connie's space

Awhile back, China rescue Bridget entered People Magazine’s World’s Cutest Dog Contest. Some of you helped select her photo to send in as my mom and I couldn’t decide. It was a long shot as over 10,000 entries were received and, sadly, Bridget didn’t make the cut.

Well, we’re at it again!

An area paper, The Terre Haute Tribune Star (Terre Haute, Indiana) is holding its yearly Pet Madness contest, looking for the cutest pets in the Wabash Valley. Mom, Bridget and I are trying again, with odds a tad better. Our little dog is among 142 entries of dogs, cats, 2 rabbits, a cow, a pig, a hamster, a squirrel, a mouse and one surprisingly exotic entry, an African Pygmy hedgehog.

Today began the first round of voting (Sept. 28 – Oct.. 3, Sunday) with pictures of all participants in the paper and on the paper’s website.

Here is what we selected for our Chinese immigrant.

Her Write-up

When my mom lost her husband of 60 years, and her canine companion of 9 years, it was a heartbreaking adjustment. As a teacher in China, I was determined to find a little overseas’ somebody for her to come home to. Through CAR (Chengdu Animal Rescue), in Chengdu, China, I learned about Bridget. The 5-pound Chihuahua mix was found under a bridge, thus the name Bridget. She was emaciated, her brown coat spotted with mange, and discovered shivering, huddled on a dirt pile in a tight ball. When her rescuer contacted me, I traveled 4 hours by bus from my small Chinese city to meet her. From that first pet, I knew: She and my mom were meant for each other. It’s been two years since my mom scooped up our little Chinese immigrant and gave her that first welcoming embrace on US soil. Since then, Bridget has reached celebrity status in my smalltown community. My mom often mentions her in her weekly newspaper column. Bridget attends all local events, from summer band concerts, where she gets free popcorn from the popcorn wagon, to numerous holiday parades where attention is abundantly lavished upon her. Whether perched like an empress in her favorite armchair, racing about the house with a beloved toy, or snuggling next to my mom in bed, one thing’s for certain: She’s found forever love in her forever home.

Voting Does Require a donation BUT ……

Naturally, this helps as a fundraiser for the paper BUT a portion does go toward the Terre Haute Humane Society. I had a talk on the phone with Doug Dixon, the Tribune Star advertising director, who mentioned that last year, more pets were featured than this year, and $750 was the amount sent to the rescue group. He explained that, for paper-sponsored contests, after costs of the vender and other expenses are accounted for, 20-25% of the portion left is sent to a local community project, which for the Pet Madness Contest is the local humane society. The rest is kept as a fundraiser for the paper.

I will also add the Terre Haute Tribune Star is one of the few newspapers that continues onward for a smaller city. It was a daily paper until within the past few years when it moved to 5 days a week, skipping Tuesday and Sunday publications. The staff writers have been very generous in their coverage of me and my time in China, publishing numerous articles about my students and overseas experiences. (See this one, as an example: https://www.tribstar.com/news/local_news/from-my-end-of-the-world-the-sichuan-earthquake/article_e33f7755-6ad3-590c-b2a8-6db619714d03.html)

This newspaper publication also gives so much back to the community.

A few weeks ago, the Cutest Kid Contest (similar to the Pet Madness Contest) brought in $1,500 for the Vigo County School’s Backpack Program, which sustains food-insecure children throughout weekends and breaks, and families by sending food parcels.

I furthermore remember donating through the paper to the 2020 Thanksgiving Day food baskets for those in need. The Terre Haute Tribune Star is an excellent small-city paper whose reporters (I’m sure) are not paid much and which deserves to thrive. So I will say it is a worthy cause to support.

Here is the Contest write-up

2021 Pet Madness Contest Entries

*Vote totals for each round will transfer to the next voting round (3 rounds total).

*A portion of the voting proceeds will be donated to the Terre Haute Humane Society.

*At the end of voting for the entire contest: 1^st Place $200 prize package; 2^nd Place $100 prize package; 3^rd Place $50 prize package

If You’re Interested  . . .

If you’re interested in adding to Bridget’s chances of a win, go to the below for the contest page to see all the contestants:

https://www.communitynewscontest.com/index.php?contestid=391 

Type in Bridget’s name to go to her special page.

Donations online require a vote of 50 at 10 cents per vote which is a minimum of $5.00 US. Credit card information is asked as well. If online is not your preference, checks can be mailed to (or dropped off at): Pet Madness Contest, Tribune-Star PO Box 149. Terre Haute, IN. 47808. Don’t forget to earmark your donation for Bridget!

Rather not the $$?  

Of course, “Good Luck” thoughts are always appreciated.  I know there are so many worthy organizations, programs and local community projects in need of our help and donations.  I  always like to spread the love around and this is one way of doing so for my area.

Hope you’ll consider joining me, my mom, and Bridget, giving a little back to The Terre Haute Tribune Star and the Terre Haute Humane Society.

As always, here’s wishing you Peace (平安), Ping Ahn, for your week! 

A lot has been happening among my WeChat contacts. Here are a few highlights, including news reports which so many of my Chinese friends have commented on.

Newest Covid Outbreak

After squelching an outbreak in Nanjing in July, things were looking up until another infection sent a different province into panic-mode.

“Covid-19 infections in China’s southeastern province of Fujian topped 200 as 48 new cases were added to a rapidly expanding outbreak of the Delta variant on Wednesday.”

The outbreak could have started with a Chinese man who was infected during centralised quarantine, rather than an imported case as was previously assumed. Officials originally thought the man, who returned from Singapore in August, was infected from abroad – even though he went through a lengthy quarantine period and tested negative multiple times. According to what was reported, he had a negative test before leaving Singapore, a negative test upon arrival, 2 weeks of hotel quarantine, another negative test, a 1-week hotel quarantine outside of his city of Putian (3 million), another negative test and a 7-day, self-monitoring, in-home quarantine with his family.

Somewhere in between, he was infected by the virus. He passed it to his two children who infected their class and school. His wife worked in a factory and also infected several there. It was just by chance that the school did a random testing of all the students when they found positive cases among the kids. More contact tracing connected them with the father.

Now 3 coastal cities have been affected, with the totals coming to 204. Of those, 50 children in Putian are now in quarantine, in isolation, with no one with them and medical staff in full protective hazmat gear. These videos, taken by a Chinese nurse of a 4-year-old boy, have gone viral.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4287723

As you can see, China takes its positive cases very, very seriously, shutting down entire neighborhoods, districts, cities and even provinces to continue with a Zero-tolerance stance.

Most recent article:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3149366/chinas-delta-outbreak-fujian-continues-numbers-start-fall

5.4 Earthquake Near Luzhou 

PING!

My cellphone went off at 3:35 p.m. my time, 3:35 a.m. China time last Thursday. The message came from Angel, my former student who is now an elementary school teacher.

“Connie!  We have an earthquake.  It is very strong, almost 2 minutes long. I’m so scared. Things are falling.  Think of me.  So terrible!”

Immediately, I went into overdrive, contacting as many of my friends, colleagues and students as possible before searching out news reports.

Fortunately, all were fine with only a few deaths in the countryside due to poorly constructed homes.  (See below the full report, with pictures of damage.)

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/china/sichuan-earthquake-intl-hnk/index.html

I know, while living on the campus, I absolutely enjoyed the views from my 9th floor balcony area, but I certainly DID NOT enjoy the earthquakes that shook the building from time to time. Some were quite strong, one sending a few of us racing down the stairwell. The Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, while 13 years ago, is still fresh in my memory. If you’re interested, go to my May 2008 blog entries. I reported almost on a daily basis numerous stories and observations. Such a moving and emotional time for all.

Returning to a Campus I Might Not Recognize

Over the past few weeks, as the school year begins, I’ve been receiving quite a few pictures of the campus. Before I left, there were many building projects still half-completed or in the process of starting. So many carefully drawn panels lined fences showing the grand and glorious structures that were to go up. I walked by them on a daily basis, wondering how long it would take to complete:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Two 5-star hotels, to be used as training centers for students majoring in tourism management and culinary skills, and also to host international scholars; The teacher family high-rise housing complex, for which a downpayment of $20,000 US was required to hold the space, with an additional $60 – 80,000 needed by each family upon completion; a fully-equipped, 5-story experimental pre-school and elementary school attached to the school; Another full campus, located across the main highway that divided the school from the countryside area; Another single teachers’ dormitory located next to my 11-story building.

I honestly was astounded when the pictures started flowing in from students and colleagues to show me all the progress that had been made.

Will I even recognize this place when I return??!!! See for yourself:

Pre-Covid Photos (Before I left on Jan. 7, 2020):  Surrounding the Campus Area

Current Buildings located on Campus 1 and Newly Constructed Campus 2

As mentioned in the write-up of new additions, two were 5-star hotels which would be used as training centers for our students. One is Chinese, seen with the rounded portico and rock landscape. It is located at the side gate of the college.

The other is a Holiday Inn which is located directly in front of the teachers’ housing complex. I mentioned teachers wishing to buy in were required a downpayment of $20,000 with the eventual cost being $60 – $80,000 for each apartment’s ownership. (You can see the high-rise row of the apartment buildings behind the hotel picture). Interestingly enough, the teachers who purchased these were told 2 1/2 years ago they would be ready for moving in by the summer of 2021. Well, it’s past August and I was told they are not yet available but the Holiday Inn, a joint venture between the school, city and provincial governments, is up and running at full speed.

I guess we know where teachers and their needs stand in the great scheme of things: Pretty low on the totem pole.

“Painstakingly Slow”

During my long wait, I’ve done my best to keep in touch with my school, the Amity Foundation and Valentia, my visa  expert in Chicago. Her response to my every-2-month emails for any updates concerning visas to China is this: “It’s painstakingly slow.”

 The hold-up is always on the China end, with invitation letters needed from schools, companies and institutions.  Such letters must be approved of at the city and provincial level.  However, due to the Delta variant, which is highly contagious, no province or city official is willing to approve of a foreigner from overseas to enter their space.  All Covid spreads have been traced to any person coming in from overseas, even with the 2-3 week strict hotel quarantine in place.

Just one bit of good news came out of a Teach-English-in-China company I have been following.  After a year of desperately trying to get any of their applicants into the country, one has arrived and is starting to teach this Fall semester.  The movement of one is somewhat of a miracle, especially happening before Golden Week (the 1-week holiday in October), the government’s ruling party meeting to take place in November, and China hosting the Winter Olympics in February and March. 

Obviously, someone’s school has extremely high-up connections to get that invitation letter approved of and  to maneuver around all the many hoops required to finally get that person into  the classroom.  

Sad to say, such connections will never be my college.  Looks like I’m stuck waiting it out along with every Tom, Dick and Harry, or rather (in my case) Jane, Mary and Sue.

Until next entry, here’s wishing you Peace (平安) for your day. 

     This WordPress blog is mostly viewed by American friends.  But on rare occasions, I get a surprise note from someone who has found me after many years.   

      “Teacher Connie, this is Kevin Hu,” read my inbox.  “I was your student in Nanchang,  30 years ago.  Do you remember me?”

      How could I possibly forget one of my first students in China?!

The Amity Foundation Adult Training Program    

Kevin (second photo, first row, seated in vest, middle) and his 29 adult classmates were teachers from the rural countryside.  The 1-year program he was enrolled in, sponsored by the provincial government  and  the Amity Foundation, was created specifically for language educators from poor areas. 

At that time in China, many teachers had had little more than a year or two of college education due to the Cultural Revolution. That time period of 10 years had educated no one except in the teachings of Chairman Mao. Schools and colleges did little in basic education or teaching skills. Just indoctrination of China’s Communist Party greatness with young Red Guards marching about, making signs and reporting, punishing and ridiculing those adults whom they deemed the insidious capitalists. When this devastating time period ended in 1979, China realized they had no qualified teachers to instruct the youth. Crash courses ensued for teachers in numerous subject areas, with the brightest young people (some of them as young as 14) chosen to study under the expertise of previously criticized educators.

For those who became English teachers, their language skills were especially limited. No foreign teachers (actually, very few foreigners at all) had been in China to teach them in those early years of the Deng Xiaoping’s Open Door Policy, which ended the Cultural Revolution’s grip on the country. Most students had just stumbled along in their language studies, some excelling while others floundered

Thus began Amity’s teaching program, which was created in 1986 under the request of provincial education bureaus throughout China. In partnership with Chinese colleges being the hosts, and funding from the provincial education departments, the Amity Foundation helped to bring foreigners to China for 2 years to teach English at Normal colleges or adult education training centers. There was also a language request for Japanese teachers, which Amity also provided from Japan.

Newbies to China: The Foreigners Arrive

In 1991, six overseas teachers (myself, American Donna Brown, Brits Anne and Mick Kavanaugh, Canadians Jeanette and Todd Hanson) came to Jiangxi Province as Amity Foundation English teachers to lead classes in English listening, speaking, writing, teaching methodology and culture. Donna and I were in Nanchang city, Anne and Mick taught at a college 10 miles from the city center and Todd and Jeanette were in Jiujiang, a small town 2-hours train journey from where we lived. Two other Amity teachers from Japan taught Japanese at a college across town from us.

Donna and I were placed in the Adult Training Center at Nanchang Normal University. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our students, ages 18 to 57, had traveled great distances to commit to this unique learning opportunity.  We all stayed on campus, the students living in somewhat primitive dormitory conditions while we teachers stayed in the gated, quite adequate foriegners guesthouse.  In total, we had 6 Americans with 4 being sent by ELIC, English Language Institute of China. The ELIC were employed to teach the college students and were not involved in our adult program. (Below are 2 ELIC teachers and myself, with our guesthouse workers who cleaned our rooms and took care of Chinese and foreign visitors who stayed at the housing facility for a few nights.)

Living Conditions in the Guesthouse:  Adequate and Homey

All the foreign teachers had our own 2-room mini-apartment, with bathroom and a fridgerator, but no cooking facilities.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We had meals served in a communal dining area by a gruff and formidable cook, a former Communist revolutionary war soldier.

The Training Center staff were always very helpful, including booking the university car to pick up our boxes from the local post office downtown. My first year in China, I went overboard in mailing myself 7 boxes from America. Surface mail was still offered, and these took 3 months to reach me. Before leaving for China, I asked those who were already in country what I’d need, thus the 7 boxes you see below. Comfort foods, school supplies, classroom materials, winter clothes, American culture visuals (Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving) . . . Even today, I still have some of those same treasured items I used in Nanchang in my apartment in Luzhou, waiting to once again make an appearance in my China classroom.

Like most Chinese, we foreigners had only bicycles to do our shopping around town. I was so proud of mine! A Red Lion (about the only brand in China at that time), which I bought brand new for an equivalent of $25, half my monthly pay. Here I am with my treasured transportation vehicle, in the guesthouse courtyard.

Learning to Be A Family

There was no heat (lows of 10 degrees), no air-conditioning (highs of 90 degrees), no washing machines, no modernized classroom equipment (just a blackboard and the classic cassette tape machine), few usable textbooks, and yet, priceless learning took place.  Despite physical discomforts and our cultural differences, by the end of that year, we had formed a close-knit family.  

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Reconnecting      

Kevin and I are now eager to find more former students.  So far, we’ve connected with 5. We are currently working on widening that circle to include those enrolled during my second and third years in that program.  Our plan is to have the classes of ’91, ’92 and ’93 meet for a weekend reunion in the school that hosted us, Nanchang Normal University in Jiangxi Province.  When I return to China, we’ll begin in earnest for a tentative 2023 gathering.  For now, we’re working on increasing that contact list to at least 25, out of a total of about 90 in the program.  With such powerful  technology tools at our fingertips, I’m confident we can get there.

Anyone else out there who remembers us? We’re waiting for you!!

Until next entry, here’s wishing you Peace (平安) for your day.

18-year-old Liangyu began her summer rejoicing, along with her dad (Che) and mom (Chen). Her year of exhausting study as a senior in high school was finally over. She was the first in her family to graduate from high school, and was expecting to be the first to attend college in the Fall.

In celebration of her upcoming freshman year, her mom bought her a smartphone so she’d fit right in with all her new college classmates. This gift is common in China as a high school graduation gift, usually because the senior year of study is so intense that some secondary school teachers and administrators ban phones from use. No phones in the classroom, in backpacks, on your person or even on the school grounds are allowed.

“Concentrate only on doing well in your studies,” is the stern, strict message reiterated again and again.

I remember one of my teenage friends who told me that, at his school, the punishment for seniors having a phone was to confiscate it until the end of the year. Much to his dismay, and some of his classmates, they’d snuck in their phones and were caught. He was forced to give up 6 months of texting, chatting and virtual game-playing until he finally graduated.

Despite the unpleasantness of doing without his much-beloved communication device, he actually felt himself lucky. One teacher had a devastating solution for a second-time offender. The teacher found a student with a second smartphone, an upgraded new one he’d purchased when the old was confiscated. The teacher angrily snatched the phone away, threw it onto the floor and stomped on it!

Needless to say, that pretty much put the kibosh on anyone else’s ideas of breaking the cellphone rules in school.

Sometimes the off-to-college reward is a computer, but for a majority of students, it’s a new phone that accompanies them on their higher education journey.

And so it was with Liangyu, whose August departure as a college freshman was right at her fingertips. . . . or so we all thought.

The Background Story

I’ve actually told this story before in a previous post but let me just give you the shortened version.

  My relationship with Liangyu and her parents, farmers in the countryside, began in 2016. “Snow” Xue, a junior high school English teacher, invited me to visit Che and Chen on what she called “an adventurous Saturday outing.”

After 3-hours travel via bus, ferry and foot, we arrived at a typical Chinese farmhouse, nestled amid lush, green rice fields.

Che and Chen greeted us at their doorway. We enjoyed a home-cooked meal, heard stories of their difficult life, and were led to visit nearby neighbors, many of whom asked about their daughter. Without a secondary school nearby, the two had sent 13-year-old Liangyu to Luzhou to study but the cost of room and board, book and activity fee, and other expenses were too much of a burden. Che wanted her to stay at home and help her mother on the farm. Chen wanted her to be educated. That’s where Snow and I stepped in. We offered assistance, with a promise to supplement her education with what the parents couldn’t afford.

Five Years Later . . .

After 5 years of financial help from Snow, myself and a few in America, Liangyu joined her classmates on June 7 to take the nerve-racking 2-day gaokao, the college entrance exam. This standardized, national test is necessary for all wishing to go on to higher education. Liangyu’s score, 517 out of 750, placed her at the lower end for university enrollment.

” Have you decided what you want to study?” I texted Liangyu in July, after her results were known.

“Yes! I want to be a Chinese or English teacher, like you and Teacher Xue. My mom says I can also try to be a doctor. I will decide by the schools that choose me.”

“What schools have you applied to?”

“There are 9,” Liangyu replied. “Here are my choices.”

With that, she sent me the link to her 9 choices. They popped up on my phone with each university giving the number of freshmen that are accepted into a chosen program, the entrance exam score required, and the difficulty of the course of study chosen: Low, average and difficult.

Here were her choices with her intended study hopes, all second-tier universities.

Sichuan Nationalities College in Kanding (Chinese major); North Sichuan Medical College in Nantong (English major); Sichuan Tourism College in Chengdu (Business English major); Panzhihua College in Panzhihua, Sichuan Province (Chinese language and literature major); Anqing Normal University in Anqing, Anhui Province (Chinese language and literature major); Qufu Normal University in Rhizao, Shandong Province (Chinese language and literature major); Hunan agricultural University in Changsha, Hunan Province (English major); Yunnan Agricultural University in Kunming, Yunnan Province (Business English major); Shanghai Normal College in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province ( English translation major)

All of the above were within her scores, with some listed slightly higher than her 517 but she felt confident she was close enough.

Sad to say, the competition must have been quite fierce. None of her 9 accepted her.

Choices Few; A Determined Decision Made

It goes without saying Liangyu was devastated. For several weeks, she didn’t have the heart to tell me what had transpired. I can imagine her giving a good sob into her mother’s arms and feeling inconsolable. She must have felt she let down so many: Her teachers, her parents, Teacher Xue, those of us in America who have seen her through with financial help, herself . . . .

Two options remained: give up her college dream and join her parents on the farm or repeat her senior year of high school, with the hope that her 2022 gaokao score would be higher.

Liangyu’s determination won out. She chose the latter.

It will be another year of grueling high school study: 7-days-a-week, morning to late-night classes, for a full year but she’ll have the continued encouragement and support from those of us who care. She’ll also have the benefit of studying at a higher level school. She has enrolled in Luxian No. 2 High School, the second best school in Luzhou city. This should give her a better chance of reaching her desired entrance exam scores next year.

Despite this heartbreaking setback, Liangyu, we are very proud of you for continuing onward.

As we say in Chinese: 加油! 加油! (Jia-you, Jia-you!) You go for it!!

Within the past few months, my mom has been receiving People Magazine for free. It seems every so often, complimentary subscriptions are sent out in hopes of enticing new readership and new sales. While my mom is not a fan of such frivolous fluff, that of celebrity woes, angst and celebrations, it’s still fun to read a bit about the Hollywood scene. And since my niece, Meredith Wieck, works out of Hollywood as the Vice-president of Lionsgate motion picture studio, best to have a stockpile of common subject matter we can discuss when a phone call comes.

But in this last issue, something else caught my eye that had nothing to do with the latest entertainment gossip: People Magazine‘s World’s Cutest Rescue Dog Contest.

“Do you have the world’s cutest rescue dog?” the page headline read. “People wants to turn your furry friend into a star!”

That’s all it took for me. After going to the website, people.com/rescuedogcontest, I read all the information required to enter Bridget. A photo, a write-up of her story and owner information was all that was required.

Last year, over 10,000 entries were received. This year, who knows how many will participate?

According to the contest information, entries can be received between June 30 – August 11. Editors are to select 10 finalists, readers narrow down the pool to the top 3 with the eventual winner to be selected by People, Pedigree and two celebrity judges. The grand prize is: A custom photo shoot, A feature in People magazine and on people.com, a year’s supply of dog food from the Pedigree brand and a $1,000 donation to the pet-rescue organization of the winner’s choice.

The Photo:  Please Help us!  Choose your favorite prize-worthy entry 

I have finished Bridget’s write-up, which I will share with you later, but here’s where I’ve run into some difficulty.  I’ve had numerous photo shoots with Bridget, trying to find just the right one.  Here are the selections below.  Any thoughts on which you’d choose to enter?  My mom and I have our favorite.  Let’s see if you agree as well. Although  I have until August 11,  I’d like to get her in by the end of the month.    Help us out, folks!  Send me a note via the website or email me at corneliaw2000@hotmail.com. We’d love to make Bridget’s chances of being a top 10 finalist the best possible.  

This is Connie and Priscilla, in Marshall, Illinois, anxiously waiting for your response!  

CNN has done an excellent job of giving a timeline of the 10 pivotal moments in the country’s Party development and progression. July 1st marked the celebrations surrounding this momentous occasion. I hope this helps with your understanding of China and the Party’s importance in the country.

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2021/07/asia/ccp100-intl-hnk-dst/

What many don’t know about being a Communist Party Member

Many who are not Chinese don’t realize that not everyone in China is a Communist Party Member. I certainly didn’t when I first arrived in China in 1991. Out of 1.4 billion people, according to the 2020 CCP (China Communist Party) roster, membership is 91,914,000.

That certainly doesn’t make every adult a Party member, especially since there are reported to be about 1.1 billion adults in China.

How does a person become a member?

I can only speak from my experience of knowing Party members and having asked them. From their explanation, it’s a bit like belonging to a strict organization which vets its members quite carefully.

The first step is to find a Party member who will recommend you to join and be your mentor through the process. I remember at my school, there were announcements made for any student interested in joining the Party to come to an introduction meeting. The process was a year, there were tests involved, dues to pay and a formal ceremony of new initiates. It was a very serious matter and one of great pride. My students who went through the steps to be Party members were responsible individuals, very good in their studies and had a great feeling of duty to country and school.

One of my best friends who is a Party member told me Party members are to set good examples. They shouldn’t be seen playing mahjong, considered a frivolous activity, or drinking too much and making a scene in public. They should be respectable people who are seen to be charitable toward others, have a compassionate heart, be law-abiding citizens and be good role models for others, especially China’s youth.

Party members should not belong to any religion so as not show favoritism toward that religious body or be associated with it. Why not associated with it? Think on that a bit. If someone wants to get in good with a Party member who might hold a position of power, he or she might curry favor by joining groups that the Party member belongs to.

From what I was told, it doesn’t necessarily have to be religion. It could be any special group which might make the Party member seem to place that organization above other worthy organizations.

Party members also pay monthly dues to the Party leadership they belong to according to their city or region. I am uncertain how much the dues are now but they are not so high that it’s difficult to pay.

Here’s a fun story concerning Party membership dues: You remember “Snow” Xue, whom I wrote about in the last entry? She is in a wheelchair due to a stroke. About 6 years ago, when Snow was a go-getter individual, she took a group of us to the countryside where there was an abandoned school from 2014 that was on the site of a Buddhist temple. The school was located in the middle of nowhere, was a boarding school and had teachers’ apartments as well as dormitories and buildings. When we went, it was overgrown with weeds and the entire thing completely desolate with sad-looking, empty and lonely buildings which once held life and an enthusiasm of learning. The school’s offices were left with doors wide open with a vast amount of paperwork strewn about. Stacks had been rained on and scattered around the floor, on top of desks or were overflowing from open drawers.

Snow, ever the curious one, began picking through the documents, pulling out interesting bits and pieces from among what she found. In one of those, she discovered someone’s Party dues booklet, listing his name and his monthly dues he’d paid from 1984. What a find!

Snow’s eyes lit up with wonder as she pointed out to me the amounts and told me how small they were compared to today. The dues amounted to 3 yuan (about 50 cents today) every month. Whoever it was had carefully, diligently recorded the amounts, within the pages for over a year. Snow, ever a good teacher, squirreled the booklet away in her backpack, along with other things of interest, so she could present a history lesson to her students at her junior high. She felt the materials she found would be excellent visual aids for the kids.

I wonder today if she was able to do that lesson as it wasn’t too long after that she and Geoff left for Africa, where she had her stroke.

In Closing

I’ve heard there are many activities and events taking place from July to December to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the CCP. I mentioned a few of my college students and teaching colleagues had entered an English speech contest surrounding this theme and topic. I haven’t heard how well they did but I do know the prizes were quite substantial. It would be such a great honor, even to be in the runner-up categories.

I wish them the best of luck, and hope you’ve learned a little from my limited understanding and knowledge of Party membership.

Next entry will hold some very special connections I’ve made in the past few days. It’s a huge surprise and one which I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing all about.

Until next time, here’s wishing you 平安, Ping An (Peace), for your upcoming week.