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This week (procrastination: last week) my shoe string cousins came to China to visit some war memorials that my great uncle, their father, was located at during World War II, as well as some of the other must see sites of Chinese tourism in the area. He was a Marine radio operator at the American embassy. He arrived in 1943 and became a POW six hours after Pearl Harbor was struck when his unit and the rest of the American quarters in Tianjin (a coastal city near Beijing) were captured by the Japanese. His unit was moved around China a little and finally ended up in an internment camp in Japan. We saw his original living quarters and his headquarters, now refurbished and modernized (which made finding rather interesting) and part of a medical school. The school staff were very interested in the history and wanted to know everything, which was really cool because they totally could have just kicked us out of the campus and not let us lurk around :-)
We also saw some of the famous hangout spots frequented during his era such as the British officer's club, and a very nice German restaurant where we celebrated the 68th anniversary of the surrender of the Japanese. We stayed at a hotel built 150 years ago that had a museum about the British quarter prior to the war. We went cruising through all the foreign quarters in search of famous sites for the group (there were two veterans from post WW2 era that also had checklists of old buildings to reminisce in, and the guide had a list of other famous spots). The area is filled with old two story buildings from that era mixed with the ever growing number of sky scrapers by which China symbolizes itself nowadays. We saw the building where general Rocky met with the Japanese for their surrender at the end of the war. Lastly I saw ones of the oldest churches in China before the tour group went to another city which was less related to my family.
School is going well. I have one problem class, but everything else is super. We have a delegation from America visiting Xinyang for CSV as well which should be cool because it means I can meet with a lot of really cool people related to the rooster mountain church and the pre war missions. Interesting story actually, my great uncle was arrested on December 7th, but a few days prior to then, the missionaries in Xinyang were warned by a Japanese officer of the necessity to 'get out of Dodge,' and were able to escape to Hong Kong before being arrested. Another interesting note is the French church we visited stayed open during the War because of its good relations with a Japanese officer or two.
Update: I was supposed to send this last week when I got back. &;Since then, I met with the delegation- a bunch of cool pastors from all over (Ethiopia, Hawaii- represent!, and Wisconsin)- and listen to their experiences of China. I am looking forward to meeting the Hawaiian pastor in January :D
Today was another test day for my aforementioned class... and well... I haven't done the grades yet, but it's not looking good... I had ~10 of the 30 students cheat; that is, after I emphasized in Chinese and English that talking, sharing notes, having other pieces of paper on the desk would result in failure (ALL of which I repeated, and I am emphatic about this because it is so vexing, at least 3 times) I still managed to have students- right in front of me- whisper, as if I weren't there, about the test. Awe inspiring. The word audacious comes from this kind of intrepidity. This is my favorite class though (they managed to have the entire class miss the last two weeks in a row for one cheesy excuse or another) so I'm not feeling too guilty about it. I would prefer they were more up front about their opinion of class (and just told me they didn't want to come) than bead around the bush as they do... but that's just the American talking.
I was biking home and almost died! Not the normal had a car raging down the street and try and swerve into me 'almost died'--which happens often enough to be sure-- but a far more interesting and less controllable 'almost died.' Today I was closing in on a stopped red and there were two 5 tons stopped (6 wheeled dual axel trucks) at the light. It turned green as I arrived; so, I merely slowed and began to look to the left to see oncoming red light runners when I heard a CRACK! and a GIANT (and I mean like 10-15 feet long and easily as thick as my wrist) rubber cord snaps off the rear 5 ton (which apparently was being towed, though at night it was hard to tell) and fly about half way through the left lane of the truck. Had it so happened to fling around the right lane it likely would have left a pretty nice sized hole in my head or torso from the hook at the end of the cord (which I imagine was supposed to hold it in place...)
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- Reply sunnyv
- Reminds me of the time when my family returned to Shamian Island, Guangzhou to find our old abandoned home in China. We were so excited to see the building appear right in front of us as we approached. It was the same as in the old pictures except that it has been whitewashed and has some minor additions. My mother was so excited to go into the house and explained to us how we lived in the house at that time. She walked around the area and reminiscent the time when she was there decades ago. She even managed to find the original hospital in a corner of the road which is the same building as it was but is now a hotel. The waterways and bridges remained the same. The government is doing quite a good job in preserving history and now the public can go into this area and enjoy the scenery and know about it's history.
Yes, China's road can be quite dangerous, so visitors should take heed and be careful.
