Dear Jack,

In China, we say, “Nǐ hǎo ma.” That means how are you? Many of my friends are artists like I am. I thought that you would enjoy an ornament of a running reindeer. Maybe next year, I can paint a picture of your papa’s Ginger running in the snow around the lake.

However, in the meantime, take care, study, and enjoy your life in the New Year.

Take care,

圣诞老人的精灵

Santa’s Elf

Jack,

My name is Plato, but, in Greece where I live, my name looks like this—Πλάτων. Your papa took Greek in college and graduate school. He’ll explain the Greek alphabet to you. See if he remembers.

As a Christmas gift, I would give you an evil eye. Your papa has hundreds of them all over his home. He lives on a lake in America, but, if he lived in Greece, all the fisherman that fish is the Aegean Sea have evil eyes painted on their boats. Evil eyes protect them from problems and bad things happening to them. Put the evil eye in your bedroom.

Whenever you see your evil eye remember this quote of mine, “Courage is knowing what to fear.”

Πλάτων

Dear Jack,

Your papa talks about you all the time when he visits my family. My sister, Snow, and I call your papa, PaPa Al. My youngest sister, Fatty, calls him Bo Bo Gyi. I hope that you can visit us sometime. We live in Taunggyi, which is about ten miles from Inle Lake. Your papa really likes the lake. In fact, I did a video for his webpage about the lake. It isn’t a deep lake. It ranges from 5 to 12 feet deep.

Your papa took this picture of a fisherman with his net. However, they grow tomatoes in the lake. Really. Also, there are a lot of homes that are built on stilts. You would need a boat to go to school or to another part of the lake.

Well, Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Take care,

Ti Ti