Bruce Aitken

January 7, 2002 -- Happy New Year to all! 

 I begin with an apology.  I berated everyone to submit an update by Jan 1 and then failed to do so myself.  My excuse is that since sending out that email, I’ve moved home (and countries) and been on vacation without access to email for 2weeks -- Hong Kong for Christmas and then Hawaii for 10 days of relaxation in Maui.

 So, brief update is that I’ve been in China since March.  Lived in Shanghai and really loved every minute of the city.  Continue to work for Intel in what could loosely be considered a financial controls position.  Various issues at our facility in the Philippines saw me there quite a few times in Q4 and ultimately resulted in a request from the Philippines site that I relocate there for a year of focused efforts.  We accepted and in the last month tied up all loose ends in Shanghai, found a house in Manila, the movers came and packed everything up and hopefully it will all be waiting in Manila when we arrive on Jan 19^th….  We’ll see if everything worked out.  That is the relatively boring part in terms of what has been going on for me recently.   

More personally, I have been joined on my adventures by Reed Bargren.  Reed is from Tacoma, Washington and we met through mutual friend Ric Cochrane 2+ years ago. 

Reed then spent a year traveling the world.  She spent quite a bit of time in Malaysia while I was there and together we went to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines.  High-light of those travels for me was Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the stunning natural beauty in northern Vietnam. 

 Reed moved with me to China in March, spent the year studying Chinese and writing for travel magazines about places to visit in China, etc.  We also managed to get in a trip to Scotland (Reed’s first) and a few other places as well.  Reed’s plans for the Philippines include continuing Mandarin lessons and continuing to travel and write about it all….   Travel is in her blood and I have no complaints  

Other big news for me is that I took out US citizenship in November.  A whirlwind trip back to US from China for an interview completed the process that began some time ago.  I maintain my British Citizenship so have effective dual-citizenship.   

On the family front, Colin has been in Nanjing teaching at Nanjing Int’l School since the fall, so we got to see quite a bit of him for the last few months.  Rhona is in Reading, England.  She has a 4yr old daughter (Naomi) who used to like Uncle Bruce best (at least I liked to think so).  Reed quickly replaced me as Naomi’s favorite after they met this summer.  Alastair is in LA.  Joshua is 6 and Jessica is 4.  Jessica especially is at that stage where phone conversations are always funny.  Alastair’s wife Julie was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and has been undergoing various treatments.  Difficult time for our family.  My parents are well.  Still in Hong Kong and still going full tilt.  Dad continues to receive treatment for areas of skin cancer on his face and arms – a testament to too many days under the SE Asian sun and a warning to all of us…. 

 Not sure yet whether we will get to the Morrison Reunion.  Our early summer plans include a trip to Sapporo, Japan, for a week of World Cup Soccer games in June.  If anyone followed the draw, that means that we get to see the England vs Argentina game, undoubtedly the best game of the first round.  Given that reunion is in June too, we haven’t figure out if we’ll be able to swing it.   

 Lots of space in the Philippines so do come and visit.  Don’t believe the government warnings – only applies to the island of  Mindinao which is far south of Manila.  The scuba diving is great, the weather warm and if you can just get past the traffic and pollution, Manila is really an ok place. 

(632) 850-9317
(632) 809-1058

easiest email to use continues to be work email – Bruce.Aitken@intel.com

Look forward to reading updates and maybe seeing some of you this summer.

Love,

Bruce.

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