你好吗 Part 1

Our view of Wuxi 

Wie geht's?

Nǐ hǎo ma?

In 2012 I came back from the Middle East contracts to Otane (Central Hawke's Bay) and a job market that offered me nothing - not even an English teaching job that I could apply for.

Out of the blue, Peter Joyce, a colleague from Nelson days, contacted me and said he'd been offered a job in China, Wuxi to be precise, leading an English language school for prospective Chinese pilots but couldn't do it and had recommended me instead.

So, after some quick professional development in flight training for pilots in a Christchurch recovering from some massive earthquakes, Jacky and I packed up and took the Purdy show on the road to Wuxi. 

Incidentally, there was no connection to Blogger available in Wuxi so I couldn't blog about our experiences in China at the time.

The PD bit in Christchurch courtesy of Airways

Although it was autumn turning to a bone chilling winter, Wuxi turned out to be a wonderful place to be for the next 6 months. Before my Chinese employer stopped paying the staff and we had to return to NZ, we were put up in a high rise apartment plus we had a driver and a translator (named Wood) helping us out with practicalities.

When not working at the Avion Training Centre of Wuxi, we bought bikes and cycled around Wuxi exploring the sights and shops. Fun times!

For this first batch though, the focus is on our 10th floor apartment and essential supplies!

We were about half way up on the left one

High school opposite us

Next post: out and about Wuxi.

Love and peace - Wozza

You know, most of the time he seems like such a normal guy (John says to Sylvia about the narrator)

Wie geht's?

Recently I got into a conversation with a colleague at work (let's call her Julie) about our favourite books and I mentioned that I'd only ever read one book four times: Robert M. Pirsig's Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.

She expressed interest, but I had to tell her that while I would normally lend her my copy, I couldn't in this case. 

You see, the fourth and last time I read it was in 2009 when my father had a stroke from which he wouldn't recover. At the time I wrote in the book things he said while I read beside him, so it has a lot of sentimental value to me. 

She understood and so ordered a copy for herself. I hope she gets a lot from it and recommends it to her husband to read. I really do. It's an astonishing book. A true one-off.

Feeling an urge, I decided to reread it for the fifth time. When I opened it up, I noticed my initials and purchase date of July '99 were written on the inside cover.

Weirdly, I realised that over the last 40 years I have read this book every ten years (give or take) and worn out two previous copies in the process. 

Initially, my good friend, Chris Loud, suggested I read it when he saw it at a second hand bookshop we were visiting. 'This book will change your life' was the blurb on the back cover. Sure enough. I was 23 at the time.

Subsequently, becoming a new father myself of two sons and two daughters was a transformative process in so many ways. My second reading was when I was in my early thirties trying to understand who I was all over again. The book made sense to me in different ways then.

When 1999 rolled around I was 42.

When dad passed away I was 52.

I'm currently 62 and reading this book for the fifth time. Freaky.

The book reasonates with me...Duh!

Strangely, in the past I've identified strongly with Pirsig's ghost presence in the book - Phaedrus - the English teacher who is exploring his stance on things.

This time around, having now spent ten years without my father, I'm identifying with his 11 year old son, Chris, as he struggles to understand his father.

Graham N. Purdy was a logical thinker and a quiet, often fleeting, presence in my life. A chemist, a manager, a great dad in many ways, but rarely emotive, and he wasn't a good communicator. At least, not to me. 

Of course, I now realise this was partly my fault. I didn't have the right questions for him, nor the ability to persist and break down the non-communication like Chris does as an eleven year old with his persistent questions. Unlike my brother, I wasn't on my dad's wave length. Not until I became a father myself.

That's just the way it was. I can't change anything about the past. But I can understand him and more importantly, me, by reading Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance again. 

Love and peace - WNP

P.S. At the same time, I'm also reading that other book in the picture - a Guidebook to ZMM: a collection of stuff about the book I bought while in England in 2018. It's an excellent companion.

Since my feet are now fast and point away from the past, I'll bid farewell and be down the line (Bob Dylan)

Wie geht's?

This week we welcome the return of: some more outstanding photos from the past.

I opened Bob Dylan's Writings And Drawings book at random and lo and behold - Restless Farewell! So...

This time we've gone back 8 years to a time of comings and goings.

Al Ain was the scene for the farewells as I said goodbye to the special people at Ali bin Abi Taleb School...

...and Otane was the scene of celebrations around Jacky's 50th! Jesse and Samantha did a surprise flight back from San Francisco to join the birthday girl, Jade, me, and the O'Neills.

Love and peace - Wozza

Holy morning, bless oh yes, with streams of sunshine falling (The Rumour)

Wie geht's?

Pictured above (in terrible quality beause of poor light, sorry) is some of my haul from my visit to a record fair in Palmerston North last weekend.

Record fairs are weird things - in this case a bowling clubhouse had been hired, and halved in size, bizarrely, so that 100 people were compressed in a small space flicking through 50 record bins with their elbows pinned to their sides.

I had to wait my turn to join in - and then I was into it! 

It's fun chatting with the stall holders about records. 

And, yes, I still represent the demographic for this kind of thing - men of my age and ethnic persuasion, but there were women and younger record browsers there as well (more that the last time I visited a record fair).

So, to the records. My aussie mate Noel said they were 'a mixed lot' and he's not wrong. 

The Rumour album from 1972 is the pick of the bunch. It's great to hear ambient record noise during favourites like Holy Morning, L'Amour and Garden Of Your Smile. Best of all is the brilliant version of Our House. BTW I can also recommend their 2009 CD compilation - The Rumour Collection (although it doesn't include Our House for some strange reason).

Love and peace - Wozza

Kia kaha

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Thanks to Covid-19, if you live anywhere except New Zealand, you are probably sick and tired of being sick and tired, lacking energy, plain tuckered out and cream crackered!

Our children live all over the world, including Covid hotspots like California and Victoria in Australia.

They've been in lockdowns, off and on, for ages but along with a lot of people they continue to aim to do the right thing and remain safe.

We're lucky because they remain in high spirits and ease our worries about their situation.

However, the longer the world battles with lockdowns and Covid-19, fatigue is a real issue. That may be moral fatigue, zoom fatigue, or caution fatigue.  

New Zealand leaders took early action, closed borders and reopened the economy in stages when it was safe to do so. It helps we are isolated down here at the bottom of the world, but it's been a blessing having strong leadership making decisive decisons.

It can be done. Stay strong world.

Love and peace - WNP

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget (Homas Szasz)

Wie geht's?

Back in October 2010, on a lovely spring day in Taranaki, Jacky decided we should have a picnic for my birthday. So we did.

It was a lovely, magic moment after what had turned into a fairly bleak year for me in Stratford in 2009. At the time, we were back from Qatar, and about to head off to the UAE in a month's time. I'm still sporting my Qatar hair cut in the photos.

 

Jade and Samantha were with us for the picnic. Although both were at University in NZ, I don't remember how come the four of us were suddenly together again. But it came to pass. And it was, as I say, a lovely magic moment. 

Love and peace - WNP

P.S. The quote in the title? This was the quote of the day selection on my phone this morning. Very appropriate it was too, as I aim for wisdom whenever there is a painful lesson to be learned. It's tough, but, I'm with Homas.

Remember if you must, this is just a Christmas song (Jethro Tull)

Wie geht's?

Christmas 2011. Where were you?

If you are part of the Brian Smith whanau, including as it does the O'Neill, Purdy, Dix families, then you were most likely on Waiheke Island unwrapping presents and enjoying Jacky's trifle.

Returning for the festive season of 2011, Jacky and I were back from Al Ain briefly to enjoy a New Zealand summer break.

Being in Waiheke and close to Auckland, we met up with Keegan and Adam, plus I had a reunion with my buddy, Greg, and a visit to Marbecks in the Queen's Arcade before we had to return to the Middle East.

The christmas celebrations on Waiheke included great views, tuis in the trees, excellent company and the aforementioned trifle (Brian cleaned up the bowl).

The end.

Love and peace - Wozza