Thank you to UGUR MAKINA !

The show Tüyep was a tremendous success.

Merrow is grateful for the work put in by the Ugur company, and to Hakan, Temel, Cuynet and Cenk specifically. With teamwork, and a terrific work effort, I think it is fair to say that this presentation of Merrow and our new products was the best I have seen yet.

We look forward to the coming year in Turkey. The foundation has been established for Activeseam, and a return trip is scheduled for early september to review the first wave of machine shipments to customers across Turkey.

Thank you all for your hard work!

Charlie

Launch of New Travel Blog

... And I'm the new intern whose going to tell you about it, but more on me later ...

Thanks to Merrow's international business relationships the following months will be filled with plenty of traveling, working and meeting with Merrow customers, making new friends and seeing old ones, and who knows, maybe a little bit of intrigue. This blog will provide a separate space for our travel news, documenting all of our global exploits and the surprises along the way, and hopefully providing a forum for us here at Merrow to share our adventures with you and to learn about yours! Maybe there'll be a post about what its like to try the street food in Bangkok, or maybe you have some advice for us from your last trip to East Asia? Let us know!

The summer is kicking off this weekend with Charlie leaving on a 3 week trip that begins in the city of Shanghai. He'll then make his way East, heading to Bangkok June 29th and then up and over to Istanbul July 4th. Thanks to friends of mine, who

are either from Shanghai or have studied abroad there, I know a little bit about it (though admittedly not too much). It is apparently a city of contrasts where you're likely to be walking down a street on the level of say NYs Fifth Avenue, only to turn a corner and find yourself in a bustling street market, or perhaps the grittier, uncompromising side of town. Thanks to a class I took I also know that the metropolis is famous for its architectural heritage, filled with skyscrapers, and exhibiting styles as varied as modern, neoclassical, art deco, and traditional Jiangnan. I checked the weather for Shanghai, and apparently June is both the city's rainiest and most humid month—we'll have to wait until Charlie posts on the travel blog to see what he thinks of it. Be sure to check it out and keep an eye out for new posts!

Hope everyone gets to enjoy the sunshine and their Friday Afternoon!

Best,

Christine

Istanbul

don't have much time -- have taken hundreds of pictures (unfortunately i think there is likely to be a blog post sometime in the not to distant future with the backlog of pics).

i leave for milan today

couple of quick thoughts on istanbul

1. the flag is spectacular. was on the bosporus by boat the other night and over the hagia sophia there was a 1/4 moon -- within the frame of the camera there was also a monster sized, hilltop perched and brightly lit up deep red turkish flag (which is a crescent & start).

2. could attaturk possibly be offered in more curious poses? Every picture of the man ever taken regardless of circumstance (he was standing in line at the post office...) is posted throughout this city -- they adore this man -- the most sincere adoration as well. His bust is everywhere, his head is everywhere, and these strange pictures of his every public move are 2X3 and 4X5 (feet) framed and hanging

3. the history of the city will make your head explode. a lightening tour of a museum could cause serious medical issues

4. traffic is horrible

5. the city is more modern than i imagined. it's like a european san francisco in places (and in others like sprawling LA apartment blocks

6. there is stagflation

7. we can do a lot of business here

8. i'm sorry to have to leave