Final Wednesday, I woke as much as discover out that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had been introduced as US Vice President Kamala Harris’ working mate for the approaching election. Because the world proceeded to collectively google who Walz is, I checked my notes: the identical Tim Walz as soon as taught in my highschool in China again in 1989.
As I scrolled by means of my telephone and tried to seek out out extra details about Tim Walz’s China previous, my thoughts was flooded with outdated reminiscences of my highschool, a selective college for Yr 10-12 college students based by a British missionary 111 years in the past in Foshan, a southern metropolis the place well-known Kung Fu star Bruce Lee was born.
I knew precisely one factor to do: go to the alumni group chats and gossip.
Since leaving my college in 2014, I’ve been added to 4 alumni group chats (which I’d all muted). In a single group chat, an alum now dwelling in Melbourne mentioned Walz was his English trainer when he was in Yr 12. Nonetheless, because it’s been over 30 years since then, all he might bear in mind was Walz gave each pupil an English identify, but he couldn’t recall the identify he was given.
In one other group chat, a classmate of mine, whose mom additionally attended the identical college and was in Yr 11 when Walz was there, shared a photograph of Walz chatting with the college principals in entrance of an outdated instructing constructing. The picture was taken in 1994, after Walz based an organization that organised summer time college camps for American college students to go to China. That yr, he took 50 American college students to my college.
There have been additionally screenshots of testimonies from retired lecturers and alumni — now of their late 50s — on their reminiscences of Walz, who they mentioned was “a really pleasant individual”. In a single screenshot, Walz was remembered to get scared by the firecrackers through the Lunar New Yr celebrations in 1990. I noticed a reputation from that screenshot — it was Ms Pang, my Chinese language literature trainer in Yr 11 who has not too long ago retired.
In keeping with Ms Pang, Walz was the primary international trainer assigned by the native authorities to show English at our college. “Everybody handled him like a celebrity,” Ms Pang instructed me. “When he joined us [in 1989], he was very younger with a vibrant smile.” Ms Pang had seen Walz’s newest marketing campaign picture. Regardless of the ageing face and gray hair, Ms Pang mentioned Walz’s smile remained “infectious” like within the outdated days.
She additionally remembered Walz cherished having ice cream from the comfort retailer close to the college. He additionally gave the impression to be a fan of lychee, a fruit grown in south China. As soon as, he requested a colleague in Mandarin if he want to have some.
At my college, Walz was well-liked amongst employees and college students. He was a member of the college lecturers’ basketball staff. He greeted everybody when strolling on campus, regardless if he labored intently with them. Earlier than he headed again to the US, Walz acquired many presents, together with a fan with calligraphy prints on it from Ms Pang.
As I wrote up the interview with Ms Pang and despatched it to a Chinese language-language information outlet, my thoughts additionally travelled again to 10 years in the past, when Ms Pang praised my essay in her class. I used to be in the identical campus the place Walz as soon as created a window for a whole lot of younger Chinese language college students to study America.
Now, writing from my residence in Sydney, I used to be additionally documenting a beautiful and real interplay between the peoples of China and the US that was a world away from tensions and geopolitical conflicts.
The waltz down reminiscence lane was additionally a reminder of the constructive aspect of worldwide schooling. This week I can be celebrating 10 years in Australia. The rationale why I got here to Australia is as a result of in 2013, I went on a faculty journey (organised by my highschool) to Townsville.
There have been so many talks about worldwide pupil caps not too long ago, from how worldwide college students are deteriorating college diploma high quality, to the accusation that they’re intensifying the housing disaster. The Waltz aspect be aware is a pleasant reminder in regards to the significance and worth of cultural trade and creating extra alternatives for younger individuals themselves.
And naturally, after studying what I wrote, Ms Pang gave me a giant thumbs up, similar to a decade in the past.
