Tuesday, May 29, 2001
Ostrava, Czech Republic
Dear Friends:
Greetings!
It's been busy but fun since I arrived here on May 24. After presenting a talk at the VSB's Scientific Board Meeting here on Friday the 25th, I was a guest at the cottage of Dr. Tomas Cermak, past Rector of VSB Technical U. of Ostrava on Saturday. It was a relaxing day spent in pleasant conversation.
On Sunday, I was at Dr. V. Roubicek's (current Rector and my host) cottage in a village near Ostrava. While he rested his foot badly injured from tennis, I went biking with Mrs. Jitka Roubicek. It was a pleasurable 4-1/2 hour ride up and down green, serene vales and valleys, with breathtaking scenery around us. We lunched at a resort overlooking a lake where windsurfers, boaters and bathers were taking advantage of the great sunny weather. It reminded me of life in Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 lakes.
That evening, we ate at a Spanish restaurant in Ostrava Centrum where we sipped fine Moravian wine while watching the photos I had taken during the last few days. It's entirely possible that digital photography will revolutionize the way we communicate and share information. To see what I mean click here. To access the Powerpoint file of my talk, click here.
It is truly a fast and easy way to share information, even as events develop!
Yesterday and today, I was with Dr. Radim Farana working on the iNEER website. What a wonderful, bright and hardworking young man! We are lucky to have him as the iNEER webmaster! Take a look at the website, and you will know what I mean.
Last night, as the guest of the Roubiceks, I attended a concert and saw the piano played as it was never played before. The pianist was Garrick Ohlsson, domiciled in but on tour from San Francisco. At the following reception (attended by Ostrava's high society, according to Dr. Roubicek), Ohlsson said he will play with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in September, 2002 ("People in music plan ahead," he said). The Roubiceks promised to join Annie and me then and I hope you will too!
Tomorrow, Dr. Roubicek and I will journey to Prague and from there to Donetsk and Kiev.
Sincerely,
Win Aung.