Bude, Stratton & District U3A Speakers Report February 2012
THE Chair, Hilary Workman welcomed members and gave out several notices before the speaker was introduced. She announced that the Treasurer had decided to stand down and thanked Val Kerr on behalf of the committee for all the excellent work she had done on the committee. As the Social account had become so large due to theatre bookings the committee had decided to ask for a volunteer to be Mary Dobson’s assistant. Jo Arnold offered to assist and Fenella Wojnarowska had volunteered to step in as Treasurer. Mary Lynn Jones announced she had started a book share stall and explained that members may bring a book to the Open meeting and take one away. Val Adams asked if anyone was interested in studying ‘Antarctica ‘. If so they should contact her. There were the names of several plays/ballet/opera on the back table for people to sign if they were interested in going.
Val Adams then introduced the speaker Christine Williams, who gave a fascinating talk about her long trip in 2009 with a friend, travelling on the Trans Siberian Railway from Moscow in Russia, through Mongolia and down to China. The friend’s father, although he had been a missionary in China for many years, had never managed to fulfil his dream of travelling on the Trans Siberian Railway. The friend had a book of letters written by her father that she was taking to Shenyang, their ultimate goal, to meet the people he had worked with. Christine described the journey in vivid detail and some memories she had of the places –like the so called hotels, where there were no flush toilets; some of the food she said she would not like to eat again, like breakfasts of rice, sausage and jam, or mutton with rice and bread rolls with chocolate in the middle that had been fermented with mare’s milk! Those they both found quite revolting. And yet - that aside, they had had the most fantastic experience of their lives. She mentioned places and experiences at the Russian and Mongolian borders that beggared belief! She gave us descriptions of the most beautiful countryside, i.e. high mountains, wide rivers and forests, that took ones breath away. They visited Tiananmen Square in Beijing where they saw massive building construction going on of railways, roads and high rise apartments. It was there that they became very aware that everything in China was very regimented.
From Beijing Christine and her friend travelled to the busy, industrial city of Shenyang. Compared to the earlier trains, this time they travelled in a super smart, high speed train that was spotlessly clean and received very good service. During the Cultural Revolution In 1966 the churches were closed but now Christianity is the most prominent religion. In Shenyang, where the population is 35,000, a thousand people would be attending Sunday services at each of the many churches. There would be three floors in one building holding services with three or four hundred people at each. There was much more to Christine’s talk, which she accompanied with pictures of the places they had visited. It had been a cultural shock to both of them but, surprisingly perhaps, neither of them had been ‘put off’, they are planning to go out again in the future.
Christine was thanked by Jenny Leyland for giving such an illuminating lively description of their Trans-Siberian Experience.
Lucille Opie
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