by Hugh M. Lewis

5-1-99

@3:38p.m.

It is a hot day today. It is also a holiday. The campus is pretty deserted.

We have finished collating the mid-term papers for the Grade 3 when May knocked on our door. It was probably mid-morning then. She wanted to borrow some white out. May’s student ID states that she is from Loyang and if she takes the train there she only need to pay ½ fare. But since she is going to Wuhan she needs to white out the word Loyang and write Wuhan in its place therefore entitling her to ½ fare to Wuhan. All the students do this devious action. White out the city where you are from and replace it with the name of the city you are going to. If you look at their student ID’s there is a thick layer of white out where the name of the city is supposed to be. The train authorities are not too concerned with it. Everyone does it to get the ½ fare. But the white out that we had was the wrong kind. May is leaving at 1:00pm. for Wuhan.

Lucy and Linda came by. Hugh was expecting some elementary school children to come by with their teachers at 10:00a.m. Hugh wanted the girls here to help interpret. The students and the teachers did not show up. Then Steven turned up. He is a student and also a class monitor from Grade 1. We sat outside talking and all of us decided to go to Nan Wan Lake.

We bought some snacks from the shop in the hotel lobby to take along. We took the three students with us. We decided to go with a taxi because the buses were all crowded. The taxi dropped us off ½ mile from the entrance to the Lake. The authorities had set up roadblocks preventing vehicles from entering the only access to the Lake. So all of us walked about ½ mile to get to the entrance.

Lucy and Linda paid for our tickets to get in. It was 5yuan each. We took a boat ride around the Lake. That costs 70yuan for all of us. The man manning the boat took us to three islands. The first one we landed on was called Snake Island. There we found out that to walk around the island each of us will have to pay 6yuan each. Linda got into a spat with the ticket seller over that. The lady got very angry with Linda. So all of us just left. The boatman took us around the 2^nd island. We did not stop or disembark. He told us that we would have to pay to walk around on all the islands. So we told him to take us to the island he thought would be worth seeing. He took us to the 3^rd island called Bird Island. So we paid the 6yuan to walk around. Hugh paid for the tickets.

Before going through the gate I had to go to the toilet to put on my sanitary pad. I was not going to use the toilet. I was shocked to see the condition of the restroom. There were 2 stalls and no doors. There was just a long trench running across the 3 stalls. There were urine and feces, sanitary pads and soiled toilet and tissue papers, all thrown into the trench and exposed to the flies. The ladies who used these toilets just pulled down their pants, squatted over the trench and did what comes naturally. I hurriedly found a corner away from the trench and did what I have to do. I swear I will never go into a public restroom in China again. There was no water to wash your hands with so I opened up a bottle of water and washed my hands with it.

We walked through the gate. We saw different types of birds: beautiful finches, parakeets, a brown eagle or hawk, ostriches, peacocks, emus, deers and roosters. At the end of the trail there was another gate. The posters plastered on the gate read "Live Animals" and the cost of seeing those creatures. It will be 3yuan each. We paid because Mahala wanted to see what was inside.

We saw a sad sight walking through the 2^nd gate. The first animal was a Bactrian camel looking sad and alone. Adults and children were climbing on him to have their pictures taken. Walking around we saw a lone emancipated lion. It looked like it was a young lion or a very old adult. It was lying curled up in the corner of its very small cage. I did not see any fresh water or food in there. If you looked into its eyes you see the sadness there. There was no life in it. It looked traumatized and afraid. It just huddled there. Most of the people just looked and passed it by. Then we came upon 2 monkeys that were chained up by the path. Around them were strewn rubbish and trash. Plastic water bottles, aluminum pop cans and packets of discarded plastic bags. The monkeys were picking up whatever food they could find among the trash and eating them. Children and adults passing by would tease and taunt them mercilessly then run away when the monkeys made an attempt to grab them. One extremely naughty boy kept poking one of the monkeys with a long stick and would laugh every time the monkey made a rush at him. He knew the monkey could not get to him because it was chained up. Lucy started to tease the monkeys too but Mahala kept telling her not to do it.

We kept walking and came upon a cage of water rats. These animals were huge. In that cage was a kitten. It had a cord tied around its neck. It afraid and hungry. It was clawing the cage wanting to get out. Steven bent down close to the cage and made mewing noises. The little kitten started crying back so loudly. It makes me so sad to see that. The kitten was so miserable. Someone had put the kitten there to get across the point that rats can be bigger than cats. Then there was a monitor lizard that had its hind legs tied up. There was a pen with wild pigs in it. To me they looked like regular pigs. There was nothing wild about them. Everybody left the pigs alone. In another cage there was a 1 big boa constrictor and 1 python together. They were both asleep. Linda found a twig and started poking the snakes with that.

We came to a cage that had a sign that read foxes. There were two of them. Hugh thought they looked like the red pandas but I thought they looked more like raccoons. The same sad expressions. They looked afraid and were curled up in the corner of the cage. The last animal we saw was a cayman. It had a cement enclosure with a pool of dirty water in the middle. A little boy was splashing water on its face. The cayman snapped its jaws each time the water hit it on the face. I felt like throwing that boy over the wall and have the cayman snap its jaws around the boy’s head.

We sat by the rocky beach and ate the lunch we had. The girls had bought some fruits and we had sausages and crackers. Then we drank our water and walked back to our boat for the trip back to the mainland.

All I have to say about Bird Island is not flattering at all. The animals lived in terrible living conditions. They looked unhealthy and sick. All the animals did not have food or clean water, the cages were too small and dirty too and the animals looked malnourished. The visitors were no better. They should take lessons in being more humane towards their treatment of the animals. Parents and their children should stop teasing and taunting the animals. They only do it because the animals are either behind cages or chained up. Mahala kept asking me if the animals were ever fed. My guess is not too often.

We came back to the school about 3:30p.m. We had a hard time trying to hail a taxi back here. There were masses of people waiting for buses and taxis. Linda managed to flag one down, it stopped and as we were walking towards I saw a man with a baby in his arms walk right behind Linda, passed her and just climbed into the taxi. His wife then jumped in after him. Linda started to argue with this fellow but Hugh stopped her. He told her not to bother and to let the man have the taxi. I heard the man haggling with the taxi driver over the fare. A couple of minutes later Hugh hailed a taxi for us easily. He just stepped into the street, saw an empty one and shouted at it to stop.

We were all tired from all that walking and all of us had a little too much sun. It was a good day though we did over spent on the trip to the Lake. It was all those unexpected expenses. Hugh paid for the whole outing except for the 15yuan to get into the Lake proper. Lucy and Linda paid for that.

5-2-99

@1:54p.m.

It is looking overcast.

This morning I discovered flea bites on Mahala’s legs. We think she picked it up on the islands yesterday. I hope it does not develop into anything else.

Lucy bought us some "chow bin" for breakfast. She came back again this afternoon with apples, peanut cookies and popcorn for us. She had been downtown and had also bought herself a new outfit and some lemonade powder. She left it here because she wanted to have that to drink when she comes to visit.

Hugh and ark is up in Grade 3 Class 1. They are checking on the library books in that room. Hugh saw Tina there. She had 2 books with her and was reading them. Hugh walked over to her and looked at those books. One of them was a Teachers Edition of the their English text. Inside underlined in red ink were all the questions that Hugh had for the test. Hugh asked Tina where she got the book. She pretended not to understand. Mark then interpreted for Hugh. She finally told Hugh that the book belongs to Lynn another student in that class. From what Hugh told me, Lynn’s English skill is practically nil. Someone has been supplying that girl with the questions.

5-3-99

@9:42a.m.

It rained yesterday and is still raining.

We had company yesterday in the room above us yesterday night. They were loud and restless. When we went to bed at 1030p.m. they were still moving around and this morning they are just as noisy. People here just do not know when to be quiet.

We woke up to no water. Nice to get up and find that you cannot clean up. So we had to use the bucket of water we collect every night before going to bed. It was cold.

Hugh killed a long centipede this morning in the bathroom. It was an ugly, nasty looking thing. It had long feelers and looked like a red shrimp.

Hugh told me this morning that he is not going to put any more money into the library. I hope so. That has been a bone of discontent between us both for the last few months. I am tired of him spending money that rightfully should come to the family first. He has spent over 600yuan on the library alone, buying books, bookcases and odds and ends. He also told me that we have only 65 days left here.

It is now 8:46p.m. It has rained the whole day.

May and her boyfriend came back from Wuhan today. She brought over the books that she managed to buy. Books on Hemingway and Shakespeare were high on the list. May looks tired so Hugh offered her the use of our bathroom so she can take a shower. May then left and came back ½ an hour later with her toilet articles.

I got upset with Hugh because he was fussing around over May telling her it is better to take a bath rather than a shower. May is a grown woman. She can make up her own mind. It aggravates me when he behaves like that. Let the girl take a shower and be done with it.

It is now 9:28p.m. and May is still in the bathroom taking her bath. Even though it is late in the day I still feel that have to entertain the students. It frustrates me to no end. I want to go to bed and relax but cannot do it because we still have company. My life is not my own anymore. It is now 9:30p.m. He is still talking to May about his plans for the library. Every single minute is spent discussing the library. Sometimes it is Mark or some other library member. When it gets too much for Hugh he bitches that the students come around too much. Next time he bitches I will tell him that he encourages them too.

5-4-99

@9:26a.m.

The sun is out so I washed up the 2 quilt covers. I found a dead centipede while washing the covers in the bathtub. Either it had come from the laundry pail or from one of the numerous holes around the bathtub. Those pesky creatures are everywhere. I also aired out all the clothes I had hanging inside the rooms.

5-5-99

@11:12a.m.

This morning I washed up our bed sheets, another quilt and 6 pillowcases by hand. It was hard washing all those big pieces by hand while bending over the bathtub.

The mid-term English exam is being held today. He was in charge of Grade 3 Class 1 this time. Some other teachers monitored the other Grade 3 class.

Zola is here right now. She is using the computer for a final paper that she is writing for the school. All Grade 4 students have to submit a paper, at least 10,000 words, to the English department. It is a requirement before they graduate, just like a thesis. She is looking up some information on the computer to help her in her paper.

This evening Hugh held another meeting with the library committee. It was compulsory and the members had to show up for it. They had to iron out a lot of issues concerning the day to day running of the library and also it’s future survival.

5-6-99

@10:41a.m.

This morning I killed another centipede by the door. I have lost count of the number that we have dispatched since the weather started warming up.

It is now 2:59p.m. Hugh has meetings planned the whole day. Right now he is upstairs in the library. Mahala is with Lucy. They are doing their math lesson.

5-7-99

@3:35p.m.

This afternoon while Lucy was tutoring Mahala there was an announcement over the PA system. Lucy came over immediately and told me that the campus will have no water or electricity from today until tomorrow. Thank goodness Lucy told me. I had time to collect a whole bathtub of water and bought extra candles. Otherwise we would have been caught unprepared.

At 3:00p.m. the water and electricity was shut off. I was prepared. I had done my cooking and all I have to do when we get hungry is to heat the food up and all my thermos flasks is full of hot water. These power outages and water rationing is chronic here. I have never experienced such severe sanctions as I have over here. The people here do not mind, they are used to this. It is such an inconvenience to me.

Mother’s Day is 2 days away and our wedding anniversary is 2 days after that. We have been together 12 years now. Every year Hugh tells me it feels like a prison sentence to him. I hope he is just joking.

I do not know when the water and power will come back on. I guess no one else does either. That information was conveniently left out during the announcement over the PA. We will just have to wait and see.

Lucy told me that her family has decided to continue their retail business even though it has not been making money lately. All their cash is tied up in their inventory and it is better to keep going rather than lose all that they have if they decide to call it quits now. The whole family depends on that business. The parents, her older brother and his wife, Lucy’s younger sister and Lucy herself.

The lights came back on in the late afternoon. This is how things work here. You never know what to expect from one minute to the next. I am glad though because for one thing Hugh has scheduled meetings this evening.

5-8-99

Today is Saturday. I woke up real early and collected water in the bathtub expecting the electricity and water to be shut off. That was not the case.

The music came on today. It is a normal school day. It is make up day for the holiday on Tuesday.

Mahala and I walked out to get breakfast. On the way back we saw a young boy of about 6 or 7 years old with an older woman. It was probably the grandmother. The boy had his pants pulled down to his knees and was bent over with his butt sticking out in the air. The woman was wiping the boy’s ass with a little piece of paper. The boy had gone Number 2 on the side of the road and the grandmother was wiping his ass. An interesting fact about that was the boy had roller skates on.

Later in the day one of Mahala’s little friends, a girl of 6, peed between 2 trees in garden outside our rooms and continued playing. The same girl peed again in the same spot a few hours later. This time I told her not to do it there and to go somewhere else. I do not think she understood me. I have seen other little girls just pee out in public. A favorite spot is right outside the hotel under a big pine tree. Another spot is right by some big bushes.

This evening after Hugh met with the library committee, I asked one of them, Wendy , to stay back. We told Wendy that we are letting her go because we felt that her lessons with Mahala are not going anywhere. Mahala has lost interest and we only have 8 more weeks here. She started crying, she felt we were not satisfied and unhappy with her teaching methods. She must have gone on for ½ an hour just crying her eyes out. It took a lot of convincing on our part to reassure her that we are not letting her go because of that. Our timing in breaking the news to her came at a bad moment. She and Dan had quarreled earlier on. We did not know that until she told us that our news to her came at the end of a bad day. She was feeling highly emotional and apologized for her behavior. She felt better after that bout of tears.

I was just going out to buy some food when Zola came.

When I got back Wendy was looking calmer and normal. She shared some of the "chow bin" I had bought. Then May and Jason turned up. She stayed for a while working on the library books that she was in charge of. May left and Mark came. Dan was looking everywhere for Wendy. So Wendy and Mark left together. That left only Zola. She left at 8:30p.m.

Then Linda came with some materials that Hugh wanted for the library. We told her what had happened with Wendy. Linda told us that she might have to go home to help her parents with the harvest. She might be leaving in the first or second week of June and is going to stop teaching Mahala then. That was fine with us.

Finally time for the family. We managed to watch part of a Russian movie about a man and his cats.

There was the usual noises coming from upstairs. This person shuffled across the room before he/she settled down at 11:30p.m. At times it sounded like he was rolling a can across the floor too.

5-9-99

@10:00a.m.

It is Sunday and is Mother’s Day today. Nothing has happened yet. The wind has picked up this morning. There is trash everywhere in the backyard. Mahala has some friends over and they are playing out in the yard.

At 10:15 Mark came over. While he talked to Hugh I was outside sweeping the backyard. I came in and Hugh had this to say to me. Mark just informed him that a U.S. warplane have just bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia. The details are still uncertain, whether it was an accident or a deliberate action on the part of NATO. Mark wanted us to be aware of it and also to keep an eye for Mahala because the atmosphere on the campus is shaky. All the students have been talking about it. Harsh words have been heard and Mark himself was privy to one the conversation. He told us to we need to be careful the next few days and to keep close to the hotel. I must admit we are all shaken up too, not knowing what the repercussions will be if any. I feel anxious for Hugh and Mahala. I do not stand out that much. I have told Mahala to just stay in the backyard and not go down to the front of the hotel.

The Foreign Office has not contacted us yet. We have not heard any news from the U.S. Embassy. Of course it is hard to reach us. They have the fax number to the Foreign Office but I doubt whether we will get any news from them through the fax. It is horrible not knowing what is happening and what lies ahead for us here after the bombing. Our situation is mighty unstable right now. It is a scary feeling. So far I have not felt threatened at all. I have not been out of this hotel since yesterday evening. I just wonder what kind of reception Hugh will have when he walks to class tomorrow. Both of us have decided if there is any sign of aggression or antagonism from even a single person here then we will just leave.

There is a long wall that runs the length of the hotel. Since morning there have been numerous posters that have been put up by various students. All day long we have seen students standing and reading what have been written down on it. So when Elton, May and Mark came in the afternoon. I asked them what was written on the posters that were on the wall. Mark and Elton told me that the posters read "Down with Clinton", "Down with Albright" and "Down with NATO". I am sure there were more harsh words but the students did not reveal it to me.

Mr. Zhao came by also this afternoon. He cautioned us to just stay within the hotel premises and not to go anywhere. He also informed us that there would be an anti-American rally tomorrow. The communist leaders of the school are organizing it. He cannot predict what is going to happen during that rally. Hugh has told him that at any sign of trouble directed towards us we will leave. There is no point in staying if we feel insecure or threatened. He seemed to understand though he reassures us that nothing of that sort will happen. We have also informed him that if we have any incoming faxes or mails from the Embassy to please forward it to us as soon as possible.

We were told that the students on campus are holding a meeting this evening. The hot topic of course will be the bombing of the Chinese Embassy. Tomorrow the students of the school are holding a rally and demonstration denouncing the bombing of their Embassy by the Americans. Of course there will be banners and placards denouncing the bombing and the role that the Americans played in it. There will be anti-American and anti-NATO slogans. The teacher and communist leader who is charge of this demonstration is Mr. Zhang. He teaches American-British political history.

After the meeting a group of students from Grade 3 Class 2 came by our rooms. They have decided among themselves that since the situation will be tense for the next few days and also for our protection they will post at least one student with us until the situation eases up. They seemed very concerned for us. I take it to mean that in spite of the bombing they are still our friends and will maintain that friendship.

It is 9:55p.m. We have Mark, Elton and Apollo here. We have told them it is not necessary for them to stay the night but they insisted. They want to be here in case any problem arises during the night. We have had a core group of students coming and going here all day long. Wendy bought food for us. When she came back she told us that there was a police car in front of the building. The authorities must anticipate some problems. Elton bought some cakes since we are being confined for the time being. Jenny told us that there was a rally in the downtown area today. Tomorrow’s rally will involve the students and some civilians. The students will start from the school and make their way downtown and back again chanting anti-American slogans. Mark told me that during the students meeting earlier on there was talk that the students from the political department might send a delegation to meet with Hugh. They want to know Hugh’s position on the bombing. But they never showed up. That was a relief.

This evening the weather turned bad. We had a thunderstorm. At the height of the storm we had heavy rain. It was then that we heard glasses being broken. We weren’t sure but it sounded like it. It was then that I felt real afraid. Mahala was scared because she thought someone was throwing bottles.

That night we had Elton and Apollo sleeping in the spare room. Mark slept on the floor in our living room.

5-10-99

@2:00p.m.

This morning Wendy bought us breakfast again. She also bought extra for the guys who spent the night here. Since morning we have students here.

At 10:00a.m. the rally started. Before then the students had gathered by the library. As they passed by the hotel we could hear shouts. Most of it was anti-American and anti-NATO slogans. All of the students were carrying and waving little red flags. Some of them had slogans written on them. Other students had red banners all with slogans written on them. This is the first time I have ever seen a demonstration like this. The students were chanting and shouting. All the students from different departments took part except for the few that stayed with us.

We saw Mr. Xu outside the hotel and a couple of police cars there too. Hugh and I walked to the gate where he was and stood there with him. As soon as he heard the students coming he told us to get back into the rooms and stay there.

Lucy was the first one to come over this morning. Then Wendy, she bought breakfast, then Jenny , then Monica. Elton and May came too. Dan came by but did not stay long. All three of these students had to leave because they had to participate in the rally. The students that stayed behind were Lucy, Wendy, Jenny, Monica, Mark and Apollo. We told these students that we will be fine but they refused to leave. Finally at 1:00p.m. I insisted that they leave. They did.

Early this morning Hugh tendered his letter of resignation. He asked Mark to pass it to the Foreign Affairs Office, the President’s Office and the English Department. At 8:15a.m. Mr. Zhao came down to talk to Hugh. He reassured us again that we are safe. He also told us so far no foreign teachers especially American teachers have resigned over this incident. Everyone is adopting a wait and see attitude. Hugh gave reasons why we should leave. Mr. Zhao left and 20 minutes later he came back with Mr. Zhang, the President of the College. Mr. Zhang reassured us that he will personally guarantee our safety. We have no reason to worry about our security. I do not think Hugh was too convinced. After a few minutes of conversation Mr. Zhang left. The issue of whether we leave or remain is still up in the air.

This afternoon Mr. Xu came by. Hugh then informed him of his decision to leave the Macintosh computer here for the library. Hugh is also thinking of leaving his Mac laptop. That way if we have to leave hurriedly we will not have so much to carry. Mr. Xu informed Hugh that Mr. Zhao intends to take over control of the library, and if the computer is left behind, it is likely to end up in Mr. Zhao’s home. Mr. Xu has offered an alternative to that plan. He has offered the use of his apartment on campus for storing the computers. The students can also use the apartment as the library. Mr. Xu in all honesty has told us that he would like to be able to use the computers and he is even willing to go as far as buying a monitor for the Macintosh. He has also offered to teach the students how to use the computer and he might also hook it up to the Internet. The only problem with that is the apartment is not ready to be moved in yet. About us leaving, Mr. Xu has told us that he would not recommend doing it now. The situation is not good for traveling. We will have to spend at least 2 days on the railroads before we can get into the Shanghai or Beijing. That is a long way and anything can happen between here and there. He has told us to wait and see if the situation improves the next few days. He is keeping in touch with his friends in Beijing and they will let him know when it will be safe to travel. That explanation is reasonable. So for now we will have to bide our time here.

This evening Mr. Xu came by with a monitor for the library. He had managed to borrow one from goodness knows where. Hugh helped hook up the monitor to the Macintosh. Right now he is showing the students who are here how to use the it. They are working on the software for teaching English to non-native English speakers. I am in the bedroom. I hear Hugh asking Elton how much a monitor costs in China. I am afraid that Hugh is thinking of buying one for the students so they can use the computer. I heard Elton tell him that a monitor costs between 1,500yuan to 2,000yuan depending on the quality. The students stayed until late working on the computer. All of them seemed to enjoy working on it.

Elton and Mark are sleeping over tonight. They are using the spare room.

5-11-99

@12:00p.m.

It is Tuesday. Hugh will not be going to teach today. He still feels uncomfortable over the whole situation and how the students will react to him if he walks into class. We have not been out for 3 days now. The students have been most helpful, especially Lucy. She has been keeping us feed.

This morning Hugh wished me a Happy Anniversary.

We called the Embassy this morning. All we got was a recorded message informing us that the Embassy is closed. Hugh called again and got through. The person on the other end gave us a number to call. Finally Hugh managed to get Ms. Bishop on the other end. She was helpful. She informed us that the American Embassy and all consular offices have been closed until further notice. The Embassy has been under siege and one of the consular offices had been burnt. There have been no recalls of American citizens as yet. It would be our judgment call if we want to leave the country. She advised us to stay close to the hotel and not try to leave right now. It is not the best of time to travel because of the unsafe conditions especially the antagonism directed towards Americans. And if we do decide to leave to please let her know. She wants us to call her again in a couple of days to check on the situation. She is working out off a hotel right now.

When Mr. Zhao came by again we told him that we have decided to leave. He was not too happy. He kept telling us that we would be safe. Lucy bought us breakfast and Mr. Zhao asked for her opinion about us leaving. Lucy told him that the choice was ours to make on whether we wanted to stay or go. The only request that she had was that if we do leave that the Foreign Office make provisions to take us by car to Zhengzhou and from there help us get a flight out to Beijing or Shanghai and then back to LA. She also made a comment that some of the students are willing to accompany us to Zhengzhou. Then Zhou asked Lucy if she thought we are safe here. Lucy replied "I don’t know." We told Mr. Zhao that we would like to make a call to the US to talk to our family. Mr. Zhao told us to come up at 10:00a.m. and he will make the call for us. Then he left.

Wendy, Elton, Mark, Star, Shirley and Ann came to wrap and catalog the books. So we left them in the rooms while we went over to the Foreign Affairs Office to make our call.

We called Grandma and spoke to her. Told her that we are fine and safe. She sounded really upset. She was worried about our safety. Upon hearing Mahala’s voice she started to cry. Mahala talked to her for a while. We gave her a contact number but only to call during an emergency. We talked to her about 10 minutes. Mostly the conversation centered about our safety here and how the rest of the US was reacting to the news of the bombing and also how we are doing. Hugh told her we might leave. She was happy with that. The last thing she said was to just come home.

When we got back to the hotel there was a whole lot of students waiting. Some were working on the books and the others were here to find out if the rumors that we are leaving were true. Hugh explained to them the reasons behind our decision to leave. It looks like if we do leave it will have t be the end of this week or next week. They seemed to understand and all of them volunteered to help us in getting food or whatever necessities we needed for our daily needs. Most of the helpful students all are from Grade 3.

We have students in the kitchen, the living room and the spare room. Some of them are just here and some are wrapping and cataloging books for the library. Julia was here and as usual monopolized Hugh for at least an hour. The last group of students left at 6:30p.m.

We had to ask Lucy for a favor this afternoon. We are out of cash so Lucy as kind enough to go downtown to the Bank of China to exchange some money for us. She had to go twice because the first time she was there the bank was closed. She went again at 2:30p.m. Lucy was back with the cash by 4:00p.m. We had to change US$100.

Mr. Zhao and his wife also dropped by this evening. They were taking a walk and detoured here to give us a gift. They had gone to Kuilin during the Spring break and had bought a fan. It is made from sandalwood and smells good.

Mr. Xu came by this evening. We had beer and he was telling us about an incident that occurred yesterday night behind the girls’ dorm. A male freshman student, about 17 years old, was stabbed to death. He was injured in the groin area and the wound punctured a major artery and the student bled to death. The killer/killers are still on the loose. The victim was from the Chinese department. The school authorities are all upset over the incident. Lucy mentioned it to us. She told us that Jack pointed out the spot where the stabbing occurred. Jack told her that there was a lot of blood and the fight was over another girl student. The killer/killers might not be students. They could have been outsiders. That area is a favorite eating spot for the students and the locals.

Mr. Xu stayed until at least 10:00p.m. There were the Grade 3 students here too. All of them were trying to convince Hugh to stay on. I do not know if they are successful but Hugh did tell the students that he would be going back to class on Thursday and Friday. Hugh is going to give it a try.

Mark and Elton are staying the night again. They told us that Mr. Xu wanted them to stay here until he tells them to leave. So it seems we will be having company for the next few weeks.

5-12-99

@11:55a.m.

It is Wednesday morning. Julia was the first here. Then Lucy came. After Julia left, Mahala and I walked out with Lucy to get some breakfast. I did not sense any tension. It was like any usual day. There was no rude stares or even any iota of antagonism from any of the shopkeepers.

Lucy told us that the stabbing that took place involved 5 assailants. A girl was injured in the attack. She was the victim’s girlfriend. The police are still looking for the assailants. A similar incident took place last semester. It was in the students’ dance hall. A student from the Physical Education department and another fellow student used knives on each other. Lucy was not too sure if anyone was killed in that one.

Hugh has decided to not give the computers to the library. It is a wise decision. By leaving the computers behind he is only creating more problems for the students. I have sorted out the clothes we are taking and leaving behind. Mahala has got her toys all sorted out. She wants to give the toys she is leaving behind to her friends. Whatever we have we are going to give to Lucy. She has told us that she will take them.

Through all these Hugh has managed to grade the mid-term papers for Grade 3 Class 2. He still has to finish Class 1 papers.

Mr. Xu is supposed to inform us when we can leave. Could be sometime next week.

5-13-99

@7:55a.m.

It has been 4 days since the bombing of the Chinese Embassy. Today Hugh is returning to class for the first time since it happened. Mahala and I are going with him. Elton and Mark walked with us. We walked by the wall that was plastered with anti-American and anti-NATO slogans. One poster had a swastika sign drawn on it with the implication that the Nazism and US goes hand in hand. Another poster showed Clinton with all his alleged girlfriends. A few posters read "blood for blood".

In class Hugh discussed his feelings and thoughts. He then had the class answer 5 questions for him. All of them had to write it down. I get the feeling that this is what he is going to do with Class 1 tomorrow.

We called Ms. Bishop again this morning. She informed us that the situation has become more stable but urged us to still practice caution. As far as she can tell us only American students are leaving because of the unrest in the universities. The US Embassy has been totally trashed. A Frenchman was mistaken for an American and was beaten up. That was the only incident involving a foreigner. It is still a wait and see situation.

Mr. Zhao came by again in the late afternoon hoping to persuade Hugh to stay on. Then Mr. Xu came by. The conversation came to an end. Hugh wants Mr. Xu to send an e-mail to Vivian and Ernestine at the Rock Springs Library. It is a request to ask for their help in supporting the students’ library.

This evening Hugh told Mr. Xu that he will consider staying only if a room is made available for the student library. So our staying or leaving depends on whether Mr. Xu can get us that room. Otherwise we will have to lose US700 to the school and pay from our own pocket Hugh’s return ticket back to the US. Mr. Xu told us that Mr. Zhao has been talking to the President. He told the President that Hugh has psychological problems and that Hugh’s teaching methods are not effective. Mr. Zhao has been trying to gun down the idea of the library by telling the school authorities that since Hugh is leaving what is the use of giving the library a room. S now we know that was why Mr. Xu was not able to let us have the key to the room that was promised to the library. It is confusing and difficult here. You have to play the game according to the Chinese rules. Mr. Xu has promised to talk to the President about getting the room for the library.

Lucy was here then and Hugh asked her "If your Mrs. Li asked you to cheat, would you do it?’ The answer was in the affirmative. "If I asked you to cheat, would you do it?" Again the answer was yes. Lucy is honest in her responses. The students would cheat for their teachers if they were asked to. It is their way and they see nothing wrong in doing it.

Mr. Xu also helped us make a phone call to Ernestine at the Rock Springs Library. We needed the correct e-mail address from her.

5-14-99

@11:00a.m.

This morning Lucy bought us 2 packets of sweet buns. Then Elton bought us 2 packets of "re kan mien". Mark and Elton has spent the last 5 nights in the spare room. According to Elton they are very comfortable in there. There are not that many mosquitoes and it is also quiet. On top of that they have hot water every night at 9:30p.m. They have a soft bed to sleep on. They do not want to move back to the dorm. Hugh will not insist too much that they leave. They are very quiet. They leave in the morning before classes and come back only at night and sometimes in the afternoon to have a nap.

We have just come down from Grade3 Class1. All the students were quiet when Hugh was talking. He wanted feedback from them but none was forthcoming. So Hugh dismissed the class early.

I still do not know if we are leaving or staying. If Mr. Xu comes through on the room for the library then we will stay, if not we leave. It is as simple as that.

Hugh is very upset with Mr. Zhao’s underhanded behavior. I sincerely hope Mr. Zhao makes himself scarce for a few days until Hugh cools off. Otherwise Hugh is liable to put it mildly give Mr. Zhao a piece of his mind. I do not want to see that kind of confrontation occurring since we will be leaving soon. I would rather just leave peacefully.

Lucy came around at lunchtime. Some students are not too happy with their mid-term scores especially those who failed. They cannot understand why the highest score is 99%. The person who is complaining the loudest is Jean who failed and only managed a score of 58%. Those who failed are afraid that if Hugh leaves the mid-term grades will also be their final grades.

Mr. Xu has managed to square a room for the library. He told Hugh and Mark that for now that is the best he can do. It is not located in the best of places but it will do for now. Mr. Xu is still trying to arrange a meeting between Hugh and the President. Mr. Xu hopes that by doing that, Hugh can convince the President that the idea of a student library is important and it will work. The President needs to be convinced of that before the library can gain a better and permanent room for its books.

Dan and Elton brought back the card catalog that the carpenter had made. It looked good and well made. So this evening the library committee comprising of Mark, Elton, Louisa, Wendy, May, Star and Shirley came over and arranged the cards. It took them almost 3 hours to finish. By the time they left it was around 9:30p.m.

It has started to rain.

5-15-99

@2:48p.m.

This morning Lucy came over early. She told us that she felt upset over having to translate a letter Hugh had written to the President of the college over Mr. Zhao’s behavior. The contents of the letter translated into Chinese are all bad. Hugh reassured her that the letter will not be given to the President. It is not our intention to hurt Mr. Zhao’s family. Lucy felt much better after that.

When Hugh left the room I asked Lucy what her class thought about our leaving. She told me that truthfully about 40% wants Hugh to stay and 60% comprised of students who want us to go, those who were undecided and those who do not care either way. It is still raining.

Hugh and a whole group of students are at the library’s new premises. All of them are doing major clean up.

The room is located just behind the hotel. It is one of many rooms in a long building. There must be 8 rooms alone in that one building. The rooms are intended for the single male teachers. However there is a married teacher who occupies one of the rooms there. We have seen the wife and child. There are no indoor plumbing or toilets. The occupants use the public toilet that is around the side of the building. There is a single water line that is about 20 feet away from the building. The occupants of these rooms use the water from the faucet for cleaning and washing. All cooking are either done inside the room or outside by the doorway. Situated close to the building is a huge rubbish heap. Trash is strewn everywhere around the surrounding area. There are rats crawling around everywhere. There is too much human traffic going by the room. Security is going to be an issue.

The room where the library will be in is rather small. The previous tenants left it in a mess. There is trash heaped up in that room. Someone had been using the room as a kitchen after the previous occupant left. Grease is splattered on the wall. The window screens are all torn. There is a leak coming from the ceiling. Hugh went over with some students and they are cleaning the place up. It is a going to be a tough job doing it. Thank goodness there are many willing helpers. Hugh has been over there for at least 2 hours now. Some of the students have been going back and forth between our lodgings and the library carrying all kinds of tools and equipment for cleaning and painting.

It is now 4:42p.m. It is still raining. This will make cleaning up the library more difficult. Hugh is still not home yet. Since the bombing all of us have stayed close to the hotel. Our daily living routine has been disrupted. All our tutors have not been teaching since the bombing. We have just decided to call it quits. When Hugh gets his next paycheck we will let them have their last salary.

Mr. Xu came by with an e-mail message from Ernestine. It is with regards to the adoption of the library here by the Sweetwater County Library System. Vivian needs to get the approval of Helen Higby the Director of the System first before the adoption process can go any further.

In the evening Lucy and Mahala walked out to buy food for us. Hugh gave Lucy 20yuan for the food. I cooked up a pot of rice. They were gone a long time. I finally walked out to look for them. I went to Jack’s place. He told me that they just left. I had missed them on the way there because they took the other way back.

Lucy bought a chicken dish, stir fried bean sprouts with eggs and garlic shoots with pork. It was a good meal. I ate too much and had to take alka seltzer after the meal.

After dinner Shirley a student from Grade 1 stopped by. She had heard that we were leaving and had bought us a farewell gift. It is a teapot with 3 cups. It was nice of her. Hugh told Shirley that we are taking the gift on false pretense because we are not leaving after all. She did not mind at all. Shirley then asked Hugh if he could check her speech for her. She is entering a competition organized by the department for the students. While this was all going on Julia came. Julia stayed until 10:00p.m. By then Lucy, Shirley and even Mark had left. Julia was asking nosy questions. I always get the feeling that she is prying into our personal life. I left her talking with Hugh while I watched TV in the other room.

There was a documentary about tea growing being shown. It was in Chinese but there was English sub-titles. Immediately I was struck by the similarities between the sentences and the translation Hugh had corrected for Mr. Zhao. It did not take me long to figure out in fact that it was the translation Hugh had worked on for him. The completed version was about 20 pages long. Hugh watched the last 5 minutes of the program with me and he confirmed my suspicions.

5-16-99

@8:25a.m.

Thank goodness for Sundays. Hugh will have a busy day today. Hugh and the student librarians are moving the books and furniture into the room today. He has help from the Grade 1 students. The paint is not quite dry and the floor is still wet. The humidity is high because of the rain that we have had the last 2 days. The only light in there is not working. Dan is in charge of fixing the electrical wires.

Lucy came by at noon. She had gone downtown earlier on to tutor another little boy. She came back with a roasted chicken for us. She told us that for the next 4 weeks she will be concentrating on her studies therefore she would stop the tutoring the boy for that period. Lucy’s employer had heard that the students had stoned our place of dwelling and our windows. The grandmother was especially concerned because she thought Mahala would be especially scared. Lucy told her that the rumors were untrue. Obviously the talk downtown is that our place of abode had been stoned. Lucy also told us that Linda had to leave for home suddenly. She had received a phone call She was crying while she was packing to go home. The other girls tried to talk to her but Linda was not saying anything. The girls all think it is bad news about a family member. They think it must be the father. He has not been in good health.

It is now 4:47p.m.

Lucy bought 2 "pee jeer" for Mahala. I will keep it away. Mahala can use it in the States.

Hugh is resting after a hard day at the library. He told me that Elton had managed to get hold of a gallon of hydrochloric acid. He was carrying around in an open container. The students were using the acid to clean up all the rust on the bars of the windows. The acid was so strong that when it was applied to the metal bar Hugh could hear a sizzling sound. It sounds dangerous and I hope it splashes no one. Like everything else here there are no safety codes for distribution or sale of such hazardous materials. Hugh also told me that Zola was over at the library looking or rather nosing through the card catalog. She has given and done nothing for the library, yet she feels she can walk in and look through the card catalog. Zola is in Grade 4 and all of the Grade 4 students are not members. The library is for members only. There is a 2yuan-membership fee.

When Mr. Xu came this evening Hugh had this to tell him. Hugh will stay and work out his contract on the condition that Mr. Zhao has little as possible to do with us. I am relieved that the decision has been made about our time here. It sets my mind at ease. All the uncertainty wrecks havoc on my nerves. I am glad I do not have to pay the school authorities here any more money. They have taken enough as it is.

5-17-99

@9:01a.m.

I walked to class with Hugh this morning. From today Mahala and I have decided to walk to and from class with Hugh. We do not feel comfortable about him walking alone anymore. We have only 6 more weeks to go.

I was mad at Hugh this morning. We were discussing about whether we should continue Mahala’s math lessons with Lucy. I thought Lucy should still continue as I feel Mahala needs help in the math department. The conversation then shifted to Lucy’s salary. I suggested 300yuan rather than the 400yuan Hugh was going to give her. Hugh rudely snapped at me when I disagreed. He has never discussed the issue of salary for the tutors with me. He tells them what he is going to pay them and then snaps at me when I tell him that it is too much.

At 11:30a.m. Mr. Zhao passed a letter postmarked May 7 to me. The letter is from Grandma. It had obviously been opened and then resealed again. When Hugh came back at noon I showed him the letter. He asked if the letter had been tampered with. I showed him the spot where it had been resealed. He picked up the letter and told me he was going to confront Mr. Zhao with it. He was fuming mad. He took off down the road. I was afraid so I immediately followed with Mahala in tow. We saw him as soon as we turned the corner leading to the Foreign Affairs Office. He was with Mr. Zhao. Hugh had his hand on Mr. Zhao’s forearm. When I got closer I heard Mr. Zhao telling Hugh that he did not open this letter or any other letters that we had received. Then Mr. Zhao suggested that we go the President to sort this out. Hugh agreed.

The President was in. Hugh told the President about our letters being opened and we would like it to stop. Our letters contain no seditious remarks and most of it is personal letters from family. We told the President that it is for this reason that we sometimes find it hard to stay on here. The President seemed sympathetic to our grievances. Hopefully this action will put a stop to our letters being opened. Several times during this conversation Mr. Zhao kept repeating that it was not he that opened our letters and that he has never opened any foreigners’ letters. The President told us that he will investigate and look into this matter. Mr. Zhao suggested that from now onwards he will collect the letters accompanied by Mr. Xu. If the letters look suspicious he will direct it back to the Main Post Office. Finally it was agreed that from now onwards we will collect our own mail from the main school gate. Mr. Zhao will inform the person in charge of distribution of letters in the campus of that matter. Before we left Hugh thanked the President for his time and once again reiterated that we would like to receive our personal mail unopened.

It is late afternoon. Hugh is at the library. He is helping the students put up the screens over the windows and door so that mosquitoes and flies do not get in. The students have cleaned up the whole area of trash and paper. We have given the library nice pictures and pretty decorations to hang around the room. Dan even managed to get an old fan working. The fan keeps the room cool and also circulates the air. The library is shaping up.

5-18-99

@1:02p.m.

Today is the official opening of the library. Hugh has told all the committee members, librarians and assistant librarians to be there. He is going to take some pictures.

Lucy is here with me. She is translating 2 letters for Hugh. One goes to the President of the College and the other to the President of the Foreign Affairs Office. I am not aware of the contents of those 2 letters. Lucy bought us "ji dan koa" for lunch.

We received a care package from Grandma at 3:00p.m. Mr. Xu brought it by. Hugh is taking a nap. This last week has been strange one. It has drained the family emotionally. All of us feel tired in different ways. I hope that the next 6 weeks will go by in peace.

This evening Hugh sent off an e-mail message to Joe and Kathy informing them of our decision to stay on. We need them to pass that message on to Grandma. Mr. Xu will sent it off for us on his Internet.

Lucy told us tonight that she is feeling bored with her classes even Hugh’s. She has no motivation to study at all. She is happy doing the busy work for the library. We think that the events of the past week have affected her too. She has been very close to us and she sees the consequences of how events of the past week have affected us. Lucy has been very close to us as a family and maybe as our time of departure gets closer she is withdrawing from us more and more. Our leaving is inevitable.

5-19-99

@9:46a.m.

After 4 days of intermittent rain the sun finally came out. It feels good to have the sun shinning on you. I remember Mr. Xu telling me that once it rained for one whole month. How depressing?

Mark came in the afternoon with the developed photos from the library. Hugh paid for the whole thing.

Mr. Xu came by with a letter for a job application in Chinese. He wants Lucy to help translate it into English. The letter is for his sister who is applying for another job. His sister lives in Beijing. He also has an e-mail for Hugh from the Rock Springs Library. The people there seemed enthusiastic about the idea of adopting a library but they need more information on what that would entail for them. They are especially concerned with monetary issues.

We were told y Mr. Xu that the school is having 4American visitors on Friday. Two of the visitors are affiliated with an exchange program and the other 2 are teachers. They are planing to send some teachers here next semester and are, I suppose, checking up on the school. Mr. Xu said they might come by and talk to us. Hugh doubts that very much. Not if Mr. Zhao has anything to do with it.

5-20-99

@9:58a.m.

Linda came back yesterday evening. We have not seen or talked to her yet. Lucy told us that Linda is very quiet and uncommunicative. Lucy tried to talk to her but all Linda did was to start crying. There must have been a death in the family because Linda is wearing mourning clothes. She wears a black armband. Hugh told Lucy to just leave Linda alone for now. Linda is still hurting and when she is ready to talk she will and then Lucy should be ready to comfort her then. That is when all of Linda’s friends should be the most supportive.

The PA this system was at a decent volume this morning. Actually it has been that way for the last few days.

This afternoon Hugh had all the 5 reference librarians come to visit us. They came at intervals of 1 hour each. Hugh sent them off on a mission. He gave each of them 100yuan each and told them to buy books or tapes with the money. At the last count 3 of them have spent a total of 165yuan on 7 books only. He did not keep his promise so I am a little mad at him tonight. There are still 2 unaccounted for.

Mr. Xu came by again this evening. He told us that the Americans are coming tomorrow. They will be here between 3:00p.m. to 5:00p.m. touring the campus. Mr. Xu will not be part of the group taking the Americans around the campus. Mr. Zhao is keeping Mr. Xu away from them too. If we read Mr. Zhao’s plans correctly then he intends to keep the Americans from talking to Hugh at all cost. The hours when they will be here coincide with Hugh’s afternoon class. That will be a good excuse to give to the American visitors if they ask to talk to Hugh.

Since the confrontation with Mr. Zhao about the mail, he has kept himself away. Hugh is still angry with Mr. Zhao.

5-21-99

@12:19p.m.

It is beginning to drizzle. I hope it does not rain 3 to 4 days straight again.

We lost electrical power at 1:30p.m. I saw the Americans this afternoon. There were 3 men and 1 woman. I saw them around 4:00p.m. We walked to Hugh’s class and then walked back with him. We were sitting outside in the yard and we saw the Americans with Mr. Zhao. Of course he kept them away from us. Around 5:00p.m. we saw Mr. Zhao with the visitors in front of the hotel. Mr. Xu was with them but I noticed he was at least 20 feet behind them. They walked by the hotel and turned around the corner. Half an hour later the group walked past the hotel again. This time Mr. Xu was with them. He seemed to be leading them towards the entrance of the school. Then a few minutes later the car that brought the visitors drove away from the hotel. The driver will probably pick them up at the school gate and take them down to their hotel downtown.

5-22-99

Being a Saturday I decided to walk to the market with Lucy. She was willing to come with me. I swear eveytime I have Lucy or one of the students with me I buy more for less. The shopkeepers have been overcharging me, I know that for a fact.

The librarians bought some petunias at a cost of 1yuan per pot. They planted the plants in the flowerbed outside the library. Hugh and Dan cleared and burnt up all the trash in front of the library. Wendy and Star dug up a palm tree from the school ground and planted in a pot. They have the pot inside the library.

Mahala borrowed a book from the library today after paying her membership fees. May decided to walk back with us. On the way she told us that she is suffering from beri beri. Her feet have sores that will not heal and it hurts her when she walks. Hugh had her remove her nylon stocks and took a look at the soles of her feet. Hugh had her soak her feet in a hot water solution of Selsun Blue. After soaking for at least 15 minutes or longer she dried her feet up. Hugh had her apply some of our Blue Star Ointment on the affected sores. Hugh told her not to wear those nylon socks anymore because they retain moisture and that can lead to athlete’s foot. May sure have a bad case of that. We then gave her 2 cotton socks to wear. Hugh fed her a can of tuna and cheese and crackers. That is because we think she is malnourished. We gave her some of the ointment and Hugh told her to apply it on her feet every night before going to bed. That will help heal the athlete’s foot.

5-23-99

@9:48a.m.

I woke up around 8:30a.m. I can hear the rain. It is good to sleep in on a cool Sunday morning. I heard knocking next door so I got up to check. It was May. She was waiting outside for Elton. Yesterday May told me that the school nurse found a lump in her breast. She is going to the hospital today to have a doctor check it out. She was very concerned and I reassured her that usually women her age usually have cysts in their breasts.

It is the 3^rd day in a row now that it has rained. I have clothes I need to wash. I did up 2 loads and have it hanging under the eaves to dry.

Hugh and I watched a good movie this afternoon. It was a Chinese movie, in black and white with English subtitles. It is about a traditional Chinese family with a patriarch at its helm. He had the whole extended family living with him, 4 generations under one roof. It shows the turmoil and unhappiness the 3^rd generation goes through especially the 1^st grandson who is forced to give up his studies to work at the family business and also to marry a girl he does not love at all. Then there is the youngest grandson who rebels against this traditional upbringing. He rebels against the patriarch, his grandfather.

It is now 7:16p.m. It has been raining on and off the whole day.

May came by to tell me that the doctor wants her to undergo a biopsy tomorrow. She is very worried about the procedure. She did not stay long.

Keith was here a while ago. He wants to move to Class 2. Walter is willing to change places with him. The reason Keith wants to move is because he is in love with a girl named Kathy Sum in Class 1. The feelings are all on his side. Walter’s girlfriend, Eliza, is in Class 1 so that will work out well for both of them. Hugh has no objections to the move.

After Keith left, Hugh took a nap on his favorite black chair. He is becoming like an old man. Taking short naps throughout the day.

5-24-99

@7:59a.m.

The beginning of another workweek. We are waiting until it is time to walk with Hugh to class. The sun is out. The last 4 nights the mosquitoes have been out in full force. Every night before we go to bed Hugh jumps up and down the bed trying to kill most of them. They are up on the ceiling, under the beds and hiding in the corners. If we do not get rid of them we hear them buzzing around our ears in the middle of the night. Then we get bitten. Hugh kills at least 50 or more mosquitoes every night. The mosquito pads do not seem to work very well. So lately we have begun using the coils around the rooms before we go to bed.

I cleaned and moped all the rooms including the one that Elton and Mark is using. The room was full of mosquitoes. I told Mark and Elton to hang their quilts out to air. It was starting to smell in there. Hugh told both of them that if they want to use the room they will need to sweep and clean it. We were not going to do it for them.

Linda came around 11:55a.m. She looked so unhappy. She had the black armband on. I talked to her and managed to find out that it was her father who had died. In her own words her father passed away from a heart disease. She had her head down all the time she was talking to me. She was so dejected. I asked her how she was handling his death. She said there is no motivation to study at all now. She is considering quitting school. Her mother is against this idea. Her father was the sole breadwinner in the family. She cried some and I told her to be brave for the sake of her mother and younger brother. Linda wants to quit school so that she can find a job and help support her brother through college. I comforted her the best I can and encouraged her to come and talk to us whenever she feels a need to. We are here to help her. Linda asked if she could keep her bicycle here. She has found a part-time job tutoring and her employer has given her a bicycle to use. I told her to keep the bicycle in the kitchen. Then Lucy turned up. Linda immediately left. The curtain had come down on her.

Mahala starts classes with Lucy this week. We have stopped Linda’s and Wendy’s classes. Jenny quit a long time ago.

This afternoon Lucy, Mahala and I went downtown. We had a mission. We went to a florist and bought Linda some flowers and had the florist arrange it in a bouquet. Hugh and I had hoped that would cheer her up. Hugh wrote a short letter and we enclosed 200yuan with it.

Mahala and I walked over to the dorm with it. That was around 6:00p.m. Linda was there with Lucy and Stella. She was happy with the flowers and after reading the letter started to cry. She wanted to return the money. I told her the money was to help her through this trying time. She still would not take it. I told her that she would be insulting me if she did not accept the money. She is our friend and we want her to use the money in whichever way that might help her family. After much convincing Linda finally accepted the money.

5-25-99

@8:03p.m.

After Lucy finished her class with Mahala, all of us including Hugh walked to Jack’s restaurant. This Friday evening at 6:00p.m. we are hosting a dinner for all the librarians. We are checking into the menu and prices that Jack has to offer. There will be about 30 plus people and we intend to have 9 different dishes. We settled on a price of 200yuan. Jack will throw in the rice and soup for free. The students have suggested that instead of letting Hugh pay for the dinner, whoever attends will contribute 5yuan each. Lucy is in charge of the money and making a head count of those attending. By tomorrow she should be able to know the exact number of people attending.

We found a dead mouse under one of the living room chairs this afternoon. We noticed the smell first and Hugh started moving the furniture around. It was under the chair he was sitting on. We threw the mouse over the garden wall again.

5-26-99

@10:15p.m.

This morning we tried calling the American Embassy. We made the call from the shop located inside the hotel lobby. We have made 2 previous calls before that from the same place. We tried several times but could not get through. The shopkeeper finally called the school operator to check on the problem. The operator told the shopkeeper that our calls to the Embassy could not be put through and no reasons were given. So we walked to another shop across from the school and tried their phone there. We were informed that Ms. Bishop had returned to the States. She will be gone for at least a month. The person on the other end asked Hugh if she could help us. Hugh was not willing to say too much to her because she was a Chinese employee of the Embassy.

The doctor told May that she has a blocked blood vessel in her breast. That is the cause of the lump there. May will need to go back to the hospital everyday for the next 10 days for therapy. She did not explain what needs to be done to remove the blockage.

It is confirmed. There will be 34 people attending the dinner on Friday. We will be having an extra dish so that makes the total 10. Jack has the menu planned out. There will be fish, 4 kinds of vegetables, cold cucumber dish, soup and chicken. Lucy will be helping Jack prepare all these food. She is going over to the shop on Friday morning, go downtown to do the marketing with Jack and then help Jack do the cleaning and cutting of the meat and vegetables. Lucy is really nice. I get the feeling that she likes Jack and vice versa.

This morning before lessons with Mahala, Lucy translated a letter for Hugh. This letter is the one that Mr. X passed to Hugh a few months ago. Hugh wrote the English version down in his notebook and then burnt the original letter. Lucy also bought another "pee jeer" for Mahala. She bought her a blue one this time.

I have been picking up our mail from the mail office by the entrance of the school gate. The first item was from the American Embassy on Tuesday. The next day we received a letter from Tory Esbensen.

Mr. Xu was here earlier in the evening. He stayed until about 10:00p.m. Both Hugh and Mr. Xu was drinking beer and talking. Mr. Xu was animated tonight. He had a lot to tell us.

We found out that the room above us actually belongs to the Foreign Affairs Office. Guests use it courtesy of the Presidents Office. Mr. Zhao has also used the room before. In fact yesterday night Mr. Zhao was staying there. He was on duty. We did hear sounds coming from the room yesterday but we do not know if it was him. According to Mr. Xu that is the most expensive room in the hotel. It costs 150yuan per night. This is contrary to what Mr. Zhao told us months ago. He told us that it was the cheapest room because it only has one double bed. That is why it is most frequently sought after. Tonight we find out otherwise. In fact Mr. Xu explained, Mr. Zhao and sometimes other party leaders use the room for entertaining guests. Mr. Zhao uses the room to spy on us and to listen in on our conversations with the students especially if we are outside talking in the yard. Since the weather turned warmer we have done that lately. Mr. Xu advised caution when we talk outside. Tonight there is Mr. Yang staying in the room. He is the assistant Director of the Foreign Affairs Office. Mr. Yang and Mr. Zhao do not get along.

Mr. Xu told us that Julia Ning had access to the American visitors. She was told to wait at the canteen at a certain time. Her job was to tell how good a job Mr. Zhao was doing as Foreign Affairs Director. She talked to them for 10 to 15 minutes. That is all Mr. Zhao’s doing. Right now Hugh is very angry with Julia. She is playing the power game. She does not know what she is getting into.

Mr. Xu gave us the name and address of the institution the American group that was here last Friday belonged to. After reading the names, Hugh told Mr. Xu that the group the teachers belong to are a religious group. They are Mennonites and the teachers are basically missionaries. Mr. Xu was surprised at this piece of news. It looks like Mr. Zhao was desperate to get any teachers even if it means they belong to a religious organization. Hugh took down the names of the teachers and the address of their institution. He might just write to them telling them to watch out for Mr. Zhao. Mr. Xu was all for that. He wants to see Mr. Zhao cooked. We think there is a power game between Mr. Xu and Mr. Zhao. The group will make its decision on whether to send their teachers here in the next 2 weeks.

Mr. Xu told us an interesting piece of news about the American visitors. When introductions were made between him and the only woman in the group he was asked if he believed in God. Mr. Xu was taken aback by this question. As a true communist Mr. Xu does not believe in God or religion. He made a polite remark but deep down he was upset at the question. After what Hugh told him about the group Mr. Xu can see the connection now. Hugh told Mr. Xu that the teachers will teach and try to spread God’s words at the same time.

After Mr. Xu left, Hugh laughed and said maybe the missionaries might be able to do some good here. There certainly is a lot of people here in the department that needs some religious teaching. I think he was referring to Mr. Zhao and some of the hard core communist members.

5-27-99

@7:50p.m.

Today has been really hot and dry. The wind was blowing and it feels like the Santa Ana. This morning I mailed letters off to Tory and Ernestine.

For lunch Lucy bought some fried noodles form Jack’s place.

I walked out with Wendy after lunch to order a birthday cake for Lucy. I also bought her a calculator as a birthday gift. Along the way I bought a bag of rice. The cake costs 25yuan, the calculator another 25yuan and the bag of rice was 24yuan. Wendy decided to get a gift for Lucy too. We looked at 2 shops before she decided what she wanted to get. Wendy bought 2 pairs of panty hoses and a bra for Lucy. Wendy walked back to the hotel with me. Elton was there so all of us sat and visited for a while. Then Lucy finished her lessons with Mahala and she joined us.

In the early evening Lucy and Linda came walking up the hotel path with the bouquet of flowers that we had bought her. Linda wanted all of us to go to the photo studio to get a formal portrait taken with her. Hugh and I felt real uncomfortable with that idea. So we talked her out of that. Instead we took pictures of her and us and the flowers. Hugh must have taken at least 10 to 12 photos of us including Lucy and Elton. Hugh took a couple of Elton holding the baseball bat. Elton had a Hugh’s Indiana Jones hat on. He wanted to look like the "slugger". I told him he looked more like a Shanghainese gangster.

Hugh bombed all our rooms this evening. I bought a large can of the local Ridsect. We had to leave the rooms because the stuff smells strong and stinky. I hope that will get rid of the mosquitoes that have been bothering us for so many days now. We have a hard time falling asleep because of them. We keep the quilts over us to prevent the mosquitoes from biting us but then it gets so hot under it. We throw off the quilts and we get bitten. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this stuff works. With the warm weather and the rain, it is almost impossible to sit outside in the yard after sunset. I usually burn a mosquito coil if Mr. Xu or the students visit us. They like to sit outside where it is cooler.

There is an announcement over the PA this evening. There will be no electricity and water tomorrow from 8:00a.m. until 5:00p.m. I had better start collecting the water either this evening or wake up early tomorrow to do it. This place is chronic for it’s inconveniences.

5-28-99

@10:05a.m.

We had a peaceful night yesterday without the mosquitoes though the person or persons above us was moving furniture until 10:00p.m. The power and water was cut off at 9:00a.m. this morning. We were in the middle of eating breakfast then.

Lately we have been buying a certain kind of local breakfast. It looks like a pita bread or shell and it is stuffed with pork. The meat is cooked in gravy. She chops up the meat into tiny pieces, just like ground pork and stuffs it between the shell. Sometimes you can ask her to add green peppers or chili powder for that extra zing. The locals like the meat with fat around it, but usually she only uses lean meat on mine. The shells are cooked in a clay oven. It tastes good and Mahala and Hugh likes it. It costs 1yuan each. A mother and her son runs the roadside stall. Sometimes the father is there helping out.

Hugh killed a centipede outside the front door this morning. He also killed a couple of them hiding under the cement seats out in the yard a few days ago. This morning I discovered one floating in the water in the bathtub. It had drowned.

I watered and cleaned up the dead flowers on the arrangement that Linda left here. She insisted that we keep it here. She did not want to take it back to her dorm for whatever reasons. Maybe she is coming out of her sadness and the flowers just remind her of her father’s death. She seemed a little happier but then who can really tell what is underneath all that veneer.

Around lunchtime Julia showed up. Hugh was outside in the yard and I was inside the room. Hugh was pretty blunt in his conversation with Julia. He told her not to get involved in departmental politics and if she has any dealings with Mr. Zhao or the Foreign Affairs Office not to come here anymore. He more or less accused her of just coming here to spy on us and to get information that she can pass on to Mr. Zhao. Hugh made his displeasure known to her. Julia denied ever having any dealings with Mr. Zhao or the Foreign Affairs Office and was crying by then. The conversation was cut short when Dan and Elton showed up. They had pieces of wood and Hugh was going to help them make signs for the library.

Julia then asked if she could talk to me. I was really not to keen on doing that. She asked me what Hugh’s thoughts were. He seemed unhappy and angry, and is suspicious of everyone. I told her that we do not trust anyone here because Mr. Zhao has not been honest with us. Our letters have been opened and that is a sore point with us. I told her we are looking forward to going home soon and when we do, all that has happened here will fade into the background. We will be too busy trying to get our lives back on track again. I was glad to cut short my conversation with her when I heard some voices outside the yard. I excused myself in a hurry.

There was a young man and woman talking to Hugh. The object of their visit was to invite Hugh to their school and to have pictures taken with their students. Hugh told them that they can bring the students here and he will gladly have his pictures taken with them. He told them to be here on Sunday afternoon at 5:00p.m. After they left Mark told Hugh that they are teachers from the #3 School downtown. Hugh put two and two together and came up with an answer as to the purpose of their visit. He surmised that the teachers are using him to promote the school. The photos taken will be used to attract students who might think that Hugh is part of the school staff or even affiliated with the school. In other words false advertisement. Hugh is now trying to make a call to Mr. Xu. He wants Mr. Xu to contact the school and tell those teachers not to come on Sunday. Mr. Xu has promised to call the school tomorrow which is a Saturday.

We had all the librarians, assistant librarians and committee members meet at the library this evening at 5:00p.m. Hugh took pictures of everyone. He used up 2 rolls of film. Mahala was there happily playing with 2 ducklings that belonged to the married teacher.

It is now 8:54p.m. We came back about an hour ago from dinner at Jack’s Place. There was about 34 people who showed up. There was plenty of good food. Everyone was happy, cheerful and in good spirits. Hugh had bought beer and also sodas for those who did not like to drink. The students played a drinking game and there was much laughter going on. There was hardly any room for all of us. Jack had to borrow extra tables and chairs. Even with the overhead fan on it was hot in there. Lucy was kept busy serving the food. Jack had to have his father, brother and another woman help him in cooking up all those dishes. Wendy teased Lucy by calling her "lau pan nya" meaning boss lady. I am sure that Jack likes Lucy. Lucy on the other hand has told us that Jack is only a good friend. This morning both of them went downtown to buy some roasted chickens. Jack bought her a honeydew because that is what Lucy wanted.

After dinner was over we lighted the candles on the cake and sang Happy Birthday to Lucy. We then gave her the gift. We stayed to settle the bill with Jack. He was very hesitant about telling us how much the total cost came to. Another one of those "giving face routine". Hugh just gave him 300yuan for everything. He refused to take the money but we insisted that he do it. He kept telling us that it was too much. We don’t think so. There was a lot of good food. Jack then bought us a watermelon over our protests. We made Lucy and Jack take half of the watermelon and told Lucy to give the other half to the girls in her dorm.

Lucy told us that the school authorities made 2 surprise checks on the girls’ dorm yesterday night. The first one was at 11:00p.m. and the other at 1:00a.m. The girls were angry because all of them was sound asleep by then. None of them liked being woken up twice in the night.

We walked back to the hotel. May wanted to take a hot shower in the other bathroom so Elton and Mark went running. They are practicing for the physical education test all the students have to pass. When they came back they were telling us how to play the drinking game. 2 persons play it. There are 4 phrases that the players say: tiger, tiger, tiger; tiger, tiger, stick; tiger, tiger, chicken and tiger, tiger worm. The loser has to drink the whole glass of alcohol. The object in this game is to get the other person drunk.

5-29-99

@10:30a.m.

Mr. Xu came by this morning to tell Hugh that he will be here tomorrow when the teachers and students come from the #3 School. Actually the name of the school is "The Center of Hope". Mr. Xu did not manage to contact the teachers at the school. Mr. Xu explained that this type of situation had happened before. It is all a scam by the school involved to generate more money by false advertisement.

It is going to be another hot day. I washed clothes, bed sheets and blankets today. All of it dried in no time at all.

Hugh, Elton and Dan just finished constructing the frame for the bistro for the library. Both Dan and Elton then left for lunch.

This afternoon Hugh and the library caretakers got together and cleaned up the area surrounding the library of weeds, trash, discarded food, rotting vegetables and everything imaginable under the sun. That place is dirty. The teachers who live there throw everything out the front door and there it lies. None of them bothers to throw trash where it should go that is into the trashcan. Hugh had the guys sweeping, cutting and pulling the undergrowth of weeds. The girls helped pick up plastic trash bags and papers strewn all over the yard. Hugh then made a bonfire of the trash. Maybe that will get rid of the mosquitoes and flies. The place looks so much better after that. But I am sure that the people who live there will still do as they have always done before i.e. throw the trash everywhere.

We had an early dinner today. We ate around 4:00p.m. When Lucy came in the evening I asked her if she liked Jack. The signs all point to it. She said yes, Jack is a good person. She senses that Jack likes her too even though he has not said so. It is how he treats her. She first met Jack when her sister was here visiting. They went over to eat and Jack had then just taken over the business from another couple. Since then she has started eating over there. Pretty soon Jack and her came to know each other better. Since then Jack has not been taking any payment from Lucy. He lets Lucy make calls to her home and refuses to take money for it. Lucy goes over and serves herself. She stays at the shop and watches TV or DVD. Jack cooks for her and they eat together. Lucy spends a lot of her time over at the shop with Jack. Lucy tells me that the other shopkeepers always tease her and Jack. They tell Jack that his intended has arrived and that embarrasses Lucy. I then ask her if Jack gave her anything for her birthday. He bought her a table lamp that had a clock. She then laughed and told me that the lamp doesn’t work because the filament in the bulb is broken and she cannot find a replacement for it. I told her that the relationship is turning serious and do I hear wedding bells in the near future. She said maybe. I am happy that Lucy has found someone. Jack is a nice person. From what Lucy tells me he seems very caring and would like Lucy to commit herself to him. Lucy is not too sure now. She tells me that Jack is not an educated person. He left school when he was in his early teens. He has been working since then. Some of Lucy’s friends think Lucy can find someone better than Jack. I do not see anything wrong with Jack’s lack of education. Lucy has been burnt once in a relationship. Her boyfriend dumped her for another girl. Lucy put a lot into that relationship and now she is very hesitant in committing herself to another relationship. She is wise. She still needs to finish her education.

5-30-99

Today is Sunday. I heard voices outside when I woke up. It belongs to Mahala’s friends. Before she took off to play with her friends I reminded her to first do her homework. I then went into the bathroom to take a shower. When I came out I found her in the bedroom crying. Hugh had scolded her because she was not even attempting to work on her multiplication. She knew how to do it but was too lazy to try and solve it. She wanted to play with her friends.

Then Hugh and I got into an argument over Mahala. Every sentence had at least one "F" word. I hate that word. He uses that word indiscriminately all the time. He does not even have the courtesy to argue with me without using that "F" word. It shows an extreme lack of respect towards me. He was telling me that his is the only voice in the family because he is the only wage earner. He is also trying to make our stay here as tolerable as he can. That was when I pointed out to him it was not Mahala or I that asked to come here. So that set him off again. He needs to work on that temper of his. He puts me on the defensive when he loses his temper then I growl back. An example of this: Yesterday I was in the kitchen washing up our dinner dishes. I heard Elton and Dan outside. Hugh then came into the kitchen and asked me where is his wallet. As if I am the one who took it. He implied that I should know where it is because he has all his cash in it. He got upset and told me I should have stayed home instead of walking over to the library where he was. I suppose I am a mind reader and should know when he leaves his wallet in the rooms and should be here to take care of it. He finally found the wallet. It was in the drawer in the living room. He never apologized for his outburst of temper.

Monica came by to look at the bistro. So both of us sat outside and talked while Hugh and Dan finished the construction of the frame. She had just come back from hometown. She had been gone a week. She was helping her parents harvest the rice

Monica was feeling very tired. She worked hard that whole week. She spent the time cooking at home for her family and taking care of the animals. She even helped plant next year’s crop. It was hard work bending over to plant the seedlings in the ground. Even her grandfather who is in his 70’s helped out in the field.

This year her family harvested about 5,000 jin of rice, less than 1,000 jin of wheat and a few hundred jin of soya beans. It is enough for the family’s needs. I asked her if her family had to pay any taxes on the harvest. She told me that the federal government takes a cut from their harvest but it is not much. But all other levels of the government wants their share too, the city and the county. By the time all the levels of government have taken their share her family will be left with only 3,000 jin of rice. Her family usually give their share of the taxes in wheat. That way they can keep the rice for themselves. Her family sells the surplus rice for cash. They do it because Monica and her brother are both in school and they need the money for their schooling.

Monica’s mother supplements the family’s income by raising ducks, chickens and geese for their eggs. She tells me that her mother is a very capable woman. She makes all the decisions on when to plant and harvest. The mother wears the pants in the family. Monica’s father is more laid back. Maybe being a teacher might have something to do with it. The farm belongs to the mother’s side of the family.

This year the planting of the rice met with some difficulties. There was not enough rain and that made the field too dry. They needed water from the river to flood the fields. That water was supposed to be free but the family ended up paying for it. Monica was not too clear on this point but reading between the lines she was implying that the person in charge of the floodgates asked or demanded money before they open the gate. Her family was very angry. So this year her family could not afford to hire extra help with the harvesting and planting. Because every member of the family had to help in the fields even the baby chicks have suffered. The rats have been getting to them.

Hugh has finished the construction of the bistro. Dan bought a can of bright yellow paint and Monica volunteered to paint the bistro. Hugh had Dan, Andy and Mark help her do the job. By the time they were through all of them had yellow paint on their hands, shirts, pants and even their hair. Hugh had them all wash up a type of chemical that can get rid of the paint before they left.

Today at 5:00p.m. the 2 teachers who were here yesterday showed up as planned. They had with them about 20 children. Luckily Lucy was here with us. Hugh and her walked out to the gate and talked to the teachers. A few minutes later Hugh came running back in. He shouted for Mr. Xu who was upstairs in the room above us. Hugh told him to come down. At that point I was standing by the gate. Lucy came up to me and told me that all the children want is to talk to Hugh and Mahala and also have pictures taken with them. Lucy explained that tomorrow is Children’s’ Day and their teachers brought them her so that they can have a chance to talk to an American family. The children here today are the school’s best students in English.

Mr. Xu by this time was standing on the steps of the hotel talking to Hugh. Everyone was waiting for something to happen. Hugh walked down from the steps and told the teachers that if he talked or have his photos taken with the children it would be a violation of his teaching contract. He apologized to the teachers. Tall Man a Grade 4 student was here too. He seemed to know one of the teachers. Mr. Xu explained the situation to the teachers and after that they left. Hugh felt really bad that he had to turn the children away.

Lucy stayed and had dinner with us. Elton too. Both of them bought 2 different stir-fried vegetable dishes from the canteen. Wendy dropped in as we were finishing up our food. She told us that she met Mrs. Li yesterday night while walking with Dan. Mrs. Li will be in their class tonight at 7:30p.m. The students are going to put forward names to the Communist Party. If picked then those students will be members of the Communist Party. It is an honor to be picked. The first thing Lucy said was "I am not going." I asked them on what criteria are the students picked to be members. The students have to be active academically (smart) and also be involved in extra curricular activities. Another main thing is they should not be involved romantically with anyone. Wendy then piped in "I always fail to be picked because I have a boyfriend." She did not sound like she was too upset over it.

After the students have been selected, the teacher, in this case Mrs. Li, submits the names to the leaders of the party. The leaders check up on the student’s background. After much deliberation they will decide whether that student will be eligible to become a member. If chosen they will go through a swearing in ceremony and will be called junior cadres. They will not be full-fledged Communist members until they go through several initiation ceremonies. The class hold this meeting several times a year to pick new Communist members. Not all the students want to join the Party. The ones who do know that this is the only way to get ahead in this system.

Lucy found out today that her brother had been hurt in an accident at his place of work. All she knows is that he is in hospital and that he was hurt on the foot. She is worried and is going home on Wednesday to check on him. Wendy is going home too. Linda is going home to help her mother with the harvest. All three girls are leaving on Wednesday.

Mark told us that a few days ago some students (both sexes) were caught for not being in the dorm. The school authorities have been making surprise checks on the dorms since the stabbing incident. Some of the students involved came from the English department. They are the Grade 2 students. Mark told me that the department will punish those students very severely. How? Their indiscretion will be recorded down in their personal school files. It will be on record. I was concerned that both Mark and Elton will get into trouble because both of them have been spending the nights here since the bombing. Mark said since it is the Foreign Office that told them to be here they will not get into any trouble. I sincerely hope so.

Tonight Mr. Xu came to explain that Tim was invited to have his picture taken with a group of high school students when he was here last year. Tim agreed. The Foreign Affairs Office found out that those photos were being used by the high school for advertisement purposes to attract students who think that the school has a foreign teacher. The parents are willing to pay a lot of money to have their children in the same school with the foreign teacher. We were not too surprised to learn that Xinyang Teachers’ Training College might also be involved in this form of false advertisement too. I remember that there were photographers and a man video taping part of the talk. If the authorities ever find out that it has come to pass then Xinyang Teachers’ College will be without a foreign teacher for a year or so. That is the penalty and the foreign teacher will be reprimanded. Mr. Xu stayed for at least 3 hours just talking and discussing the library with Hugh. He left at 9:30p.m. Before he left he whispered to us that Mr. Zhao is on duty tonight and he is upstairs in the room above ours. The windows upstairs are open and I am sure that he can listen in on our conversation if we are loud enough.

5-31-99

@3:44p.m.

It is the last day for the month of May. We received a magazine and a letter from the American Embassy. Keqiang Han (ACS assistant) signed the letter. We wondered if he is an American citizen.

I walked out with Lucy to pick up the developed photos. I paid 32yuan for 76 prints. I divided the photos with Linda and Lucy. I asked Lucy if her name was submitted for membership to the Communist Party. She told me yes and that Louisa and Linda had their names submitted too. Lucy only received 11 votes not enough to be eligible to have her name forwarded to the leaders. Any way she is not interested in being a member of the Communist Party at least not now. We told Lucy that next semester the English department will have 2 American teachers and that both of them are affiliated with the Mennonite Church. Hugh then asked her if she believed in God. She replied in the affirmative. She then proceeded to tell us that her mother believes in God and religion. She also believes in the after life. She can place 3 chopsticks in a bowl of water and make it stand erect. If that happened then the mother believes that the spirit of her youngest son is around. She also does this with an egg. If the egg stands then her dead son spirit’s is home.

This evening Hugh gave Louisa 100yuan to buy books. She came back with 73yuan worth of books and tapes.

The library committee is having another meeting tonight at 8:00p.m.

The bistro is finally dry. It is a bright yellow, the kind of yellow that I see in Malaysia during the celebration of the "Kew Ong Yah’s" Vegetarian Festival.

When Hugh and Mahala came back from the library meeting she told me that Hugh got angry with Mark. Hugh then explained that it has to do with the accounting system of the library. The accounting system has not been straightened out yet. I told Hugh to just let it go and not get so upset over it. Our time here is coming to an end. Then we will be going home.