NORDIC CRUISE & LONDON 2022

Life as we knew it abruptly detoured after COVID.  Aside from obvious tragedies of death and restrictions, "COVID" was the almighty answer to inconveniences and complaints:  Inflation? Bad service?  Homeless? No job? Worker shortage? Out of business?  Relationship crisis? Bad hair? "COVID!" Now 2½ years since the pandemic declared in March 2020, with cautious people vaccinated, and invincible ones alive by God's Grace, mind-over-matter, at some point the show must go on!  

So I joined friends on a 16-day cruise. For half the pre-COVID price, luxury was barebone, but attentive service was kept, and crispy white tablecloth at dining made any meal special.  I enjoyed seeing the choppy Nordic seas, the break of dawns and sunrises, and the phantom Northern Lights. 

Denmark, Norway, Iceland seaports

Grundarfjordur Iceland, on way to Gufu Fall. Thanks to Anita Lee for capturing the moment.

I had imagined these were desolate places, that I would visit meteor lands inhabited by superhumans, who could tolerate isolation, extreme weather, months of darkness, and limited resources. A drabby existence, I had thought.

Instead they were quaint little towns with modest utilitarian houses and buildings.  The town center, usually walkable from the cruise port, would have the quintessentials: a church, a pharmacy, a liquor store, a not so super market, a museum, and a few "must see" relics. Beyond these specks of civilization would be Earth's expansive wonders of waterfalls, craters, volcanic presences, and in September, green vegetation everywhere for herds of plump white lambs to graze on.  Roads were few but strategically located with few or no traffic lights and speed signs. Drivers simply behave mindfully.  I was pleasantly shocked that cars always slowed or stopped even unnecessarily to accommodate my crossings. There's a consistent middle-class feel in these towns devoid of richer or poorer neighborhoods.  Locals seem to pursue well being over superfluous.  Rarely did I see "sale" signs to entice impulse shopping; prices were not cheap, but things looked good quality.  Even in Reykjavik, the metropolis in Iceland, there were no neon districts with flashing marquees.  Their iconic landmark, shaped like a rocketship ready to take off into heaven, was the Church of Hallgrímur.  

As I stepped back into the cruise ship, a thought dawned on me:  Nordic towns are the last sanctuary for White culture.  God Bless these lands and their people.

London

The two colossal winged human-headed lions that had guarded Nimrud's royal palace, and the gigantic standing lion that guarded the Temple of Ishtar were in the British Museum!  What else did the British have? The Westminster Abbey max'd out on burial and memorial spaces, but amazingly they managed to bury Stephen Hawking there. Maybe due to the crowding, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband rested at Windsor Castle instead. Their own stuff was a lot, imagine their hauls of the best and the most from every part of the world.  I was wrong to think that the Victoria and Albert Museum was a smaller venue, but just the jewelry collection alone, from 1500 BC to the present, took two floors covering all the walls and middle area display cases.  Whereas the Roman and most other empires now require us to imagine their grandness from piles of remaining rubbles, London showcases the British empire's undeniable magnificence. In fairness, I must admit that through their conquers and colonization, the British had done some good along the way.  Thanks to them for housing and preserving the incredible amount of artifacts that may otherwise be gone in their original countries.

Queen Elizabeth II passed away just days before my visit to London.  I saw her funeral procession on TV.  How the Brits love their royalties is understandable, I think because of this woman.  I'm not sure if there had ever been a classier person.  She was the epitome of British etiquette and the trusted face of the country. She did it for 70 of her 97 years, perfectly.  That's the duty she took on.  No b*tching and headlines. 

CALIFORNIA COAST 2022

COVID is still looming over the world, now into the third year with no end in sight.  The WWW states that historically, pandemics last 3 years, and then fade into more manageable strains.  Let’s hope and pray. 

Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, Pacific Grove, Salinas, and Carmel  

Thanks to my friends Anita and Irene for driving their car.  Away from our TVs and couches, an outing to these northern California towns was sensational!  We had fabulous food (Crow’s Nest, Mosaic, Zoccoli’s, Salinas City BBQ, Rosine’s, Coniglio Brothers Italian Deli, The Butter House, Ambrosia, Goodies Delicatessen, Sweet Reba, Crossroad BBQ, Paris Bakery, Old Fisherman’s Grotto), and saw plenty of dramatic coastal sceneries. We were happy to have met individual folks who had just stopped to chat with us like old friends.  A street vendor with whom we talked about world traveling gave me a string of mini Tibetan prayer flags. 

Point Lobos Chinese building 1850's

Along the way, I was also in search of Chinese in America’s history, only a few remnants left. In 2019, a Dragon Archway honored the 4 Santa Cruz Chinatowns that were wiped out by flood or by mysterious fire. John Steinbeck’s novel "Cannery Row" depicted the “Lee Chong Market,” which was an alias for the Wing Chong Market. The market is now Kristonio, a gift shop. Like other Chinese villages, the Chinese in Cannery Row were gone after a night in flames. Only a small wooden Wing Chong sign was left to identify their prior existence. There were photos and objects from Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese occupants on display at Whalers Cabin at Point Lobos Reserve.  Docent Dan said the cabin was built by Chinese fishermen.  And the Pacific Grove Museum showed a good attempt to revive the history of the Chinese with a permanent display of photos and articles.  

During the time of 光復香港 時代革命 (Hong Kong 2016-2020), I happened to speak with a young man freshly from Hong Kong. I asked him, what if China was taken up by other countries, such that China was gone from the world's map?  The young man did not hesitate for even 2 seconds. He replied that it would be fine with him.  

It almost happened in the early 1900s. 八國聯軍(Great Britain, United States of America, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Austria-Hungary, Italy) by justification of protecting their ambassadors from 義和團 (The Boxers) ,  plundered and pillaged in a grab-a-thon frenzy.  Some of the loots are still in The British Museum. To amass territory, countries even battled each other on China’s grounds.  The loser, China, signed away land, leases, and debts. 

Chinamen were only tolerated as a source of cheap and reliable labor.  In spite of the Anti Coolie Act, but because few white men were stupid enough to get themselves killed dynamiting tunnels and shoveling 20 pounds of rock over 400 times a day to build the transcontinental railroad, in 1864 the Central Pacific Railroad Company went to Canton. The brave, the hopeful, the desperate, signed up, but to find out too late that they could not bring family members, that white women were off limits, that they get half of white men's pay, that it was a one-way ticket, that they were deemed less than an animal in America.  

Until the awakening of minorities in the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, and Rainbow Coalition in the 1960s, Chinese immigrants' sacrifices, contributions, even existence, were mostly annihilated in American history. 

It was Easter Sunday 4/17/22.  Our first stop in the morning was the Evergreen Cemetery.  Kate, a volunteer who came to clean tombstones, was so kind as to show us the Chinese memorial area and told us a bit of history.  There were more than 150 Chinamen buried there.  Many died from poisonous gas or explosions from building 6 railway tunnels.  This small cemetery built in 1850 was the only option in Santa Cruz for anyone non-Catholic.  A plot cost $7.  By now most of the Chinamen’s remains were transported back to their homeland. RIP.  In 2014, Mr. George Ow, Jr. funded a memorial to honor those early Chinese immigrants–fishermen, railroad workers, servants, and farm laborers.  The least we could do was go pay our respect.

Amid segregation, hostilities, and all kinds of outrageous impositions, the Chinamen survived by offering services that were too cheap to refuse.  The Chinese laundry was a lifeline that became an American icon; in fact, there were no Chinese laundry in China.  If they were bullied out of gold mining or fishing, they turned homegrown bean sprouts into “gold” by inventing American chop suey.  On this visit, my friends and I sought to pay homage to those folks whose struggle and suffering gallantly paved the way for future Chinese Americans. 

All Lives Matter 🇺🇲

Peace and Joy 🌎