Thursday, November 1, 2001

From: Meg Thomsen meginchina@yahoo.com
Subject: The World's A-Rumbling with Change

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

Dear friends and family,

It seems fitting somehow that I'm reading Dickens right now. Things in the world seem to be going crazy, and my world in Dengguan, as a microcosm, seems to be following that same world. Maybe it's the recent full moon. Astrologers suggest that it's the Saturn-Pluto conjunction (or something like that). Maybe it's just the fact that change is constant. But the world is changing, and my life right along with it, although the changes in my life are pretty much inconsequential compared to grand scheme of things.

BUT, enough waxing rhetorical. Let me tell you about life here recently, because it really has gotten crazy around here. I had a bizarre birthday, truly the "best of times and the worst of times". I went to Chengdu with Molli, Andy, Julie, and three students. We had a fabulous time hanging out at the Highfly Cafe (maybe one of the only places in China where you can eat potato croquettes and carrot juice), and went guitar shopping the next morning. Yahoo! My new guitar (or "best friend" as Andy calls it) is the most beautiful thing ever. Wait until you hear my truly horrifying rendition of "Don't Think Twice it's All Right". You'll love it.

Julie and I went up to Deyang to have a triple birthday celebration with Qingqing, my now 13-year-old sister. We got her the only appropriate gift for a brand-new teenager: a pink iridescent purse that we filled with the most glittery makeup and hair accesories that we could find. She loved it. Dong Shuang, her older sister, loved it. Qin Laoshi, my host mother, didn't love it. That meant that the girls loved it even more! We spent the weekend surrounded by our families. Even though I'm 10,000 miles from my actual home in Massachusetts, somehow, I'm starting to feel like China is home. Just a little bit.

On my way back to Dengguan, I stopped at the bus station in Chengdu to call the Peace Corps office to try and make a doctor's appointment. I heard, "Did you know that Molli is on her way home?" I said, "Do you mean back to Dengguan? Maybe we can take the same bus." "No, she's on her way back to America, she's leaving the Peace Corps." "Hold on, I'll be right there."

I raced over to the Peace Corps office to find Molli. Her father is very sick, her mom's having a lot of trouble dealing with everything at home, and Molli felt like she had to go home to help them. I would have made the same decision. But it was truly awful seeing her have to go home, because she really didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay here. She was just getting started. I stayed overnight in Chengdu with Molli, and then came back to Dengguan. It was a long and lonely ride back here. I felt like I was alone in the midst of these mountains. But how lonely can you be in a country of 1.3 billion people? For the last two days, my apartment has been filled with students and teachers. There have been a lot of tears. But over and over, they tell me how important she was to them. So even if her time here was limited, in a sense she was able to accomplish what she meant to.

And it's going to make me work twice as hard to be a good teacher here. I have taken over Molli's classes as well as my own, giving me a grand total of about 800 students. I've doubled my Chinese tutoring time, and am opening my doors even more. Because seeing how important Molli was to this place makes me see the importance of having a Peace Corps volunteer out here. People always ask me, "Why did you come here? This is a terrible place. It is poor here, and dirty." There are a lot of good things here, and when other people come and see them, sometimes it opens the eyes of someone who was born here. Maybe not. But everyday, I learn something new and beautiful about this place, and that is enough.

The other news that I have learned is that I am getting Medevacked (Medical Evacuation-ed) in January, right after finals. I've got some sketchy looking skin patches (don't freak out too much, they think that it's probably just a natural discoloration, and want to do a biopsy). So in January, I'm headed down to Bangkok. I'm hoping to have time for some adventures on the way back. Meditation retreat? Sun and sand? Wandering around with the hill tribes? The world is always our oyster. Julie's as jealous as all get-out and it trying to invent some ailment so that she can come to Thailand, too!

Hope all of you are having a happy autumn, a groovy All Saints Day, and a tasty cider donut!

Love and kisses,
Meg