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IN THIS ISSUE

• Louise Kruithof continues her account of a stay in China
• Kate Brookfield recalls the next part of her visit to Shanghai
• We have lost a good friend and long-time contributor
• Geoff Goodship describes a Latin American dance
• Dick Monaghan explains the absence of gifts this year
• Bruce Galway, Kate, Tom Telfer, Tom Williamson suggest sites
• The editor sends her Christmas greeting

Louise Kruithof has reached October 22 in her account of a

JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE ROAD

Willem got a phone call around 10:00 that night from his interpreter telling him to dress warmly tomorrow because the temperature was going down. We really wondered what "cold" means in this part of the world.

Thursday was Willem´s birthday. It was also a very nice day for me to look out the window and see what the morning looked like: I loved it - there was snow on the ground! So we dressed a bit more warmly to go to breakfast in the next building. Wow! Cold and wind makes for very cold. Now we will use the heavy clothing.

I went to the laundry to see if they would wash Willem´s work shirts and jeans and long underwear. I wore my warm fleece and my rain jacket over it, which is usually sufficient even in colder temperatures, took my light leather gloves, and left to go to the laundry. Boy, was it cold! I don´t think it was the temperature, which was only -7C - it was the wind that did it.

After the laundry, I went around a bit, saw some yurts, and started back to the hotel with a stop at the phone company to try to get the multimedia setting on the phone, i.e. sending/receiving photos, to function. Willem called to tell me that we were invited to dinner at the hotel for his birthday. I thought it was very decent of the people he works with to do that.

When I got back to the hotel, we left immediately and walked over to the dining room. We were shown to a private room and we ended up with 13 people around the table to celebrate Willem´s birthday. There was a big cake and he was asked if the cake came first; he said that it came last, so we got on to the food. There was an enormous amount of it, all very good. Dish after dish, and everyone was anxious to tell us about what was what and how to eat it.

Then came the cake. It was a beautiful cake and very large too. There was a flower bud on the cake and when it was lit, the petals fell away from the centre and there was a big burst of flames. Quite impressive. I will go and look for a few of those flowers for the next birthdays in the family. But this being a Chinese dinner, after the cake came the rice and the noodles, which are always the last dishes to be brought out. Quite a dinner, with lots of toasts being raised to everything under the sun. The Queen was not one of them!

It snowed again that night and Friday the temperature was brutal. Our heavy clothing was appreciated! The wind was strong and a balaklava was almost essential, especially when walking in the wind.

On Saturday morning I left the hotel at 8:00 to be at Happy English Education by 8:30. One of Willem´s translators had written the address on a piece of paper, which I showed to the driver. He nodded and we left. Well, wouldn´t you know it, he could not find this place. I tried calling the phone number I had for the owner of this private school, but a man answered and hung up on me. The taxi driver tried the same number and was also told off. I then called the translator who had come with me the first time I went there. I asked him to talk to the driver and tell him where this place was. In the meantime, someone called the taxi driver to tell him where it was - I think the man answering the phone finally caught on to the fact that we needed an address. So we finally got there at 8:28! Good thing I left at 8:00.

So I sat all day, listening to someone teaching English grammar in Chinese. Every class is one and a half hours long and for the last half hour of each one, I was asked to do a mini lesson, which is difficult at the best of times because the students were all at different levels of knowledge. I ended up doing "Simon says" with the older junior school kids. They were laughing and having a good time. The little ones (seven to nine years old) were great too. I was trying to teach them the days of the week, and here they learn by repeating what the teacher says, so I used a similar fashion. Only these little ones, instead of repeating Monday, Tuesday, etc., started giving them back to me in Chinese. So now I know the days of the week quite well.

I came back to the hotel at 6:00 in the evening, thinking that we would go and have dinner, but Willem was in bed with a bad cold. So, as asked earlier, I went back to the school to talk to the older students, the ones in their last year of high school, and came back to the hotel to look after poor hubby sick in bed with a cold.

I have been adamant that I will not work on Sunday, even though I was asked a number of times, because Willem does not work on Sundays (at least normally). We usually spend the day together and go for a walk, exploring what is around. He was still not feeling very well but we went anyway. We walked towards what we thought of as the city´s shopping area but one street over. Last week, we had seen a store selling printers and another store selling knitting yarn. I bought a bag of pure wool knitting yarn, 10 balls of 50 grams each, and four knitting needles for 50 yuans- about $9.50 Canadian.

We then saw what looked like a flea market, or rather a series of shops with all their goods laid out on the sidewalk, and went to see what they had to offer. They had lots of those green coats that one sees in photos of Chinese people from a few years ago. They are heavy coats and must be warm because when it gets really cold we see a lot of people wearing them. We looked at some with the lining made of what looked like heavy cotton batting quilted in tubes. Of course, nobody seemed to have one big enough for Willem, so curiosity took us a little farther.

Well, what a nice surprise! There were some to be found with sheepskin lining. Some still had the fur untrimmed, just sewn together and cut to fit, while others had the fur sheared to look neater and maybe take less room. I much preferred the unsheared ones because they looked more authentic to me. but Willem liked the neat look of the sheared ones. It remained to be seen what we would get because we had to be very careful with money. The hotel had to be paid in cash in advance and the exchange rate was rather brutal at that time. That day, the exchange rate was .187 - that is 100 yuans is the equivalent of $18.70 and the room was 700 yuans per day. Quite expensive, in my opinion, but that seemed to be the best in this town. Where are the Holiday Inns or the Sheratons when you need them?

On the way back home, we stopped at a drug store and bought medicine for Willem´s cold. Then we saw a coffee shop! We both have been missing Tim Horton´s, so we went in. The coffee was quite good but the price: 88 yuans per cup! That must be the highest price for a cup of coffee ever. That surely beats the most expensive Willem had ever had in Scotland a few years ago. That one was 8? and we had a laugh at it and kept joking about it. Back to our cup of coffee: it was very good. When I finally got to learn to read some Chinese, I realized that this very expensive coffee is, well, very expensive all over the world: Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. We learned about this coffee that we discovered while I was working in Jamaica. We could afford it then because I had discovered where to buy it at a very reasonable price, not the tourists price. But that could make another story!!!

Back out to walk to the hotel and leave again for dinner. Dinner was hot pot (or Chinese fondue) and then back to the hotel room.

ED. NOTE: Louise is back in Canada now but has no time to write more during the holiday season. Her story will return at a later date.

Kate Brookfield continues her story of her visit to

SHANGHAI

The second day we took things more leisurely. We took the MRT to People´s Square at a later time and it was not quite so crowded. I had had time to look at my map and decide which sights I wanted to visit. It was still raining, so not a good day to walk in the park, although I did walk through one park over a bridge. The flower displays were beautiful. Alice did not want to walk, so she waited on a bench, so it was a quick walk with little time to smell the roses!

On such a rainy day, it was best to find an indoor activity. Shanghai Museum is a very modern building situated in the middle of People´s Square. The exterior is very distinctive, with a large circular arch above the dome and a square building; it represents the idea of a round heaven and a square earth. As everywhere in Shanghai, there were many hawkers selling souvenirs in the area around the museum. I bought two large silk dragon kites for my grandchildren.

Inside it is very light and spacious, with elegant spiral staircases leading from the central exhibition hall to the two floors above the ground floor. The ground floor has three large exhibition halls and the second and third floors have galleries off the main circular walking area that looks down to the ground-floor exhibits. Movement around the museum is easy and you can always sit on the benches between the galleries to rest and enjoy the splendour of the building. I appreciated this as museums can be very tiring on the legs. Also it is easy to find your companions if you get separated as you can see all levels from anywhere in the central areas.

The museum houses ancient Chinese artifacts from ceramics, bronze, jade sculptures, to paintings and calligraphy. Each exhibit had details about the history of the particular art form and all exhibits had English as well as Chinese explanations. I was fascinated and we spent a good three hours in the museum. On each floor there was a museum shop selling good copies of the works. One American woman was buying large numbers of strings of pearls and jade sculptures, but the prices were way beyond my budget for souvenirs! However, for anyone wanting good quality items, I would think this would be a good place to purchase collectables.

I´m not sure Alice was too happy about this visit as she wanted to meet back at the main entrance in half an hour. I said that there was no way I could see everything in such a short time and suggested meeting back in three hours, and she was equally disgruntled at spending so much time at a museum. She did not like the idea of each of us doing our own thing and meeting up later. She was frightened we might get lost in Shanghai, so she stayed, but I sensed her boredom with the morning.

After the museum visit we had a traditional Chinese meal and Alice asked what I would like to see next. I said I would let her take me to something she thought I would like and she told me we would go to Yu Garden. It was still raining and I was surprised she would suggest a garden venue. After asking many people the way, we finally arrived at an old part of the city with a typical Chinese arch denoting the entrance to Yu Gardens. It did not look like a garden, but the entrance to an ancient market place. Only after the visit did I realize that this is the old part of Shanghai and in the centre there is the famous Yu Yuan Gardens. But I did not see them, and like you, will have to be content with looking at pictures.

We spent our time in a crowded shopping area with many branching lanes of stalls selling Chinese souvenirs. It was certainly a fun place to visit and lots to see, not only the goods for sale but the many sights and sounds of the throng of people. All the lanes converge at a central circle where a temple to the city gods is located. In retrospect, I am sorry that I missed seeing the actual garden area, which was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution but has since been restored. I also discovered after reading the literature that the famous Chinese willow pattern design is taken from a scene in these gardens. They say it is good to leave something to see for another time. Also, the constant rain was not conducive to sightseeing and walking in gardens. We did think that we might come back when the weather improved, but we were too busy doing other sights, so did not have the opportunity to return.

We did go back to the Bund and went under the tunnel to see the Pacific Tower and convention centre. We found shelter at a table in a restaurant with windows looking over the river to the Bund. We had a pleasant meal and through the rivulets of rain running down the windows watched the gaily-lit boats moving up and down the river, and enjoyed seeing the illuminated Bund from across the other side of the river.

The MRT station was just across the street so we had an uneventful and easy ride back to our apartment in the suburbs.

To be continued.

IN MEMORY OF PETER WEATHERBY

Wendy Fisher wrote to tell me that our long-time correspondent, contributor, and friend has died. Many of you will remember the stories Peter told of his youth in England, of his wartime experiences, and of his subsequent life in the United States.

It was Wendy who introduced Peter and Dick Monaghan and Jim Olson to me just about the time I was starting the Tale Spinner, 14 years ago. They contributed many articles and essays to the newsletter during the intervening years, and I very grateful to them for their efforts.

We, along with Peter´s family and many friends, will miss him. Rest in peace, Peter!

Geoff Goodship describes in detail the exotic

TANGO - TAI CHI WITH A PARTNER

No one visits Argentina without encountering soccer (futbol) and the tango. No one understands anything of Argentina until they experience this beautiful and unique cultural expression.

In Buenos Aires we saw the pros perform with expression, elegance, and amazing fluid grace. We also saw 600 to 1000 Argentinians tango dancing in the streets, Some danced on especially constructed wooden dance floors, some on pavement, but the best we saw was a young couple who tangoed on rough cobble stones. With the possible exception of ballet, I cannot think of a rival art form.

The phenomenon of the tango must be treated either seriously or very lightly. There is no in-between. At another time I´ll attempt the serious understanding but for the moment, here´s the lighter side of this story.

Do you remember the story about the dumb blond seeing her first American football game? She describes the event with no understanding of the game, the players, or the play: all those big men chasing one small little imitation pig. Here she is again to describe the tango:

There is no referee. The play starts with music. This is the sizing- up phase. The players have a "Who the hell are you?" look as they circle each other as if deciding between flight or fight. His face appears lecherous and bored, hers aloof and a little angry. He raises his eyebrow and his left arm. A momentary pause, then she accepts but her face says, "What the heck?" She moves quickly now, placing her forehead against his right temple. It seems a major part of this game is to keep her forehead stuck to his temple, no matter where or how he moves to get away. As if to test her grip, he backs up a step. She leaves her feet planted so now she is leaning toward him at an alarming angle. They are stuck together so now the main event begins.

It´s Tai Chi with a partner. Movements are swift, then slow and exaggerated. He moves as if to escape but she follows relentlessly. Legs thrash about and heels fly. Hips pivot and they change directions with incredible speed. It appears likely someone is going to get kicked or stomped. Throughout the gyrations her forehead remains crazy-glued to his temple. The music jolts along. Accordions and concertinas produce an irregular staccato rhythm.

He stops suddenly, planted like a tree, which she attempts to climb. Her right knee is up over his hip and she draws herself up on him. For a moment the forehead and temple are separated as she attempts to climb. He´s unimpressed, offers no help. He backs way but she follows relentlessly. Now it´s cat and mouse, but it´s hard to know who is chasing whom. They swerve and dart about but always stuck together like magnets.

And now the climax. She dangerously attempts a back flip, as if attempting suicide, but he catches her half way. The music stops. No one is injured. He puts her down gently and they walk away in opposite directions.

Dick Monaghan writes: This is a copy of a letter I sent to Con after she sent me her

CHRISTMAS LIST

Dear Little Miss Constance, age 9, Tacoma:

You´re probably wondering why Santa is writing you from an unnamed Caribbean island. That´s because Santa unwisely invested all the North Pole´s assets in mortgage-backed securities. Now the elves´ retirement accounts have gone south, they´re out of work, and the government is refusing to bail us out. The elves and the stockholders have gotten together and put out a contract on me. There will be no Christmas gifts this year or any year until the economy turns around. And that´s not all: the reindeer have failed the greenhouse gasses emission tests and the sleigh has been recalled.

Although Santa won´t be bringing you any presents, he has forwarded your letter to another department, "Housewarmings," which, despite hints of scandal involving glow-in-the-dark statues of Jesus, can usually be depended on for quality work.

Meanwhile, "Mrs. Clause" (actually a barmaid from Orlando whom I met during a plane change) and I are just leaving for lunch. (I require a Mai Tai!)

- Santa

ED. NOTE: This explains why even good little girls and boys will not be seeing Santa this year. Things are tough all over!

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Bruce Galway sends the URL for BC Hydro´s holiday card:

http://wwe5.bchydro.com/2008holiday/

Kate Brookfield drew my attention to this amazing drum corps at the Edinburgh Tattoo:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=KFtc_rpg-Wg&feature=related

Tom Telfer suggests this site of interest to car buffs. At the end of the video you will hear the song "Thunder Road" sung by the star of the movie for which it was the theme. This is not uncommon, except that this is the only song ever recorded for publication sung by Robert Mitchum:

http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/CarsWeDrove

Thanks to Tom Williamson we have a repeat of Santa singing White Christmas:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooc5eJc5SHA

You may also read this newsletter online at http://members.shaw.ca/vjjsansum/ or http://nw-seniors.org/stories.html (Please note the change of address for Jay´s site.)

The editor sends you her annual Christmas wish: http://arunaurl.com/2lgb