Friends around the World

It is fun to meet interesting friends around the World.

Sienkiewicz. On the same park ground, there is a statue of Henryk Sienkiewicz. Who is he? Sienkiewicz was the recipient of 1905 Nobel prize in literature. He is the author of "Quao Vadis." In this photo, I am with a polish lady who has a great respect for Sienkiewicz. She is very happy to meet a non-Polish man who also respects this great Polish writer. Why do I like him so much? Click here for the answer.
1. Polish Student in Warsaw I was talking with this Polish student while waiting for a bus. She was born in 1984, and she knows her country was under communist domination until 1991.
2. Polish Students at the Market Squre in Krakow (2009).
3. like Hillary Clinton. when I went to Warsaw in 1994. There, a very kind Polish lady explained to me the history of this church. She became very happy when I told her she looks Hillary Clinton. At that time, Hillary was a young first lady of the United States.
4. Go to my Poland page for more Polish friends.
Tatyana: with a Russian violinist who looks exactly like Tatyana Samoilova, who used to be the most popular actress in the Soviet world. This violinist is about 15 years younger than Tatyana, and this photo was taken by my wife in London in 1999. Russians, though not all, think she is the real Tatyana. What does Tatyana Samoilova mean to Russians and to the world? Read the attached article.
Russian Soldiers in Moscow. Two of these soldiers turned away from camera when this photo was taken. They did not show their faces (top military secret!). They are patriotic Russian boys.
In July of 2008, I met these Russian sailors in Istanbul (Turkey). I asked them whether they belong to their Black Sea Fleet, they said No. I then asked whether they came from Kaliningrad. They said Yes. I told them I was in Kaliningrad in 2005, and promised to put their photos on this webpage. Next day, I met more at the Topkapi Palace Museum, and I am happy to put three more photos of those young sailors.
Here is my Kaliningrad page.
Russian Mother and Daughter from Khabarovsk. Khabarovsk is a Russian city at the eastern end of Siberia, north of the Korean Peninsula. I met these two ladies in the Church of Resurrection in Saint Petersburg (November 2010). While I was in Korea until 1954, I used to pick up Radio Moscow shortwave signals relayed at powerful shortwave stations in Khabarovsk, but I had never expected to meet anyone from Khabarovsk.
1. Without me, they look better. Can you tell who is the mother, and who is the daughter? They are both fluent in English, and they have been in the United States. The mother knew that North Korea's Kim Il-Sung was trained to be a Soviet intelligence agent in Khabarovsk, while the daughter did not. Indeed, we had many interesting topics to talk about. I like to meet them again.
Russian Family in Paris (2010). I met these people at one of the Paris cafes for late-night meal. The father appears to be a very successful capitalist, and the family travelled around the world including the United States. We had many things in common.
Harrow Students. Etoan and Harrow are two exclusive high schools in England. Winston Churchil came from the Harrow School.
1. Here is my Eton-Harrow page. In Korea, I attended one of the top high high schools, and its principal used to mention Eton and Harrow every morning. I think, however, he was practicing his Confucian education. In either case, I was well prepared to study in the United States, and I received my PhD degree seven years after my high school graduation.
Musicians in London. I met them while walking from Covent Garden to Piccadilly Circus. I was walking with Vladimor Man'ko whom I met unexpectedly in front of the Covent Garden Opera House (1993).
Crabtree & Evelyn at New York's Rockefeller Center (2002).
French Journalist from Paris at Victor Hugo's statue in Besancon (May 2005). Hugo's father was a very distinguished general belonging to the high class in Paris, but Victor was born in Besancon about 350 kilometers away from Paris. The question is then why he was born in this small town unknown at that time. The story is somewhat complicated. I asked this journalist whether she could make my story known to Parisians. She said No, and told me French people would not accept my story.
Italian Lawyer on a train from Naples to Pompei (March 2005). She just started her lawyer career by passing the first of the exams. It is always refreshing to talk with young people with ambitions.
New Opera Dress Code. During the intermission in the Frankfurt Opera House, I noticed many black-tied gentlemen, and ladies were also formally dressed. There were some informally dressed like myself, and I was looking for the ladies with appropriately dressed. I found them and we agreed that we are more in tune with the real world. There are two ladies in this photo. One of them lives in Frankfurt, and the other is from Vienna. Both of them are opera lovers (2001).
Chinese Actresses in Santorini (2010). They came from Beijing, and I had a photo with them.
Chinese Visitors from Beijing. I met them at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London (2010). I was very happy to hear that that are working for a Korean company in Beijing.
Mongolian Tourism Professionals receiving practical training in London (2009). They are working at one of the Aberdeen steak houses. They look like Koreans.
Albanian Government Officials at CDG Airport in Paris (1999). They were going to the United States to see how the U.S. government works. They say this and that about the United States, but many people still like learn things from American Institutions.
Turkish Professor in Stockholm (Sweden 2005). She came to Stockholm to attend a conference in mechanical engineering. I went there to attend a physics conference. This photo was taken in the hotel's breakfast room (2005).
1. Turkish Students on the campus of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (2006).
2. Turkish Students in Prague (2009).
Koreans from Central Asia. There used to be many Korean farmers in the Vladivostok area of Russia. In 1936, Stalin forced them to move to the empty lands of Kazakhstan and Uzbeckistan. They developed their new lands and became respectable farmers. Man of their second and third generations are now main-stream Russians. Naturally, I become very happy whenever I meet them.
Defectors from North Korea. They are settling down in the Washington area by opening a Korean restaurant offering Pyongyang delicacies. They are also artists performing song-and-dance shows at the Korean gatherings. Photo taken in Annandale, Virginia (2010).
Korean Singers. I become vary happy when I attend Korean parties. I am enjoying a party for those Koreans who came from the North to South during the years 1945 - 50, because they did not like the communist rule being installed in the North.