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WORL0216-A-F -Composite Proof 0:00 0:00 man in Atlanta has fallen in love with the city and want to go home ByDAN CHAPMAN start with his name, George, and the fact that soon- to-be-ex-Consul General George Hisaeda defies the stereotypes of abuttoned-down, golf- worshipping, commerce-crazy Japanese diplomat rather groundbreak for a factory than share sushi with hoi polloi. Our George is a different breed of Japanese diplomat. Who else prefers catching butterflies to playing golf? Furthers U.S.- Japan relations via disco dancing? Exchanges sartorial secrets with Jane Fonda? Pines after the life lived by fitness instructor Jake of by fame? Or takes to the op-ed pages to lament his imminent leave-taking? feel there are few positive elements in my returning to Hisaeda wrote in a recent of the email. am feeling a combination of sadness and anger. The sadness is at having to say goodbye, and the anger is directed at my His unusual comments prompted international community to scrunch its collective eyebrows wondering whether the old boy had lost his diplomatic marbles.

When Hisaeda followed his want to go jeremiad with an Atlanta Journal-Constitution column on the courtesy of Southerners who inquire or purposefully inquire about golf game, the chattering classes had a conniption. not the typical said friend and former Gov. Roy Barnes. think of diplomats, particularly of the Asian variety, as stiff-necked and very formal. George is not that In the parlance of career Foreign Service officers, Hisaeda has gone native.

He loves Atlanta, Ted Turner, Hank Aaron, Jimmy Carter, corn bread, grits and shopping malls that afford ample parking. also a media-savvy huckster of all things Japanese who RICH ADDICKS Staff After 2 1 2 years as consul general in the Southeast, George Hisaeda is reluctantly headed home for a new assignment. The diplomat, shown being honored Monday at a reception at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, has signaled his displeasure to his bosses in Tokyo. Adifferent breed not the typical diplomat. You think of diplomats, particularly of the Asian variety, as stiff-necked and very formal.

George is not that ROY BARNES, former Georgia governor and friend of Hisaeda Please see CONSUL, F3 INSIDE: Hispanic diplomats to join consular corps, F3 so cold here that locals bother to add when they say the temperature. Ink pens freeze, giving a whole new meaning to the term Cellphones slow down; breath condenses and freezes on your eyeglasses. Any trip outdoors is preceded by 10 minutes of layering on the wool, down and fleece and boots. With temperatures at about 5 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 25 at night below zero think no one would want to come here. Think again.

Harbin, the City of Ice, situated deep in Manchuria, has turned itself into one of the most popular winter destinations in China. More than 1 million people visited during last weeklong lunar new year holiday, 18 percent more than the year before. Harbin, a city of 9 million, used tohate being called the City of Ice. Its preferred moniker was, and still is, Little Paris of the even though its landscape of elegant Russian colonial buildings Tourism warms icy cockles JULIE CHAO DATELINE: HARBIN, CHINA Please see HARBIN, F6 Cold cash: Deep freeze transforms Harbin, China, into a winter wonderland for those who can afford it. JULIE CHAO Staff In Harbin, China, a visitor walks through a tunnel made entirely of blocks of ice cut from a river.

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION CHECK FOR BREAKING NEWS UPDATES AT AJC.COM CONTACT US: Sylvester Monroe, Editor 404-526-5434 Atlanta philosophy is based on an ancient Indian system of healing body and soul. Experience a world of dining in Atlanta. Read our reviews of restaurants of all cuisines at ajc.com/atlantaworld. ON AJC.COM WEDNESDAY, FEB. 16, 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Atlanta F5 the World THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION CHECK FOR BREAKING NEWS UPDATES AT AJC.COM INSIDE TODAY ajc a Holistic escape Tsunamis took toll on CDC staff By M.A.J.

McKENNA Bangkok, Thailand first sign that something was wrong came during breakfast. It was the day after Christmas. Robert Linkins and Dr. Janet McNicholl, two new members of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and staff in Thailand, were planning a quick holiday getaway.

Bored with the chat, their 3-year-old son, Aidan, looked out the window. he said, water in the swimming pool is His puzzled parents walked over to check. In the pool behind their apartment, 2-foot waves were rising and breaking. wondered whether it was an Linkins said. Bangkok get earthquakes.

So we put it out of our minds, and we packed up the car and drove down to the They were not there long. Within 24 hours, Linkins would be leading the tsunami response in Thailand, sending his co-workers and his wife into the devastation in an urgent mission to find the wounded and account for the dead. Weeks later, they and their CDC colleagues are still trying to understand what they have been through. The Thai delegation, acol- laboration with Public Health Ministry, is the federal largest outside the United States. Almost 20 Americans and more than 100 Thai scientists and administrative staffers work on AIDS and emerging infections in a bougainvillea-filled office park in northern suburbs.

But when the tsunamis struck, most of Carnage haunts hardened disease sleuths RICH ADDICKS Staff At a morgue in Takuapa, Thailand, Dr. Christopher Braden (center) of the CDC in Atlanta compares notes last month with fellow tsunami relief workers Cheryl Brown of Australia and Tony Cresswell of Britain. Please see CDC, F6 RWORL0216OF1 FWORL0216OF1 4Star 1F 1F Blue Red Yellow Black Blue Red Yellow Black.