessons for children in February.  

I am hoping all goes well for Panda Land in the Year of the Ox.  

万事如意!

Greetings from Panda Land

Dear Neighbors,

Happy New Year!

My name is Judy Wang Bedell.  I was born and raised in Beijing China and graduated from Tsinghua University, one of the most prestigious schools in the country.  I came to the United States for graduate study and earned my master’s degree at the University of Connecticut.   Now I live in Salem Massachusetts with my husband and two children.

On the 20^th anniversary of my arrival in this country, my family moved to Paris when my husband was sent on an international assignment by his company.  While we were living, working, and studying in Paris and travelling around France and Europe, I came to realize that the world has changed.

In Paris, I saw so many Chinese—tourists taking photos of the Eiffel Tower, local residents running Traiteurs Asiatiques (Chinese take-outs) next to sidewalk cafés, business people meeting on the Champs-Élysées.  On French TV, I watched many programs about Chinese living all over France.  At Chinese New Year, we went to the Chinatown in Paris to share in the celebrations.  During our travels, I saw huge pictures of China’s Mount Huang hanging outside the church on top of Mont Saint-Michel, Chinese flags flying from hotels in Rome, and Chinese visitors to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain.  I was surprised and glad to see that China has arrived in the world and the world has embraced its people and culture.

Now that I am back home in Salem, a city famous for its own history with China, I would like to share Chinese language and culture in our neighborhood. If you want to learn Chinese yourself, or cultivate the Chinese heritage of your children, or simply raise them as tomorrow’s citizens of the world, I am at your service.

Sincerely,

Judy Wang Bedell