Earthquake

It’s been nearly two weeks since the massive earthquake hit China, and the country is still appropriately in mourning. Much like America, China is quick to band together for nationalistic causes, and this is no exception; however unlike the blind irrational fervor raised over the Olympic torch protests, I have nothing but admiration for China’s response to this disaster.

I was at work Monday May 12, when the quake struck, but despite being over 1000 miles from the epicenter, the building I was in shook enough to cause the evacuation of our entire school for close to an hour. Personally, I didn’t feel anything, nor did any of our students, but other people in Shanghai in taller buildings said they felt an unexplained queasiness. Other than a brief inconvenience, Shanghai was unaffected.

In the week following the news covered the disaster exclusively, revealing more graphic images than I would expect. In fact, the Chinese seem to revel in these graphic images, as we have a wall of photographs from the disaster sight in our school. The aim is to raise money through fundraising, but pictures of hands reaching out from underneath piles of cement seems unfit for a school.

The following Monday thru Wednesday was declared the three national days of mourning. Concerts were cancelled and every TV station showed the same feed of news and memorial services. At my school we observed the three minutes of silence in memorial one week after the earthquake, and students still are eager to discuss the quake, yet sad when the subject is broached. To my knowledge, none of my students had families affected, and those with families nearby said nothing much happened to them, thankfully.
Yet as you may have seen in the western media, China’s response has been tremendous. Charity is new to China, so in addition to the cold efficient military, there is now the more human touch of giving and unity throughout China. Perhaps a sign of better things to come, the Chinese people are eager to help out. I can’t help but be encouraged by this generosity and I can’t help but enjoy admiring China’s response to this devastation.