Published March 3rd, 2007 by Mliesie
Home, sweet 2nd home
Finally home after having been away for almost 8 weeks. When I arrived at the airport yesterday, 2 of my students/friends were waiting there for me. A most pleasant surprise, which made me feel at home right away and made me realize how very thoughtful and caring a lot of them are.
From the moment I woke up today it has been snowing constantly. I go from 1 extreme to another during this holiday on various levels. I’ve enjoyed the tropical island Hainan Dou, big cities like Kunming and Beijing, small villages like Bashan and up in Tiger Leapin Gorge, roaring rivers like the Yangtzi, amazing mountains while doing Tiger Leaping Gorge, very clean cities, towns and villages, very polluted areas, rich and poor. This definitely is a country of extremes in many ways.
Thinking about the extremes between rich and poor, it makes you wonder how this has happened. Oh I know…..but how is it possible in a communist country where everybody is supposed to be equal? The rich seem to be extremely rich and definitely wanting to show it, the poor are poor beyond belief sometimes but always willing to share whatever they can. It fascinates me, because it makes me realize how a country can hang on and at the same time give up on its system i.e. communisme.
I’ve also seen how careless the Chinese seem to be when it comes to pollution. There is garbage around every corner that is not within visible sight of tourist areas or other busy places. The government tries hard to keep the streets clean by paying street sweepers (who even sweep the highway!) and taking up other measures, but at the same time, when you turn a corner here and there you will find any imaginable sort of rubbish piled up and just recently the newspaper reported about the fact that China hasn’t met its pollution targets. It seems ‘they’ (I’m not really sure who ’they’ are; the older generation, the younger generation, the factory owners?…) really don’t care about the environment. Then again, how well do we behave on our side of the earth? Just think about Australia and America not signing the Kyoto convetion……..
As I said, China is a country of extremes, positive as well as negative, which makes it an ever-fascinating experience living here. Sometimes it’s frustrating, sometimes it’s overwhelming, sometimes it’s heartbreaking, but over all……an experience that will bring everlasting memories and has already changed me for life!
Take care of our world…everywhere!