My 2010 Holiday Note

December 2010

5 Alban Mews
New Albany, Ohio 43054
Email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo: rgwc@insight.rr.com

A holiday note to my family, friends, and colleagues —

It‛s been a tough year for my mother Frances and me medically, but we‛ve been blessed with outstanding medical care that has gotten us well. Mom's trouble eating last year was due to a lymphoma in her esophagus. The good news is that she was totally cured with 4 chemotherapy sessions during the first half of the year. Then, after Mom‛s last treatment, I was stricken with severe abdominal pains caused by a paraduodenal hernia. The teams at Ohio State University‛s Medical Center took great care of me. The 7-inch scar down my belly is a happy reminder that I suffered absolutely no pain after the operation! Now, as I write this, Mom is in Mass General Hospital recovering from open heart surgery to replace her two defective heart valves (a problem we‛ve know about for years). Again, with a gifted surgeon and terrific patient care, she‛s doing well, and after her recovery she should feel better than she has in years. Medical treatment has advanced remarkably in our lifetimes. I‛m grateful to our educational system for its part in these advancements.

My activities with the College Board, the Cornell University Council, State Farm Bank, Peace Lutheran Church, and other groups have kept me quite busy, informed, and, I think, productive while I‛ve continued to explore full-time opportunities. I‛m still looking for that ideal match where I can apply my knowledge and talents to make a real difference. As I‛ve been writing down my thoughts on education, public policy, and life, I‛ve become even more convinced that our future depends on vibrant, forward-thinking educational institutions with educators who will take on the task of Reinventing Education to enable their students to meet the needs and challenges of a connected, multicultural world. Given America‛s educational milieu, we all need to take responsibility to work for reinvention within our own communities to build the sustainable communities and future we want for ourselves and our children.

My family joins me in wishing you and yours a new year in which we will come together to forge that fine future for our current and future generations, preparing each of us - as our doctors have been - to do good things that were once unimaginable.

Sincerely,

This holiday letter: http://roderickchu.blogspot.com
My photo website: http://rgwc.smugmug.com
My blog: http://rodchu.blogspot.com

The following sections give a glimpse of some of the other things I've been up to this year ...

Vacation Trips

JAN: Guest of Bob Crane for a few days at his Esperanza Resort time share in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Relaxed in their award-winning spa, infinity pools (watching whales in the Sea of Cortez); enjoyed fine food, flora & fauna.

OCT: Staycationed in Columbus on Columbus Day weekend. Sampled savory Middle Eastern pies, Somali lamb, & other exotic fare on Bethia Woolf‛s Columbus Food Adventures Alt Eats Tour. Then saw sights on a Segway tour, getting proficient along the way. What a fun way to zip about town!

JUL: Karen & Gian rented a huge Cape Cod house in East Orleans for the family to enjoy. A.J. & Alex became very comfortable with the water this year. Had a traditional clam bake with enough leftovers for a lobstah salad lunch.

NOV: Visited Chicago and Michael Richardson in his Oak Park home. Had supper at Quartino‛s after Lyric Opera‛s Dream. Saw Frank Lloyd Wright‛s iconic Unity Temple and many homes just blocks from Michael‛s. Wowed by the 33‛ high stainless steel Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park.

Fine Food Feasts with Fabulous Friends

JAN: I was among several fortunate friends Bob & Linda Gorman had to their New Albany home for mini-cassoulets and fine Bordeaux - a hearty, warming winter meal!

MAR: Tom & Pat Shiah were Mom & my guests at Blue Hill at Stone Barns on the Rockefeller estate. Fresh tastes of locally grown veggies & meats flowed throughout dinner.

MAR: Joined Henry & Patty Tang and Jeanne Lawrence as Tom & Pat Shiah‛s guests at the clubby new Jean-Georges at the Mark. Ran into Vera Wang & her family, also there.

APR: Our Int‛l Wine & Food Society-Columbus Branch President‛s Dinner at The Refectory (my local favorite!) - orchestrated for Lisal Gorman by Chef Richard Blondin and Owner Kamal Boulos - welcomed our incoming Co-Presidents Mary Duffey & Peggy Fein with much fine food and wine.

MAY: Les Wexner‛s personal chef, Mark Hayes, prepared a Springtime in Paris dinner for New Albany Country Club members. Some Alban Mews neighbors & I had a great time!

JUL: Peggy & Bill Fein hosted an IWFS Tuscan dinner. Many guests‛ NY Yankees World Championship rings were in sight.

SEP: Ray Chen invited a few foodie pals to try the new Old Shanghai in Chinatown. Loved the squirrel fish & pork belly!

SEP: Joined Linda & Glenn Woo at Lincoln Center‛s new Lincoln restaurant - among the 50 chosen few to get a table for their Opening Night. Chef Jonathan Benno crafted a tasting menu just for us, including the $138 Cowboy ribeye.

OCT: Zang Toi invited K.S. & Gina Liu, Mom & me to the classic Daniel for a luscious dinner including frogs legs, duck terrine, and pumpkin seed crusted sea scallops.

All Year: The only Chinese restaurant in Westchester Cnty that Mom & I really like is Central Seafood in Hartsdale, where Michael & Jackson take care of us. Happy to share speciaties - Peking Duck, giant oysters, & fa gu mushrooms - with CT friend Henry Shum, Columbus visitors Ambrose & Irene Ng, Mom‛s cardiologist Dr. Arthur Fass, & others.

Benefit Events

MAR: Mom & I went to the Phelps Memorial Hospital donors‛ reception at the Trump National Country Club in Briarcliff Manor to honor her cardiologist, Dr. Charles Starke.

APR: While Joe & Marney Thomas‛ houseguest for a Cornell meeting, I got to help prepare and partake in a magnificent meal with 8 MBA students who bid $1500 for it (benefitting a community foundation‛s non-profit internship). Featured decadant foie gras and 10 wines from Joe‛s fine wine cellar.

NOV: With Kaity Tong at OCA-WHV‛s 30th Anniversary Gala (which Mom co-chaired), in Tarrytown, NY, honoring fashion designer Zang Toi as a Dynamic Achiever. Zang‛s Mom flew in from Malaysia for the event, attended by many of Zang‛s friends & clients in his gowns. A stunningly fun evening!

The Metropolitan Opera & the Opera Club

JAN, MAY, NOV: Far fewer photos this year of friends at the Metropolitan Opera & Club because after I left the board they banned photos in the Club (so also less reason to go). Glad I captured a few pics, though, of my guests (& operas): Joe & Marney Thomas (Carmen); Bill & Cynthia Ling (Flying Dutchman). Caught one of Shenyang‛s 12 performancs in Zeffirelli‛s lavish production of La Bohème with K.S. Liu; met him backstage, then supper at Shun Lee.

Peace Lutheran Church Activities

All year: I continue to be active in my Gahanna, OH church‛s activities. I serve on the Vision Board and at the YWCA Family Center where Tammy Evans leads our group‛s dinner preparation once each month for up to 200 homeless folk.

NOV: On 3 evenings, church members bagged fixins we donated for 500 meals so needy families could enjoy a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal. Lutheran Social Services distributed them with turkeys through their Food Pantry.

SEP: Each year at one of our summer outdoor services, we celebrate Pet Blessing Sunday. It‛s always a howl!

APR: I‛ve had the pleasure of watching Pastor Kai & Patty Nilsen‛s kids grow during my years in Columbus. After Anders‛ singing in the Easter service, the Nilsens had a few pastel friends to their home to share their family supper.

MAY: Celebrated with the Nilsen family & grandparents Anders‛ leading baritone role in his high school‛s Jeckyl & Hyde performance, and also Leif‛s confirmation at Peace.

Special Celebrations

MAY: Not up for a big party this year, my godmother Aileen Pei invited my Mom & me to quietly celebrate her 98th birthday in her NYC apartment with her daughter Patty.

SEP: Mom & I joined 230 other friends and relatives celebrating Auntie Juliana Koo‛s 105th birthday at the Waldorf Astoria‛s Starlight Roof, hosted by her daughters Shirley and Gene Young, and son-in-law Oscar Tang. The Metropolitan Opera‛s Shenyang honored her with an aria.

JUL: Our International Wine & Food Society-Columbus group reveled at the wedding of Miranda & Ben Weisbuch at New Albany Country Club on July 4th. We partied into the evening with Miranda‛s Mom & Dad, Joyce & Jeff Abrams.

JUN: A perfect day for Penelope & Ben August‛s wedding in the private Sutton Square Park behind her uncle I.M. Pei‛s townhouse, overlooking NYC‛s East River & Queensboro Bridge. Her Mom & Dad, Patty & Henry Tang, grandmother Aileen Pei, and 100s of guests partied at Cipriani‛s 42nd St. with the bride resplendent in her Vera Wang gown.

JUL: Mom & I in the audience at NYC‛s Hudson Theater for Stephanie & Eddie Sie‛s wedding. His Mom, Gina Liu, looked marvelous in her new Zang Toi gown, with husband K.S.

Thanksgiving: Joined Laura & David for Grandfriends‛ Day at A.J.‛s & Alex‛s school, then helped my sister cook. She‛s constantly teaching her grandkids useful new skills.

Board Trips

JAN: Took breaks for great sunsets in Del Mar, CA at our College Board Trustees‛ Retreat, with CB President Gaston Caperton. Visited my Cornell roommate, Bob & Susan Crane in their Encinitas home on a bluff over the Pacific Ocean ...

... then to Los Angeles for a Univ. of Southern California Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, & Practice conference; reception in Geary‛s Walt Disney Concert Hall. Visited Walt & Sonny Kiang from Albany in their L.A. home and out for a huge buffet dinner of unusual Asian delicacies.

APR & OCT: At Cornell for meetings as a Vice Chair of the Cornell University Council. Enjoyed the gorges Spring & Fall scenes, and seeing Frank & Rosa Rhodes with Henry Shum, and Ezra Cornell at the Cornell vs. Princeton football game.