2005-09-26 - 12:21 a.m.
Let me tell you a story. It began about 25 years ago.
When we first moved to Arizona, I had absolutley no friends. We were new in the area and my father had just finished his training/ apprentiship for the boilermakers.
The first real friend I made was a son of one of my dads coworkers. His name was Jonas. Now we lived 25 miles apart, and to me today that is nothing, I can drive that distance in about 20 minutes, and in fact I have had friends who lived much further away than that, but to a 7 year old, 25 miles is a world a way.
We would get together on the weekends when our parents would get together. My weeks were just a set up until the weekend when I could see my best friend. We lived at each others houses on the weekends, going on friday after class, and staying until sunday night. His mom was mine, and my mom was his. We called each other brother, and I was honored to be another of that family, and he was tickled to be a Jones. We trick or treated together (even getting mugged for candy), we rode bikes together, played football together, and played against each other on pop warner. He had the most intense blue eyes I have ever seen (until I met my children), and white blonde hair. I was the chubby kid, he was the skinny gangly one.
We went to different high schools, and so as people do in high school we drifted apart some, but 6 years of being best friends is hard to forget.
We had patched up our friendship in my senior year (his junior because he flunked a year, part of our disagreements) and I was supposed to go to a concert with him. Guns and roses, metallica, and one other big band (can't remember the name). I had a job, and I had to work. I remember him coming by my work to see if he could get me to quit and come with them. I was so close. I ached to just say "f* it" and go, but I was also trying to support myself, and I can't ever quit anything. That feels wrong. So I stayed.
That previous week it had been raining very heavily, and the location of the concert was perfect. It was at a international race way, meaning it could hold up to 100,000 people for the concert. The only problem is there are only 2 ways in, and one of them was flooded. Now this isn't a big deal in the daylight because you can see, and step your way across the river. This is what Jonas and his other friends did.
It is very different after a 4 hour long concert, in the dark with people. The girl that jonas was there with was swept into the river, and he dove in after her. He pushed her out of the river, and never came out himself.
I worked a 16 hour shift that day, and slept in the next because I was feeling sorry for myself. I had not seen the news, and did not find out until the second day of searching for his body. I went with my mom to my other mom's home in shock, and I was there when they discovered the body.
I was so racked with guilt that I did not go with, I kept thinking I could have saved him. It wasn't until his older brother gave me a bear hug and told me he was glad I didn't go because they would have fished out 2 bodies from the river that day, that I realized I would have gone in with him, after him, because I would not have let him die alone.
I bring this up today because my wife gave me a wonderful present for my birthday today. A small, skinny, white haired kitten, and she named him Jonas. In honor of my friend who I will always love, and never forget. I have tried to live my life for both of us, and at times I think I can hear his laugh, or see his cocky grin, but for now I can see his namesake, even if it is a cat. who knows, it might even be him.
Will
Trying yet again to maintain a blog of our travels abroad, especially as the children are getting older.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
Voice of Will: Back in China
2005-09-19 - 11:39 p.m.
Hello all. This is from a letter to my father.I haven't written lately things are just going very quickly. Too much to do and never enough time.
Lets see.
Seeing you was one of the few highlights in our trip. It was so bad at one point, criss and I looked at each other and stated, "I wish I was back at home, in china."
We made our flight to beijing very easily, it was smooth with only 2 or three instances of turburlence, but mostly it was very smooth, and professionally flown. The flight out of beijing the next morning was a real pain, we were shaking so badly people were spilling their drinks, and there were 40 new SIAS teachers on the plane that had not had the opportunity to rest like we did. (We landed in beijing, and had a 12 hour layover, so we went to a hotel and slept for 7 hours. we were freshly dressed, showered, and relaxed before getting on the flight to zhengzhou).
We got back to our apartment to find that there were workmen in our place while we were gone. There were actually 3 work crews so no one knows who to blame. But while replacing the showers, rebuilding larger shwers, adn replacing the door trim a whole boat load of foreign teachrs were ripped off. Missing from our home were all the double a/triple a batteries for all the remote controls, all the light bulbs. wall hangers were ripped off the walls, most of our hoarded western food was missing, my water distiller was used for making coffee and it was broken, our rug was covered in water/spill stains, and they took 100 rmb from each of the kids piggy banks. They also shoved their garbage under our couch (it appears taht most people dont' actually move their furnature ever because you find the most disgusting things under furnature in china.
We started teaching 2 weeks ago, and did 2 weeks of orientation before that. The orientation was a joke, but it was much better than last years orientation for teachers. Classes are like always, hectic. Nothing seems to be working, and classes change and get reorganized almost on a whim of the gods. Though this eyar only 6 teachers had their schedules changed, as opposed to last year when only 6 didn't have their schedules rearranged. The vast majority of our teacher have textbooks for their classes at the end of the first couple of days, and their classes had books by the end of the first week. Criss and I are lucky in that we get our schedules done first and with priority because we have kids. So her schedule is that she teaches 8 hours straight (not counting lunch) on Monday and wednesday, and I teach 6 straight hours (not counting lunch) on tuesday and thursday. We both have friday off. Not too bad all things considering.
The group of incoming teachers is the best I have seen, and I think it is the best/most professional/most qualified to ever teach here. SIAS has been a bastion for the ultra conservative born again evangelical christians for its existence. At the end of last year, only criss and I were left of the "open minded" teachers group we had. I was very scared it would be 50 new bible thumping teachers to combine with the 40 returning bible thumpers. I was incredibly surprised. Of the new teachers only 5 seem like they are missionaires, while the other 35 seem to be very agnostic, or of other religions (3 jews, 3 catholics, a bahai, someone with their personal guru, and about 15 agnostics, adn 15 or so relaxed/lapsed christians.)
Will
Hello all. This is from a letter to my father.I haven't written lately things are just going very quickly. Too much to do and never enough time.
Lets see.
Seeing you was one of the few highlights in our trip. It was so bad at one point, criss and I looked at each other and stated, "I wish I was back at home, in china."
We made our flight to beijing very easily, it was smooth with only 2 or three instances of turburlence, but mostly it was very smooth, and professionally flown. The flight out of beijing the next morning was a real pain, we were shaking so badly people were spilling their drinks, and there were 40 new SIAS teachers on the plane that had not had the opportunity to rest like we did. (We landed in beijing, and had a 12 hour layover, so we went to a hotel and slept for 7 hours. we were freshly dressed, showered, and relaxed before getting on the flight to zhengzhou).
We got back to our apartment to find that there were workmen in our place while we were gone. There were actually 3 work crews so no one knows who to blame. But while replacing the showers, rebuilding larger shwers, adn replacing the door trim a whole boat load of foreign teachrs were ripped off. Missing from our home were all the double a/triple a batteries for all the remote controls, all the light bulbs. wall hangers were ripped off the walls, most of our hoarded western food was missing, my water distiller was used for making coffee and it was broken, our rug was covered in water/spill stains, and they took 100 rmb from each of the kids piggy banks. They also shoved their garbage under our couch (it appears taht most people dont' actually move their furnature ever because you find the most disgusting things under furnature in china.
We started teaching 2 weeks ago, and did 2 weeks of orientation before that. The orientation was a joke, but it was much better than last years orientation for teachers. Classes are like always, hectic. Nothing seems to be working, and classes change and get reorganized almost on a whim of the gods. Though this eyar only 6 teachers had their schedules changed, as opposed to last year when only 6 didn't have their schedules rearranged. The vast majority of our teacher have textbooks for their classes at the end of the first couple of days, and their classes had books by the end of the first week. Criss and I are lucky in that we get our schedules done first and with priority because we have kids. So her schedule is that she teaches 8 hours straight (not counting lunch) on Monday and wednesday, and I teach 6 straight hours (not counting lunch) on tuesday and thursday. We both have friday off. Not too bad all things considering.
The group of incoming teachers is the best I have seen, and I think it is the best/most professional/most qualified to ever teach here. SIAS has been a bastion for the ultra conservative born again evangelical christians for its existence. At the end of last year, only criss and I were left of the "open minded" teachers group we had. I was very scared it would be 50 new bible thumping teachers to combine with the 40 returning bible thumpers. I was incredibly surprised. Of the new teachers only 5 seem like they are missionaires, while the other 35 seem to be very agnostic, or of other religions (3 jews, 3 catholics, a bahai, someone with their personal guru, and about 15 agnostics, adn 15 or so relaxed/lapsed christians.)
Will