I don't know how my Belgium Secret Santa knew from my preferences that I would like Tintin, but they chose well. I got an English copy of The Blue Lotus, an adventure of Tintin.

To explain, when I was 8, my father and mother gave me a copy of The Blue Lotus and it became my favorite book for a while.

It started a love for Asian history, especially Japanese and Chinese modern history. My mother and father pushed speaking French, and reading Herge was a great incentive to learn. Also, reading comics or graphic novels that had a lot of dense and high-level words helped me, even though it didn't feel like studying.

Due to circumstances, I lost a great deal of my childhood items three years ago, most having to be thrown out by the end, and when I looked through the items that were saved, my copy of the Blue Lotus didn't make it. It hit me pretty hard, because I finally graduated from college with a degree in Japanese studies and a minor in history. It was a beloved copy because my mother, who has suffered strokes and is in pretty bad health, loved it and we read it together when I was little.

So, my poor spouse was witness to a break-down this morning when the present came in the mail. I had just been thinking that I wanted to get a new copy for myself because I missed it so, but I am in Japan and didn't want to spend the money to have stuff shipped to me.

So, thank you Santa. I'm going to go read my childhood again.