Told by Zai Yang Li

Edited by Dana Edwards

The Soldier and his Wife

“A long time ago, a brave soldier and his beautiful wife were married. They were quite a happy couple, and the first years of their lives together were filled with the joys of two people madly in love, bonded by matrimony. They lived in a modest yet comfortable apartment in the large city of New York. One day, however, the man was ordered to move to the desert to fulfill a military post. He had to comply with his duties as a soldier if he did not want to risk his career and integrity. He told his wife to stay in the city, promising to send money for her to live on, write letters often, and soon return. 

However, their love for each other was too great, and she could not bear to part with her husband. So, in the middle of summer, they moved to a home in the Nevada desert, in a small village, miles from any real town or form of civilization. The man’s career began consuming more and more of his time, until the point that he only saw his wife in between frequent military business trips and at night. Their relationship slowly faded as they saw less and less of each other. In addition, the woman’s life was plagued with boredom. She had no friends to see as she did in the city, no things to do, absolutely nothing. She found her days duller and duller, becoming more and more aloof and depressed. 

One day she wrote a letter to her mother, explaining her terrible situation. She told of her husband’s frequent absences and their fading marriage. She told of her ever-present boredom, not to mention that she was getting fat from sitting in her small, secluded house in the desert, with no friends and nothing to do. She described how when she looked outside of the window, she saw nothing; nothing but sand for miles and miles. Her mother replied with a story: “There are two prisoners in jail. One looks outside and sees only dirt, the other looks outside the very same window and sees a beautiful blue sky and tranquil green pastures. He hears the chirping of the birds, the flutter of the butterflies and the calm whispering in the wind.”

At once, the wife understood her mother’s message, and decided to make the best of her situation, to spring into action instead of constantly grieving. She discovered that there were the remaining members of an ancient tribe of Native Americans living in her tiny village. They lived in teepees, made authentic pottery, and ground corn for cornmeal, in attempts to maintain the traditions of their ancestors. She became friends with the Native Americans, and spent most of her time learning their customs, history and language, the ways of their forefathers. They taught her to weave, kill and skin a buffalo, start friction fires with a wooden hand drill, and learn the Native American constellations in the night sky.

As the years passed, and the woman’s life became more and more fulfilling, her knowledge of Native American studies reached a point where she was somewhat of an expert. Her studies intensified, and soon she had over four books published on Native American Customs and Astrology. 

The soldier, seeing his wife’s new talents and interests, decided on a whim to quit the army and live at home. Once again, they spent all their time together, and their marriage was restored. They moved into a teepee, the man learned the ways of the warrior, and they are now living a happy, peaceful life, in the ways of the Native Americans, one with the earth and with the natural spirits.” 

When I read this story, I want to look outside and see sunshine every day. Over the holidays, I saw a sad man walking on the street and I yelled to him, “Merry Christmas”.  He turned to me, smiled, and replied “Merry Christmas”.

-Zai Yang Li 

Dana Edwards           08/30/07

Chinese 3-Mr. Li

Why I Want to Learn Chinese

Asian languages are so incredibly different from English and other western languages. Most of them, Chinese included, are tonal languages, which put a large emphasis on the pronunciation and exact sounds of words. In addition, Chinese has a writing system that is in no way similar to an alphabet, which a native English speaker is familiar with. There are thousands of characters, each with many strokes that have to be drawn in a specific order, that compose the vocabulary of the Chinese language. One of the reasons that I want to learn Chinese is to take advantage of the opportunity to learn a language so strikingly different from English. It is rare that a high school offers Chinese as a language, but since Cate does so, I feel that it makes the most sense to embark on an intellectual journey that is unique and hard to do elsewhere. Another reason for my choosing to learn Chinese is the character drawing. I have very bad handwriting in English, and I think that the articulate process of forming Chinese characters will not only help my English handwriting, but also improve my hand-eye coordination and attention to detail.

I hope to use my Chinese as a tool to break down the large culture barrier between American and Chinese cultures. I will be able to communicate and learn from Chinese people in a way that will not have been possible without actually speaking their native language. I am not sure if or how I will relate my future knowledge of Chinese to a career of any sort, but for certain I will use it as a tool to make friends and diversify my learning.

You, Mr. Li, as my teacher, can help me by teaching me the Chinese language with the expertise and first hand knowledge, both of the language and of Chinese culture, that only someone from China has. As you have said before, “I am your teacher for one day, I am your father for life.” I am glad that you can not only provide me with help learning Chinese, but you can also be someone that I can come to for help or advice, just as a father would provide.

My given Chinese name is Ai Haibao, which you gave to me at the beginning of my freshman year, two years ago, since I am now composing this totally new essay as a junior.

I am very excited about this year’s Chinese class, and I would like to let you, Mr. Li know, in all honesty, that I look forward to your class on a daily basis. Not only do you teach us the Chinese language, which can be interesting, but you share your vast wisdom and knowledge with us in the form of engaging stories and lectures. You teach us not only how to become good Chinese students, but also, and I think more importantly, how to become good people. Thank you.