***** Vol.2 Chap.15 Presentation at a conference in America *****

It was late spring in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Annual Conference of the American Association of Advancement of Science was just about to begin at the downtown Marriott Hotel. The ball room was crowded with conference attendees. Pre-conference reception with free hors d’oeuvre and free drinks was a high point. Besides, no one would pass up free food.

May-Ling arrived late the night before. After a couple hours of sleep, she freshened up and attended the reception. She had never seen or even imagined all the food on the table.

There were many goodies on the table, an enormous platter of specialty cheese arranged nicely around apple slices in the middle, another platter filled with all kinds of nuts, and another fruit platter with banana and orange wedges, little balls of watermelon and cantaloupe, and of course red and green seedless grapes.

With wide eyes at all the food, she loaded her plate with fruit. She took a mini quiche and a chocolate éclair. By then, she realized her plate was already full, and she still had not sampled all the hot hors d’oeuvre yet. She sighed and decided to work on what she had placed on her plate first.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

With a full plate in one hand and a lemonade in the other, she made her way to an open table.

“May I join you?”

“Sure, help yourself.”

“Hi, my name is Kristinar Sobrinowski, but you can call me Kristin..”

“I am May-Ling.” She put her food down. “Thank you.”

“So, May-Ling, where are you from?”

“China. And you?”

“Miami. I am with NOAA.”

“What is your field of specialty?”

“I study marine mammals, dolphins in particular.”

“Dolphins? They are an interesting species.”

“Are you a dolphin expert?”

“No, no. I am a medical doctor. I only remember what I read about dolphins from freshman biology.”

“They are more than interesting. They are rather intelligent and live a life in perfect social harmony.”

“Social harmony?” May-Ling’s eyebrows shot up. Her interest was piqued.

“They are gregarious, playful, and sociable.”

“Wow. Imagine an entire school of dolphins with no aggressive behaviors. That is hard to believe. Maybe there is something we can learn from the dolphins.”

“There is a lot that we can learn from the dolphins.”

“I believe you. Tell me more.”

“Come to my session tomorrow.”

“Okay, you have piqued my interest now. When is your session?”

“Right after lunch tomorrow.” Kristin said as she stood up.

“I will be there.”

“Enjoy your food.” And she was gone.

May-Ling enjoyed the conference very much. She interacted with other conference participants as best as she could. She tried to look for Kristin again to find out more about her dolphins, but she was gone already. Before heading back home, she made sure that she got a pack of postcards of Miami landscapes to bring back to Haw-Ting.