China quake hits close to home

“I'm not posting this under the Earthquake! thread as that seems to have fallen victim to a truly unfortunate turn of thought by one person.

Newcomers to Trail Talk may not know me, but some of the old timers here will remember that I spent a year teaching at a Chinese university back in the mid-90s. It was Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu, a name now familiar to those following the earthquake news. My students came from around the province and were destined to become middle school teachers. If they stayed with the profession after their required 2-year stint, they would be mid-career teachers in their mid-30s, most likely with families of their own.

I know the area that has been devastated by this earthquake. My wife, daughter and I were graciously hosted in Dujiangyan, one of the hardest hit cities, by the family and friends of our dear friend Li Ming, who is currently living in Chengdu with her husband, an American from the Marquette, MI, area.

It has been hard to stay focused at work the past three days as word filters out of Chengdu about the extent of the damage. When I hear of schools collapsing, I think not in abstract, but wonder if any of my former students may have been teaching in those schools. I wonder about Li Ming in Chengdu, and her best friend in Dujiangyan who was so proud to host a dinner for us in her new apartment -- is the apartment building still standing? If it isn't, were she and her family home? Were she and her husband, and her brother and sister-in-law who helped host us, at work and did those buildings survive? Did they survive? Did their children or grandchildren?

It may be a long time before I know any answers, if ever, especially about my students, who scattered across the province, mostly back to their home towns, after graduation. Some of those home towns are now in ruins.

These are not nameless, faceless foreigners to me. They are gracious, warm and generous persons who went out of their way to make some Americans far, far from home feel welcome.

I can easily picture in my mind the vast water control structures at Dujiangyan that have helped irrigate the Sichuan basin for around 2,000 years. At least one of the main dams is in grave danger of breaching, which would further devastate the area, possibly bringing more damage to Chengdu downstream than the initial quake inflicted. Think Katrina and New Orleans, only with 10 times the population affected.

When I walked the trail up the lush flanks of "Green Mountain" above Dujiangyan some 15 years ago, it was an exotic adventure that I shared with many, many Chinese who also found great pleasure in the hike. That is something Trail Talkers surely can relate to. I hope that in the spirit of hikers everywhere, you can keep the people of Sichuan, particularly those in the foothills and mountains near Chengdu, in your thoughts and good wishes.

As always,

Pekka (aka to my students as Laoshi Jeff aka Chen Si)”

“Thanks for your words pekka. I made some harsh words about the cyclone victims on a seperate thread that I wish I could take back and rephrase.”

“maybe you can report you're own message ;)”

“May to late now.

Go ahead and ban me.”

“Yes Pekka, I remember you talking about that teaching stint over there. Hope your friends and acquintances are all right over there....”

“Pekka...may all you news be good!!!!!!



Wounded...I think you need a spanking....”

“thanks pekka for sharing. Those folks, all of them are in my thoughts!

Some folks forget sometimes that it could be their family and friends, their home devestated just as easily as anyone, anywhere, else. My brother right now is being affected by the cyclone but luckily they were far enough out to sea and are able to help give aid.”

“As idealistic as it sounds, I wish I had the time and resources to go over and help out in China or Mayanmar. My water background could come in handy over there right now, I bet. Regardless of the politique, humans suffering is never a good thing.

Anyway, thanks for the thoughts, Pekka.”

“rosey, I've had those same thoughts ... could I be useful to my former Sichuanese neighbors. I guess, for now, I've settled on keeping good thoughts and trying to put a personal face on the situations at the several internet discussion boards I follow.

I realize that if I showed up there now (if I, too, could somehow afford the cost and time) I would just be one more person that needs to be housed and fed in a place where there are millions displaced and in need of shelter and sustenance. The Chinese are capable, despite the bureaucracy, of martialing great efforts and I think we are seeing them do so right now. This will be a very long term undertaking for China, as so many problems will have to be addressed. The opportunity for some of us to contribute our talents and skills in the future will certainly arise, but it may be over the horizon, once the immediate and secondary efforts have stabilized the situation.

Tonight, my wife plans to cook a Sichuanese dinner to express our concerns and solidarity in a symbolic, but tangible way. Chengdu is where she learned to cook (truly) and Sichuan cuisine makes a deep connection for us.”

“Thanks for the post Pekka. I remember sharing some thoughts on China years ago.

I have never been to that part of China, but I have also experienced the warmth, generosity and kindness of Chinese people. The suffering is horrible.

The government response seems to be very helpful, in stark contrast to that in Burma.”

“pedxing, good to hear from you. It is sometimes hard for me to explain the incredible effect that a year in the heart of China had on my life, even to explain it to myself at times. A turning point, for sure, in my perception of the world, of myself, of reality.

My wife and I have been going through our photos and rediscovering moments we had forgotten. She is putting together a reflection on our trip to Dujiangyan for a local on-line news service to help provide some perspective for our North Woods neighbors.

Fifteen years have nearly passed since our return, yet it is sometimes so present in our minds. This tragic event brings it starkly into the foreground of our thinking.”

“H3Y AINT ANYBODY GONNA ASK IF IM OK?”

“:^P
last edited: 5/15/08 4:23:42 PM”

“Crash: I found out years ago that you weren't.”

“watch it mister. im flying home in 3 weeks”

“crash bang, I apologize for not being up on where you are, but I'll ask, "Are you okay?"”

“im in korea, but i felt no ill effects. a couple of teachers who used to be at my school are now in beijeng, however”

“Pekka - I'm glad you stopped in.

I was in China in January '04 (Xian, Guilin and Beijing) and again in July '07 (Xian, Beijing and Hong Kong). It is mind boggling how fast the country is changing. The general increase in prosperity is incredible and to see people with time and money to spare having fun (beer by the lake, paddle boats, singing in choirs in the park...) was heart warming. The savage inequalities (tea shops selling gourmet teas at 30 dollars an ounce next to desperate starved looking beggars) and the rise in dishonesty (loads of counterfeit bills, and counterfeit goods - babies dying from fake infant formula, untreated tap water sold in re-used re-sealed bottles) is heart breaking. Growing pains I guess.”

“crash bang:

As a teacher, you, too, must feel the effect of just knowing about those school collapses. The report today says more than 6,000 classrooms destroyed -- in the middle of the school day. That is heartbreaking.

Best wishes to you and your students.”

“Crash, I actually clicked on this thread to see if there was any word from you. I wasn't sure exactly where you were. Glad you are OK!”

“I'll see you in West Virginia next month, Crash.

Trip report to follow....”

“I think the school situation is the worst and no doubt will prompt new safety standards for places of learning. The one child law has made it especially tough on parents, I would think...”

“My wife writes for a regional news website, News of the North. Here's the piece she contributed yesterday about our visit to Dujiangyan.

http://www.newsofthenorth.net/article.cfm?articleID=23926”

“Thats a nice piece Pekka, thanks for the link.”

“Those students were SO UNLUCKY....if I heard right from the news....recess was over and they all went back into the school....and then the earthquake hit and the school fell on them. 20 seconds longer outside....and I think more than half of them would've been ok.”

“stanlee, it may have been more like 20 minutes. In Sichuan, it is typical to have a mid-day siesta (never learned the Chinese word for it) from noon to 2, which was the practice at the college when I taught there. With the quake hitting about 25 after 2, students were likely all settled into their classrooms. The siesta period was observed by many workplaces and workers used it to rest in the heat of the day, eat lunch, nap, shop, etc. Still, as you said, unlucky timing.”

“I've read on several news sites that many of the kids were napping at the time the quake hit.”

“That could be correct. What I heard was from the early reports....and those tend to be not so accurate......”

“pedxing, I showed my wife your compliment. She says thanks, and she loves your screen/trail name -- a high school pal of hers had a band by that moniker!”

“This morning I'm trying to get my head around the whole city of Chengdu spending the night outside after a prediction of a major aftershock spooked everyone there. Then one hit, in the 5's, so not enough to do anything serious, just keep folks scared. We still have no idea how our friends our doing, but even if they are physically okay, this situation must be psychologically wearing. What's the long term effect of millions of sets of frayed nerves?

That doesn't even count the 70,000 dead and missing and the 200,000+ injured, and the 5 million homeless. Staggering, even from this distance.”

“I just read your wife's article.........good story.

Here's hoping your friends are OK.”

“Thanks MarkO.”

“Some good news has reached us. An email from our friend Li Ming was forwarded to us today -- she and her husband are both okay, though their 5th floor apartment was shaken enough to have book cases tumble, and books go flying, etc. Afterwards they spent two days and nights outdoors in a sports field with their students. Li Ming also made it up to her home town, the devastated Dujiangyan, and found that her brother and 86-year-old mother had survived as well. The mother was out playing mahjong when the quake hit and, being slowed by age, was not able to run, so she took shelter under a table and survived. Li Ming believes that her mom would have been felled by falling bricks if she had tried to escape the building she was in as she was too slow to get to the street before things came down. But she crawled her way out of the rubble afterward. The six-story building next to where she was playing collapsed. Li Ming says 80% of Dujiangyan is destroyed. As she put it, "the beautiful old city is gone, but we will rebuild."

We hope our other Sichuanese friends have been as lucky.”