TAIPEI, TAIWAN“I got back last week from Taipei, Taiwan. I went to have two Chinese paintings evaluated by the staff at the National Palace Museum of Art in Taipei before having one of the large auction houses such as Sotheby’s or Christie’s sell them for me. The museum is said to have the largest holding of Chinese classical paintings in existence.
The two paintings were given to me fifteen years ago by a Chinese doctoral student who was in the States working on a degree in the department of which I was chairperson. He was desperate to get his four-year-old daughter to the States. His brother stood in line for 26 hours to get a visa for her, but was refused the visa and treated rudely by U.S. Embassy personnel. I called the ambassador in Beijing and his aide told me, ‘Oh, we didn't know anyone in the States was interested in this case.’ He gave specific instructions to be passed on to the brother in China. The brother followed the instructions and did not have to stand in line again. He got the visa in a few minutes and the little girl was on her way two days later.
The paintings I have are part of a few saved from destruction in 1968 when the Red Guard was rampaging through China getting rid of Confucian traditions. Out of 6,000+ art museums, it is said that 4,000+ were completely or partly destroyed. More than 100,000 works of art were burned or hammered to pieces. Some paintings made their ways to Taiwan where they now are in the National Palace Museum. Others may still be hidden in private collections in China 
elsewhere.
There is a wrinkle—or maybe only a potential one. MARILYN sent me a CNN clipping from a few days ago saying that the Chinese government is raising an uproar at Christie's auction house over the sale of two nineteenth century sculptures that were removed from the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 by British and French troops. The Chinese government demanded they be returned, but Christie's sold them in Paris for nearly $18 million each. A lot of outrage is being expressed at the moment in China about this. I sympathize with the government's position about art stolen by foreign troops. On the other hand, the paintings I have were not wanted by the government. I learned nothing new about my paintings from the National Palace Museum, but have written to Sotheby's in Hong Kong to see if they will auction them. I haven't heard back from them as of this moment.
I've been to Beijing and Shanghai previously, but it was my first time in Taiwan. I like Taipei. It's big and modern but not noisy for a city. Despite urban traffic, no horns honk, few sirens sound, and people are courteous and smile a lot. Prices are about the same as in Abilene. I stayed in a hostel (named Eight Elephants) with a number of friendly, hip acting, 18- to 35- year-olds. In restaurants and bars every young person has a camera or cell phone, mostly held at arm’s length for self portraits. Many people speak some English, and they are generous about translating in stores and on the sidewalk. A woman named Nina introduced herself at a coffee shop near the hostel. She called cabs for me, and helped me exchange money into New Taiwan Dollars (NT's). She has visited the pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Istanbul, and several other places. Her current goal is to go to Machu Picchu in Peru. I've been there a couple of times, so we talked travel when I stopped for a breakfast sandwich each morning.
The part of Asia that I saw looks prosperous. They say they feel the worldwide recession (depression?), but I saw no beggars and felt no threat of crime. Stores were clean, well lighted, and looked prosperous. 7/11 stores are ubiquitous. And Narita Airport in Tokyo sparkles and dazzles. Makes LAX look shabby by comparison. -- More to come.”…GLENN
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I've received some welcome news from WALTER and Diana (BHS '64) THOMAS. Remember, their son Greg had the rare Whipple surgery last fall. Here's what Diana had to say:
"We went to see Greg last weekend. He is taking chemo every two weeks, just to make sure they 
have killed all the cancer. The chemo will be over sometime in April. He seems to be doing alright with the treatments. He says he feels bad for a few days after the treatment, then starts to feel better. He has lost a lot of weight. He looks as thin as Walter, and weighs 195 pounds. That is down from 220 pounds before the surgery. He went back to work about the middle of January. Except for the chemo treatments, his life is back to normal."
What a miraculous recovery. He's another fortunate one who had lots of prayer groups praying for him. I'm so happy for WALTER'S family!
(Greg Thomas in photo on right)
By now you all have received the email I sent out telling you about DOROTHY BISHOP ROGERS' sad loss of two sisters on the same day. Some of our classmates showed their support for her at the visitation and funeral service of one of them, Helen Hovorak, this past Sunday and Monday. DOTTIE seemed to be cheered by seeing and visiting with us. DOTTIE looked as beautiful as she did in high school, with the only obvious difference being the silver in her hair. Her husband Grady is a warm and friendly man who made me feel as though I have known him forever, just by sharing a few brief words with him. A good match for our outgoing DOTTIE.
(DOTTIE and Grady ROGERS at left)
Among the many who were there at Lange's Funeral Home were classmates JANICE AMARINE, DON SIMMONS, NANCY THOMPSON BAKER, GLENN SMITH, Morris Sweeney, and David and Amy Batts filling in for IRENE PIEL BATTS. I asked DOTTIE if she minded my taking photos as I had not seen her since 1956, and I felt that others may not have seen her in a long while either.
Mr. Sweeney sat for awhile with me and DON SIMMONS, regaling us with stories. The two of them
got to talking about how bad the water is here in Ballinger. Morris said he had been to seven (7) funerals from last Wednesday through Sunday, with another one lined up for Gene Keel. You all remember Gene, I'm sure. Many of you worked for his drugstore, which is still in operation today. Anyway, our consensus was a worry that the chemicals in the water here might be causing a lot of the deaths....especially the ones from cancer. DON and I both said we buy the RO (reverse osmosis) water to drink and cook with. Sweeney said that probably doesn't do any good. DON and I both said, "Well, what are we supposed to drink??" Sweeney had a snappy comeback (especially for a Baptist Sunday School teacher!), "Beer!" DON and I both agreed that wasn't a viable option. You know, "been there, done that!" We moved on to other subjects, but I was left hoping my former science teacher was wrong about the chemistry of the water!
DOTTIE had a story to tell Mr. Sweeney about not having taken any Biology courses in high school. "That's nothing, I didn't have any either!" he responded. Sweeney taught Biology many years before the government made him quit because he wasn't certified to teach it!
NANCY THOMPSON BAKER wasn't around for long, as she has an ailing husband at home. Raising four children, with a husband on the road a lot, prepared her for being his nurse in recent years! NANCY has so much experience as a caregiver, she should have made a career of nursing. But, then, maybe she has!
GLENN SMITH was kind enough to take DOTTIE and me to dinner after the visitation, where we tried to catch up on too many years in too short a time -- and eat, too! DOTTIE, you will have to come back on a happier occasion so we can share a REAL visit. Again, we offer condolences for your loss. From what I heard about Helen, she would have been a delight to know, as are you.
Just a reminder... If you would like to see any of the photos enlarged, just doubleclick with your mouse on the picture you want to see. If you do that on the slideshows to the left, it will take you to the web album and you will see captions with names underneath each photo. If you wish to comment on the blog, just click on "Comments" at the end of this article. A box will open for you to type your comment in. I'd love to hear from you!
Until next time, be ready for "good stuff" to happen in your life. After all, spring is almost here.
Peace and love,
Marilyn
Wow!! What fascinating stuff from Glenn, the traveling man. That must have been a wonderfully informative trip. I assume he's back home now and can tell you all this good stuff in person.
ReplyDeleteDottie looks as beautiful as always. My heart goes out to her for such sad circumstances of her visit to Ballinger.
Thanks again, Marilyn, for keeping us up to date on our Ballinger classmates such as Nancy and her famly and Walter's son, Greg.
I loves your blogs, as always.
June