Ok, so I'm not sure how to spell calligraphy, but I finally tried my hand at it today, brush, inkwell, and all.  I've been studying Chinese for nearly ten years.  Why?  The story is fairly simple.  Chinese has always looked like what Tonight Show host Jay Leno called "China's secret code" and as a young boy I always liked the idea of a secret code, of course.

In 2002, I was listening to a program about languages on the National Public Radio program.  They said two people speak Chinese for every one person who speaks English.  I thought, "Well, if I learned Chinese, then I could talk to most people on the planet," since I already know a little German from college and I started teaching myself Spanish in 1983.  My efforts to learn Chinese kicked off on Feb. 26, 2004 when I was working in Atlanta, Georgia (USA).  We had moved to Atlanta in 2003 and I already knew Atlanta had a large Chinese community.  I'd later learn about 60,000 Americans in Atlanta are of Chinese ancestry.

On that fateful Feb. day, I happened to be in a bookstore during lunch which was across the street from my office on the northern edge of Atlanta.  I wandered into the language section and decided to buy a Chinese phrase book and learn Chinese for fun. The rest, as we say, is history.  I used flash cards and language tapes for several years.  Then, in 2008, we returned to Arkansas and I started making friends in the Chinese student group, the Arkansas Chinese Student and Scholar Association.  We've taken two guys on vacation driving to California with us on vacation, three to Colorado, and two on a camping trip to the Appalachian Mountains. 

Soon, I started editing for a new job and became a freelance writer and editor.  Now, I edit resumes, college application letters, and mostly scientific research papers for Chinese college professors and students, helping them improve their English and get their research published.  I'd did a paper yesterday on Fukushima and another on growing aromatic rice in China.  I even impact the retirement benefits of people in China by advising Chinese experts on how to develop their national retirement plan.  Such fun!

Last April, we visited Atlanta to sell our old house there and I bought a brush and ink.  Finally, today, I tried my hand with them.  You can see the results!