Zhongguo Shiliu (China 16)

We are home, safe and sound, yet the tale of the adventure has been left incomplete. The last couple of days were so hectic that I was not able to finish the story until now -- in China 16. Later, I will try to give some insights and closure to this whole experience in China 17. But, that will have to wait, not because I am too tired to write anymore, but because that will require some thought and analysis that only time can provide. But, for now, I need to fill you in on those last days in China!

I ended China 15 with the story of the last group of students, the owner of the restaurant, and the rice wine. That all happened Wednesday evening. So, we will begin this adventure with the events that led up to Thursday evening - my last class meeting with my Chinese students.

Normally, I had class with the Chinese students on Friday afternoons. This, however, was a special weekend. Not because it was the weekend of our leaving, but because it was the weekend that the city of Macau was to return to Chinese sovereignty after over 450 years of Portuguese rule. Because of this special event Monday was declared a national holiday, so there would be no school (the same day our plane was leaving from Hong Kong). In fact, this was such a significant event that right from the beginning of the school year, the school had a special board with a countdown to the return of Macau, and since it was happening on the same day we were leaving, we had a constant daily reminder of how many days left we had in China. But, I digress. Since Monday was going to be a holiday many students wanted to go home for the weekend. If they could only get out of my Friday afternoon class, that would give them an early start on their travel plans. They started bugging me on Monday to move class to Thursday night. I had told them I would think about it. My actual plan was, since the school had scheduled the closing ceremony for our program at 3 PM on Friday, to cancel Friday's class, but I wasn't going to tell them until Thursday. They kept bugging me to change it. Students kept coming to my apartment pleading with me. So, on Wednesday, I told them we were going to have class on Thursday night, and we did.

I had not planned any lesson for Thursday evening. I thought I would leave it for open questions. Anything the students would like to ask me before we leave. So, that is how I opened class, by telling the students that they could ask any questions they hadn't asked yet, and that was all we were going to do that night. The class was silent (Chinese students aren't used to being able to ask questions). So, I told them that, since there were no questions, I was going back to my apartment where I had a lot of work to do before we left. "No! Stay here!" was their cry. So, I pulled up a chair and sat quietly in the front of the room, leaving it to them to make the first move. Eventually, there was a question, then another, and pretty soon there were more questions then there was time for answers, and we ended up talking until 9:30 (class ended at 9:00) in the classroom before moving the discussion back to my apartment. There were two questions that stand out in my mind. One student asked, "When you're 80 years old, will you still remember us?" She was dead serious with her question, and I told her that, if I was still alive when I was 80, I would most assuredly remember. She thought about my answer intently, eyes fixed on me, and then she responded to my answer with confidence in the truth of the words she was about to utter, "I'll never forget you!" Four simple words that can make a man's heart melt! Wow, had it not been for the reaction of the rest of the class, a universal OOOH caused by the overwhelming boldness of her claim, I might have started balling right there. Nevertheless, her question and statement gave me a good forewarning of how hard saying good-bye on Sunday was going to be.

Another student asked me for honesty (she was actually indirectly calling me a liar). She began her question by telling me that every time I am asked about my experiences in China, I always answer "good". She said that this simply cannot be, and if I'm not honest about what I don't like about China, how can they be expected to fix it for next time. "Okay", I began, "You want honesty! I'll give you honesty. In four months of living in China I have met one Chinese person who I hope I never see again. Only one, and he is neither a student nor a teacher at this school. When I tell you that something is good, I mean it! If it appears that I over use the word good, it is because there have been so many experiences that I have had here that have taught me something about China, about the Chinese, about America, or about myself. Since I think that knowledge is good, it only follows that all of these experiences I would classify as good!" Boy, the whole class liked that answer.

There were many other questions and answers. I often got the feeling from some of the questions that neither the question nor the answer was important, but rather the meaning and value was simply in the exchange - our last exchanges. Another forewarning of how hard Sunday was going to be!

Friday (December 17) was still a gray and drizzly day (It had been gray and drizzly since Wednesday). The ARCC students had their Chinese language final exam that morning (there was tension in the air). The closing ceremony for our exchange program was going to be at 3 PM, but I had things to do before then. (The virtue of being a teacher is that you don't have to take final exams.) On Tuesday night I had visited all the classrooms and had my picture taken with all of the students grouped by their dorm rooms. I had gotten the film developed and had ordered enough reprints that every student would get a copy of the picture that they were in. I picked up the pictures on Friday morning, and needed to get them delivered during lunch. I was almost done delivering them when a student ran me down to inform me that there was someone waiting for me back at my apartment, and that it was necessary that I go and meet him. I got back to my apartment and found Vicky (Wu Wei Xia) there with David. David is a school official that I have met before, but I have never learned his Chinese name. His English is fairly good, so I was a little confused as to why Vicky was there (it seemed apparent that Vicky was there to translate).

I soon learned why. David is in charge of student behavior at the school, and he wanted to interview me to find out how we teach our students to be good. My gosh, I thought, he waits until two days before we leave, and then comes two hours before I have to be at the closing ceremony (it was now 1 PM), to ask these kinds of questions! For his first question I turned to Vicky and said, "Tell him that, as I teach Ethics back home, that I think it is impossible to teach virtue - you cannot teach people to be good." Vicky stared at me for a moment and then said, "I can't tell him that." I sternly told her, "You tell him that!" She did, and he almost leapt out of his chair! We ended up in a lengthy discussion about politics and philosophy, what they are about, and how they try to accomplish their goals. I noticed how our conversation followed very closely the dialogue in Plato's Gorgias. We discussed how, as China learns more and more from the west, how his job was to filter out the bad stuff, and focus on the good. I advised him that trying to filter out the bad was a hopeless task, and that rather than trying to hide the bad, it would be better to bring it out into the light and expose it for what it is worth. I told him how back in the States attempts were being made in schools to resurrect the Virtues of Character. I told David that one way that we have always "taught" those virtues was in our stories and legends. Honesty is "taught" with Washington's "I cannot tell a lie" story and so on. Surely, I said China must have its own stories and legends that "teach" its virtues. Oh yes, David assured me, but what if students prefer the Western stories, or what if they don't become good from listening to the stories? Precisely, I said, why I think it is impossible to teach virtue - and this is the difference between the politician and the philosopher: The politician's job is to try to persuade people of what they think is the truth, and the philosopher's job is to only persuade himself of the truth.

We had a really good philosophical discussion going, until his wife beeped in - he had to leave to go pick her up, but he left the rest of his questions with Vicky to finish the interview. I told Vicky that we didn't have time to finish the interview, but welcome to your first lesson of dialectic (a philosophical method). I now had less than a half hour before the closing ceremony, and I needed to get ready.

The closing ceremony was in the administration building in the same conference room that we had the opening ceremony some 4 months ago. We had some visitors. Mr. Huang and Mr. Yang from the city of Zhaoqing came (they are like the Chamber of Commerce men). They made speeches. President Zhu made a speech, and I made a speech. The ARCC students were presented with certificates acknowledging their course work in Chinese language and culture, and, to my surprise, I was presented with a certificate awarding me the honor of "Excellent Master Teacher".

Around 6 PM we regrouped and met at the restaurant at Fairy Lake for dinner. There was lots of good food, and toasts to everyone's health, wealth, well-being, and to the sister schools, the sister cities, the countries of China and the United States, and so on and so on. We exchanged some gifts, and everyone was in a pretty good mood (especially the students since the final was over, and everyone did really well). The dinner broke up around 8 or 8:30 and I returned to my apartment. Mrs. Guo walked back with me. She told me that her weekend was clear so that she would be free to help any of us with any last minute details before we left. "Did I have any shopping left?" she asked, and offered to run me downtown on her motor-scooter. I assured her that I was fine, but it was nice to know that help was just downstairs from my apartment.

Saturday morning was still gray and drizzly. I did not have any plans for the day except to be around for good-byes. Mrs. Guo and Vicky were both up to check on me early to see if there was anything they could help with. I assured them that all was well, but they hung around most of the morning anyways. I soon learned that my plans for packing had to be abandoned. My plan was to pack my carry-on suitcase inside one of my other suitcases and to pack my backpack inside my other suitcase. As more and more students came to say good-bye (and bring farewell gifts), the space in my suitcases filled fast. In addition people brought things for me to bring home to Mr. Lu, Mr. Lin, Fang, and the teachers who had been to Zhaoqing the previous summer. So, Saturday became a day to reorganize. Of course, there was the constant stream of students stopping in to talk and say good-bye. The whole day was spent working on the luggage and conversations at the same time.

Vicky disappeared sometime in the afternoon, only to reappear later with her brother who had taken the bus from Guangzhou (a two-hour ride) just to come and say farewell. He stayed about an hour, and then he and Vicky left for the bus station again for his two-hour ride back to Guangzhou. I know most of the ARCC students were up quite late Saturday night, but I went to bed early in anticipation of a long day on Sunday - and on Monday.

Sunday arrived with sunshine! I was up early and emptied everything out of my apartment to scrub the floors. Today was the great freebie give away. Lots of things to leave behind that either wouldn't fit in the luggage, or it was unnecessary to take home (why would I need to bring home toilet cleaner or laundry detergent?). A few students were stopping by Sunday morning, but, for the most part, it was rather quiet. We were going to leave for the ferry terminal at about 12:30, and the boat would leave the dock at 2:00 PM. At about 11, Joey, Wendy, and Vicky and I decided to go find some lunch. I was willing to forgo lunch, but, eating is so important to the Chinese that I knew I wouldn't get out of it. We went to a restaurant outside the gate (the school canteen was closed because they had no water). When we got back to the apartment around noon, there was an ocean of students waiting for us.

They filled the stairwell going up the stairs. They filled the hallways leading down to the apartments. They were everywhere! I knew that they were not just there to say good-bye, but that they were also there to help carry our luggage down and out to the bus. My plan was to pull my suitcases back into my apartment and joke like I had changed my mind and had decided to stay. Then, I would be able to carry them down one at a time while the others were safely locked inside my apartment (I wasn't going to let any of these students, most of which weighed about or under 100 lbs. lug my suitcases down for me). Unfortunately, I had little choice. I was met at the door of my apartment by Mrs. Guo and Mrs. Krim. They both had last minute questions and instructions. There were also some last minute gifts from students that I had to make room in my backpack for. By the time I was able to think about my suitcases again, they were gone. Mrs. Guo even grabbed my computer case from me (making me very nervous), and off we went.

We got out to the bus, and there was lots of hugging, and crying and good-byeing. The boys that are in the English Department were in charge of loading the school bus with our luggage. They were allowed to ride the bus down to the ferry terminal (they were going to be in charge of unloading as well). Mr. He called for us to load, and we got on the bus. Next, he said something that in English must have meant, "We'll take as many of the rest of you as we can on the bus." With that there was a mad rush at the bus door. The only thing I can think of to compare it to was perhaps what it was like when the last helicopter of refuges was leaving the US embassy in Saigon in 1975. Everybody wanted on this bus! And this bus was about as crowded as any bus we had taken downtown on a Friday night!

We made our way to the ferry terminal, where, of course, the boys unloaded the bus. There was more good-byeing in the terminal as Mr. Wei, Mrs. Guo, and Mr. He disappeared behind a closed door with some of the terminal officials. They were making arrangements for Mrs. Guo to be allowed into the Customs area to work as a translator for us if there were any questions.

While we were waiting, another ocean of students showed up! They had taken the public bus from school, and then ran from the nearest bus stop to the ferry terminal! These students were determined to send us off from the ferry! At about 1:30 Mr. Wei, Mr. He, and Mrs. Guo emerged from behind the door, and we were told to enter. We finally said our final good-byes and passed through the door which none of the Chinese were allowed to follow (except for Mrs. Guo). We made it through Customs with a minimal amount of difficulty, and then out toward the boat we moved.

As we moved from the ferry terminal out to the boat dock we heard a roar from behind us. All the students, faculty and friends who had come down to the terminal to see us off were lined up along the wall waving and shouting good-bye! We loaded the boat, and they continued to wave. We had a little bit of a wait before we departed, but they never stopped. Finally, the boat pulled away from the dock, turned 180 degrees, and sped off towards Hong Kong. Our last images of Zhaoqing being the huge crowd waving good-bye to us.

Appropriately, the sun soon disappeared behind rain clouds, and by the time we got to the mouth of the Xi Jiang (West River) and out on the South China Sea it was a little rainy, and the sea was a little choppy. We made it to Hong Kong right on schedule (at about 5:45 PM), and we found our bus ride to our hotel for our last night in Asia. We got to our hotel, The Windsor (right across the street from the hotel we stayed at on our way in to China back in August), and everyone made the best use of their time. That meant food. I decided to eat at the little food market that we found back in August. Of course, they didn't remember me, but they were surprised that an American found the place. I unsuccessfully went in search of a souvenir from the Hard Rock Café for my wife, but the souvenir shop closed at 8 PM, and I got there at about 8:12 PM.

During my search, the cultural differences between Hong Kong and Zhaoqing smacked me right in the face. In Hong Kong there were neon lights everywhere! Lots of signs advertising western products and goods hung above the streets. There were lots of people in Hong Kong, and that certainly isn't any different from the rest of China, but these people were on a mission! After four months of the Chinese pace (how many times did the students tell me I walked too fast?) I found myself being pushed by the current of Hong Kongers. Now it was I who needed to keep up. Being wearied from this, I returned to the hotel and went to bed at about 9:30. We were going to leave the hotel for the airport at about 5:30 AM, so it was going to be a short night.

Surprisingly, everyone was down in the lobby by 5:30 and off we went. We were to the airport in plenty of time, we got checked in and the plane left right on schedule - 9:00 AM, Monday, December 20, 1999. We flew to Tokyo where we changed flights. We left there bound for San Francisco at about 3:15 PM Tokyo time, and we arrived in San Francisco at about 7:15 AM, still on Monday. We had now been traveling for about fifteen hours, but I don't think I had slept more than twenty minutes during that time. Once we had left Zhaoqing my mind was tuned to getting home! We cleared Customs in San Francisco, and then we had a chance to breath some American air before boarding our flight to Minneapolis. For the first time in months we were not foreigners. For the first time in months we were in a place where we spoke and understood the language.

The wait for our departing flight seemed to last forever, but, we soon boarded the plane and were on our way home. We arrived in Minneapolis around 3:15 PM. It had been unseasonably warm at home, but wouldn't you know, we arrived on the coldest day of the winter season with a temperature around 2 F. It didn't matter! We were greeted by family and friends, and a small contingent from Anoka Ramsey Community College. My sister-in-law, Angie was there with my niece Rachel and nephews Joe and Luke. It was amazing how quickly everyone dispersed! By the time I got to the baggage pick-up area, the gang was gone - except for Rachel. She and her mother were waiting for her father who had disappeared somewhere. We said good-bye, and hugged. And with that, the adventure came to an end as my wife, other relatives, and I left the airport to go HOME.