Season’s Greetings!

It’s been another full year for us in Chapel Hill, as we continued to have travel adventures and plenty of work and other projects. At home, our two cats (Coquette and Sophie) are growing up, and leaving destroyed furniture in their wake. Sophie at some point determined that a safe and comfortable place to stay in would be inside one of our nice living room chairs, so she tore a hole in the fabric underside in order to allow for ready access. Coquette has since also been discovered inside that very same chair.

It is fitting, however, that we write this letter from the road, in Singapore, where we are (mostly) closing out the year with a visit to Shuwen’s parents. We will continue our travels on Dec. 28 and 29, going to Ethiopia (Marc, for ten days until January 8), and back to the US (Shuwen). We again managed to visit new places this year. Marc went to China to teach a short course in June and was joined in Cambodia by Shuwen. Visiting Siem Reap and the ancient temples of the Angkorian empire was without a doubt the highlight of the year. We climbed steep temple stairways, marveled at the huge trees growing out of delicately-carve rock walls, enjoyed sneaking in the back door of Angkor Wat after hours (unknowingly), and got drenched in massive rainy season downpours while biking around to different sites. We also enjoyed cheap, tasty food.

True to form, most of our travel involved work projects. Marc’s work on a household survey outside Phnom Penh for example afforded the opportunity to go to Cambodia. We also took a memorable writing retreat with friends to the San Juan Islands in the Northwest US, which was productive and fun. The islands are beautiful during the summer, and the weather is perfect. We saw orcas and did a great deal of hiking, sea kayaking, and running while there.

The other highlights of the year were mostly linked to visits with family. We have yet to see our newest nephew Elias, but managed to pay a visit to Gabriel and Jonathan in Philadelphia earlier this year. We also hosted the Burgert clan – Marc’s uncles and grandmother – and Marc’s parents for Thanksgiving. In our boldest deviation from tradition, Shuwen prepared a delectable entrée with three forms of pork rather than the typical roasted turkey, which our visitors thankfully helped us to consume. In Singapore, we are also eating well, and continue to be astounded by the Singaporean knack for consuming foods at all times of the day.

Finally, work has kept us busy this year. Shuwen is contributing her talents to several large research projects that have begun to generate lots of results. Meanwhile, Marc is still trying to strike the right balance between teaching and research, after a fall semester with two courses that often left him trying to keep his head above water. We both hope to continue building on some of the momentum in the coming year. We close by wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a successful coming year. We hope to hear from you soon!

Love,
Marc and Shuwen