I travelled to China with a group of friends in 2006, and I acquired a reputation for having a good sense of direction and a good memory. When we were in Shanghai and about to leave for home, Eric asked his son - a resident of China, fluent in Mandarin, what would be a good name for me - and he suggested "Da Xiang" (Large Elephant) - he said because elephants never forget! Or was he really making reference to my size? In either case, I adopted Da Xiang as my Chinese name, and promptly purchased a Chinese caligraphy seal with these characters.
The name has really taken off. I visited my sister in Thailand and came home with a set of wooden carved elephants. My daughter then gave me an elephant mug for Christmas - which sits on my Office desk and is used daily.
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