Subj: Hi
Date: 98-07-30 10:23:13 EDT
From: Sirman-347@Lyte.Net (Sirman A Celayir)
To: TVS2@aol.com (Tom von Stein)

Tom, I have been negligent. It took me some time to get
acclimated to Miami. Then I changed my ISP, now also
working on a multi-page Web Site, etc. etc.

A few words about Hanoi. I loved it there, the Vietnamese
people, and almost wanted to settle down with a young
student I met. But this was a romantic love, as I do not
know the country, people, customs. The Vietnamese people
exude "dignified simplicity." That, their national and
individualistic pride, history ... were also a basis to my
romance. In another incarnation I could see myself living
in Hanoi, with a Vietnamese woman ... The people are wry
friendly, (I told them this was my FIRST trip to Vietnam.)
After I am done here, I realized that I might be under the
influence of SAYONARA, et al. from the 50s. It is one thing
to be assigned there and form an osmosis with the country
and its people gradually and naturally, another to force
this of my own. And I decided I am not ready to settle down
at any one place. By the way, if you go, do get the book
"The Sorrow of War." (What a tragedy ... ) All sorts of
young boys and will approach you when you walk down to the
lake (near the Water puppet Theater). They have the book,
cards, etc. with them. Do visit the "Hanoi Hilton," and the
(larger) West Lake. Let me know so that I can send you more
coherent info.

As for my travels, after I returned (and before I left for
Asia), I visited all the national parks in the USA and some
in Canada, effectively circling the entire USA and 2,000
miles in Canada. My next trip will be 60 days or so from
Sep. to Nov, to Eastern Europe, including such remote parts
as Moldavia. Then there are a few islands (e.g., Crete) I
have not seen in the Mediterranean, and I am intrigued with
Portugal and the area. After a 5day visit to Morocco, I
will return.

In my quest to have seen most parts of planet Earth by 2001
or so, I am planning other, some much longer, trips: 1) S.
PACIFIC (about 2 months): Tahiti, Easter IsI., 2 other
islands, Australia, N.Zaaland, Tasmania to finish off that
area. 2) SOUTHERN/EASTERN AFRICA (2-6 months), also incl.
Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Kenya, to finish
off all of Africa, as I know every other country in Africa.
(When I was a consultant in Riyadh, I represented S.Arabia
in the financing of large development projects around the
world, e.g., the Kpong Dam in Ghana. This will be my 4th
trip to Africa.) 3) South & CENTRAL AMERICA (3-6 months),
driving through. (This will be my 3rd trip there, and I
crossed the Amazon from Belem to Manaus, Brazil.) 4) Russia
(1 month or so), incl. the Siberian rail to the east. 5)
North to South of CHINA (2 months), incl. Tibet and
Mongolia. 6) MID-EAST (2 months), incl. Yemen, Oman, Syria,
Jordan, Iran, and SE parts of Turkey. (Mother was born in
Aleppo when Syria was under the Ottomans; her father, a
medical doctor, was with the army fighting against Lawrence
of Arabia.) 7) ALASKA and YUKON

As usual, I am in the middle of an arm-wrestling contest
between "settling down" and the sound of the "Call of the
Wild." The latter usually wins. After these trips, I will
probably get a motorcycle and then perhaps settle down with
someone into that lifestyle, though I do not know for how
long. I like to live life as disconnected sequences. I had
a wonderful childhood in Turkey, boarding school in
Istanbul and Salzburg, spent wry happy high school years in
Germany, university in USA, worked as a consultant in
Washington, DC, then Riyadh, thereafter lived in
Pittsburgh, PA, Columbus, Ohio, San Francisco/San Diego/Los
Angeles, where I taught at various univ. incl. UCLA, then
in New York, then I started my own software company in
Washington, DC (the place in which I lived longer than any
other), and finally finished our 675-page Family Diary (and
soon a Family CD-ROM, incl. some 4,000 photos, etc.) in
Miami Beach. Along the way, I had 3 wives, who are very
close friends, about 2 dozen marriage like relationships,
and many short-term bonds. And I have a daughter whom I am
presently helping to plan her future. Eventually I will
probably withdraw to a far-off place like Papua jungles,
live a while with the natives and then become a fertilizer
there ... Perhaps I am the ultimate romantic.

Be well, tell me what you are doing, have in mind.