Dear Friends,

Greetings from mid-Michigan! It is New Years Day today, and I thought I no longer have any excuse to put off the traditional Huang's Annual Photographical Report (whereas 2 days ago, I kept saying, what if something really important happens the last day of the year? Like a major prise or lottery is coming my way?) Well, nothing happened, so I could have done it earlier. My apology for procrestination. So, after spending >4 hours reviewing the 5000 pictures I have taken the year of 2002, here are some highlights for what had happened in 2002 in the Huang family:

We went to a small hill near Frandor Mall in Lansing on New Years Day (2002) and had some fun sliding down the slope (this year? all 6 inches were gone overnight 2 nights ago).

David turned 15 two weeks ago. He continues to play trombone and also joined the marching band last summer. His next trombone will be professional grade and will cost a small fortune :( Melissa is now 11 and started playing clarinet. She is invited to join the Mid-west talent search next school year because she scored over 95 percentile in two things (items?) of the Standardized tests.

My brother Zhiyi (who has lived with us since June 1997) obtained his associate degree in computer science Spring of 2002. However, he has to stay in school while here if he does not find a job! Therefore he started another associate degree again, will be graduating Spring of 2004.

Guijie (Joyce) has started working parttime at an hourly job, but she seems to be happier with some time outside home (I do not blame her!).

I travelled too much again in 2002 (but at least I cancelled my Japan trip!). First I traveled to France in March to give some talks to French beekeepers in Limouge (a beautiful small town! here with Thierry Fedon, a young and successful beekeeper) and then Avignon. Friend Yve Leconte took me to visi Paris for a a few hours while waiting for a train. I then went to Beijing (where I stayed one day, but took over 80 bee pictures, the best is here) and then to Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden a second time, where there are many orchids (and other flowers), lots of bees (Pictures: giant bee1, giant bee2, dwarf bee) and other strange (but pretty) bugs, and good food. While there I studied biology of the giant bees (which has a huge nest too), and fig wasp biology with Prof. Yang and others, and made many friends. Water (Splashing) Festival is pretty cool, where you can make anyone you know (or not) totally wet (and they do not get mad, but will get even), whether in a river or any place else. The Dai (Chinese Thai) New Year follows when everyone (except the men! they do the hardwork -- boatracing) dresses colorfully, with pretty umbrellas, and eat good food! Not all things are pretty of course, you have to endure weaver ants biting your hand, or big flies licking your fingers, or land leeches getting into your clothes (I could not find the picture of her!). Still I had the best time of my life (it would be even better if my family were with me!). I came back mid May and participated the Santa Fe workshop on social insect modelling.

I tried to stay put in Michigan for the summer, so people in the lab knew what to do. In August, I attended the Eastern Apicultural Society Conference in Ithaca (Cornell Univ) and drove with the family there. On the way there we visited friends in Guelph (lots of changes, but the Stone Road Mall still stands there) where both me and Guijie went to school. On the way back we passed through the One Thousand Isles and took a boat tour, then visited an old friend in Toronto.

Other smaller trips include one to Twin Cities in Minesota in September, one to Goshen, Indianna for another bee meeting and one to Niagara Falls for a jont meeting with Canadian and American beekeepers in December. The hotel room I stayed overlooked the fall, but it was so cold that I never ventured out to see the fall close. In November I took Joyce to Florida for the ESA meeting, but I was so busy giving talks and moderating and what not, that I had little time to be a tourist with her. Still I think (hope) she had fun. There of course we enjoyed meeting many old acquaintance again.

This is getting rather long and I put a list of friends we met in 2002 here as a link.

If you are not tired of pictures yet, here is one Christmas cactus that flowered right on time (on the Christmas Day!) in our kitchen, believe me!

We pray that all of you will be healthy, joyful, (and wealthy if He allows:) in 2003.

Happy New Year and God bless!

Zhiyong, Guijie, David, Melissa, and Zhiyi