Letter from Lucretia Meece in China
March 2008
Dear Friends,
It was such a joy to see so many of your friendly, loving faces during my visit in February.
I had left China with the ice and cold chasing me (and about half a billion others), as China endured battering by the worst winter storms in decades. The Amity Winter Conference was shortened by two days, as the storm hit Guiyang city in the remote mountainous Guizhou province. Scrambling for (and happily paying double the normal prices to) taxi drivers willing to brave the roads to the mountaintop airport became the norm. The airport would be open for a few hours, then closed for a day or more. Some teachers were still waiting in their airport hotel rooms two days after the storm hit. It seems that a group of more than 30 foreign faces in this off-the-beaten-path city airport is indeed an occasion to cause locals to stare and listen in disbelief.
We soon had our own town-crier to advise of flights being rescheduled. The Amity staff had been wonderfully ahead of the crisis and rescheduled those of us flying almost before the weather hit. (The train travelers, not so lucky, hoped for seats on whatever was leaving town.) One of the teachers was fluent in Chinese and organized a list of our flights to assist the crier. It was poetry. Watching beautiful, smiling Chinese babies, some in back slings, some singing and dancing for grandpas, etc. kept us occupied and cameras clicking.
Through the greatest of good luck my flight was rescheduled with only a three-hour delay. I fairly skipped through the airport until I got to the escalators where I heard, then saw, a growing rumbling of discontent. The crowd of unhappy travelers was moved across the large room while I scooted to my gate with my antennae up, scanning the crowd.
After a few minutes I heard a pounding that grew in volume, and I saw some folks pounding on the plate glass windows as the gate next to theirs was called. Even though I was across the room from the disturbance, I was a little apprehensive. I was comforted by the thought that if I needed help at some point, perhaps being a foreigner would help me. It was one of the few times when I was glad to be easy to spot. I hoped that the kindness so often displayed to us foreigners would extend to this situation. Fortunately, nothing happened, as the police responded quickly. As I look back on the scene, I remark on the calm and restraint shown by most travelers. Of course, the large police presence may have helped, too.
I arrived at my new destination, Shenzhen airport, found the counter for the Hong Kong shuttle bus and bought my ticket. After settling in my seat I heard a voice call, “Hello, Lucretia.” Another teacher, Kath, from England, was headed to Hong Kong, too. All seven passengers in the large modern bus spread out. We all seemed to need more room after being with masses of people in the airports around southeast China, and into the ice-free night we went.
After 45 minutes we pulled up to a large, modern customs and immigration building to exit Mainland China and enter Hong Kong. I was surprised by how empty the place was. At various checkpoints, I was the only passenger. Kath had been scooped up and put on the Hong Kong airport shuttle bus, while I would be going to Kowloon Station. A short wait outside led to the next 45-minute bus ride to where I caught the subway. My Amity friends met me and we headed back to their house. A short time later, a knock on the door announced the next wayfaring Amity teacher with need of a bed and familiar faces.
The next morning Ann (also from England) and I headed off to help the Strongs decorate their church rec hall for their son’s birthday party. It was fun to stroll around Victoria Harbor again, remembering last year when I got stuck there for 12 days in visa-limbo. Ann and I swapped ice-storm stories, rode the Star Ferry, headed back for the birthday party with ten or twelve 8-year-olds, took the Strongs to dinner, got our luggage, and headed for the express bus to the airport. We bid fond farewell as she headed to her terminal and I to mine, both for flights departing after midnight.
I flew to Seoul, then nonstop to Atlanta. It took about three days from the ice storm city to Atlanta, but it was well worth it. (My return trip took two days, door to door.)
The differences I notice when I come home for a visit always surprise me. Just listening to the language is comforting. The medical check-ups are always on the list of things to do, and visiting family and friends. The list of foods I want to eat is always in my head. This year turkey topped the list. I couldn’t wait to cook Thanksgiving dinner, turkey, stuffing cranberry sauce/pineapple/walnut salad. It was wonderful, if a few months late.
Attending church is more than just returning to the congregation. It is seeing the familiar trappings, architecture, colors, sounds of worshippers, the choir, groups, and my place in the pew. Of course the hugs, smiles, handshakes and excitement of seeing friends goes without saying. Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church has been my church home for over 23 years.
I was ready to return to China, for that is my home now, but I am also ready to return to the United States when my service ends in July. What a privilege to be so welcomed in both places.
In Christ’s abundant love,
Lucretia
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 99
