Question 1: What do Massena, NY and Tortola, BVI have in common?

They are both serviced by Cape Air Airlines. Who knew?! I discovered this leafing through the in flight magazine when I came across an advertisement for Blue Water Divers. The small dive shop outfitted the entire Trescott clan (grandparents and all) with flippers and snorkels during our family reunion trip to Tortola about five years ago. I couldn’t help but think of Grandfather Trescott decked out in his snorkel gear. It was quite the sight!

Question 2: Why do you care about some obscure connection between Massena and Tortola?

Well don’t worry about Tortola, but I flew to Massena yesterday for a short stopover before departing for Beijing, where I will spend the next two months doing research in a materials science lab at Tsinghua University. The program is offered through Clarkson University, in Potsdam, NY, about a forty minute drive from Massena. Jimmy Trescott, my brother, participated in the same program two years ago and you can read all about his escapades in his blog Jimmy does Dalian (http://jimmydoesdalian.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html). This might also help you in understanding the names I have chosen for myself and my family. I've heard that censorship in China is widespread, and I’m all for avoiding kidnapping and imprisonment, plus an alias is always fun.

Question 3: Why would I want to write a blog?

Well after the part about going to jail, I’m not so sure, but whenever there is an opportunity to one-up an older sibling, it must be taken! I have no guarantees at this point, but we’ll see how it goes.

My hope is to regularly update you all on my adventures in China throughout the summer, but I make no promises. Rumor has it that my Chinese mentor works 90 hours per week, so who knows, I may not ever leave the lab! We have one more day of orientation here at Clarkson before a marathon day of travel to Beijing. Looking forward to shipping off!

Betty