Dear Shywolf,
Sure, I would like to be friends with you, too. It will need to be on theforum though, because I have limited time for any other way of communication, much as I could enjoy it. :-)
What a change you've made in your own lifetime! From birth in a small village with limited opportunities you have become a college graduate and worked in the provincial capital. Although there are many difficulties in the world there is also still progress, and China is doing very well. You will probably see as great
a change in your lifetime as I've seen in mine.
My brothers and I watched the first tiny television set in our town through a store window. Townspeople gathered in groups to watch, and we joined them. Our relatively rich uncle bought a 17 inch black and white tv, and it was the first home tv in town. It was a real wonder then. Next, one of our neighbours bought
a television and allowed many young neighbourhood children to come to her house
to watch childrens' programs in the afternoon. There would always be quite a good sized group sitting on the floor to watch what we didn't have available at home yet.
I never imagined that I would fly in an airplane. Only the wealthy could do that. Only the very wealthy could travel comfortably and for pleasure by ocean liner. In 1985 I was still a little in awe when one of my co-workers with a well-off professional husband went on a cruise with him when he retired. Now I've gone on a number of cruises myself. They are more affordable than driving and staying in hotels, and we're certainly not among the wealthy in our town. How quickly things changed in this past century.
When I was a little child my father taught me to tell a monoplane from a bi-plane as they occasionally soared overhead from a tiny city airport nearby. That was just before WW2. Now I've travelled in jets at 38,000 feet over the north polar route quite often.
When my father was a young boy (he was born in 1903,) he saw the first automobile in his town. It was feared that if you went faster than 20 mph the blood would flow from your ears and nose. The first automobiles were known as "horseless
carriages. Now human beings can fly faster than the speed of sound and have gone into space. I expect you will see as many changes in your lifetime as my father and I have seen in ours. You may be able to travel to see something of the
world sooner than you think! Try to take your opportunities when you are younger so that when you get old you won't be too rigid and afraid to travel.
Of course we need a clean, reliable source of energy, and we need it soon. We
also need to stop wasting. If we become unified as world citizens I expect we will manage that. The thing we most need is reliable peace and justice for everybody. The gaps between poor and wealthy are growing far too fast, both in each
country, and in the world as a whole. This must be addressed or there will be more and more trouble. There are setbacks and difficult times ahead, but we are basically moving in the right direction and I think you will find that you will be able to travel to see more of the world if you are careful of your money and make wise decision about how to spend it. Don't let it dribble away. Be frugal
where you can so that you can do the things you really want to do.
I hope you find the kind of job you want. It's usually better to look for a different job while you are still employed, but as China is doing very well right now according to what we read here in Canada, I expect you will find one.
Best wishes and good luck, Mary
