The Quake from afar

[IllinoisDave]

We're lucky in the sense that we don't have any friends or family who were directly affected by the quake. So my wife's reaction so far has been relatively restrained. She did wear black to her English class today. And she's not wearing any makeup or jewelry during the 3 days of mourning. Apparently some of her friends and family back in China are doing the same.

 

Christine hasn't shown a lot of outward emotion since the quake. She doesn't really talk about it much unless I point out something I'm watching on CNN or CCTV. She doesn't go out of her way to watch the coverage but I do notice her reading Chinese websites that are talking about it.

 

Usually when she does say anything, she speaks with a kind of quiet pride about how the Chinese people and government are dealing with the tragedy. She's especially proud of how people from the other provinces are doing whatever they can to help total strangers. She's made comments to the effect that this is a change from the way things have been in the past. She's very proud of that as well.

 

I'm curious as to how others' wives/fiancees are dealing with it and what their reaction to it has been.

[lostinblue]

Yan comes from ChengDu . She calls her family every day and is worried about the aftershocks. No damage to their property. Everyone is fine in her family. She mentioned that people who owe money on their homes still owe even if it is flat. No insurance covers quakes. She hopes the government will step in and help in this matter. Too soon to tell right now.

She thinks the western news media is very slanted and desires to bring out a lot of the bad aspects of living in china. An example was the article on one child policy and the loss of that ONLY child. If their were 2 children both would be at the same school. And both just as dead.Why even talk about that story at this time. The news media has no respect for anything just make the story and sell papers. IMO

Edited May 20, 2008 by lostinblue (see edit history)

[SmilingAsia]

I'm curious as to how others' wives/fiancees are dealing with it and what their reaction to it has been.

I donated RMB300 and I asked people I know to donate to Red Cross. My mom called telling me not to donate blood and I said "No, no more" - it's not because I don't want to but I take medications for sinusitis for a long time and I don't think my blood is good enough for donation.

No more I can do. They have military people, firemen, medical personnels there. Common civilians better not to travel to Sichuan to bother them.

 

The worst of China's nightmare was Tangshan quake in north China in 1976 which was a much much worse situation and crazy Mao even refused help from outside China. 240,000 people died but many could have been saved if we got help.

I always tell myself: the worst of the nightmare is over. Right now we have resources to handle a disaster and there is help available but it's much a different situation in Mao's time (China had nothing then).

[jim_julian]

Lao Po gives a big priority to watching the Chinese news on our local Chinese TV station. She also watched a 3 hour special and gets teary when they show dead children.

 

She feels better about family in Chongqing now that I've shown her the earthquake pattern on Google Earth.

 

Her Mom is now questioning if our daughter should spend 6 weeks in Chongqing this summer ... this, of course, after I've committed the 70,000 FF miles

[Don]

Lao Po gives a big priority to watching the Chinese news on our local Chinese TV station. She also watched a 3 hour special and gets teary when they show dead children.

 

She feels better about family in Chongqing now that I've shown her the earthquake pattern on Google Earth.

 

Her Mom is now questioning if our daughter should spend 6 weeks in Chongqing this summer ... this, of course, after I've committed the 70,000 FF miles

 

Since our family is in the middle of the quake, we talk a lot about it. We read every artilcle, I read the english and she reads the chinese and english, and try to find out info that is not being talked about in china. She calls several times a day to various family members checking to see how everyone is doing. We have not donated much money, since we will have to help with the clean up and friends and families rebuilding their lives. Google earth she really likes. It really shows everything that is going on and its location. Too bad they do not have the real time panda collar data yet. Soon they will i am sure, well maybe not some idiot might use that data to hunt one.

[yuehan123]

My wife is dealing with it by calling family in Nanning more often, crying more often and watching the internet news several times a day.

 

We also donated to the Red Cross, specifying the China earthquake relief fund.

[SheLikesME?]

My wife has been going through a lot of personal crises of her own lately. I only mentioned it on the phone once the day I heard and never mentioned the quake again, but she brought it up today, finally. I guess the talk has been up at work and I guess people in her office are donating. She tells me privatly she did not feel like donating so much. I know she has a real streak of hate toward corruption over there so she just felt like if she donates it will just go to the govrnment's pockets so the government should take care of this. I am not real sure if she knows the extent of the problems. She has no TV and focuses on work and her daughters education so rigid that I doubt she has taken time to look on the net until today. I will get a better reaction in a few days once she has had time to think.

 

I was talking to my Bishop at church today about my wife and our life and things and how money is so important to her. His brother goes to China every month for a week or two and has for years. From his point of view he said money is all they have, or it is their one freedom or someting they can control. Then he rattled off what can't be done and the restrictions there verses here. I never thought about it in terms like he said, but I saw what he meant and it helped some of my perspective about my wife, like it isn't greed so much.

[tonado]

My wife said the country is in a very sad state.

[Jay & Ping]

Ping is spending another day outside. There was a 6.0 again today.

Family is fine, everyone is just worried about when it will end.

[steveandrong]

i dont know if anyone has posted or gone to this website... http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recent...s/10/105_30.php ....is U.S.Geological Survey website and will show the location of the earthquakes at there in the past week i think...and also tells all the information about each quake....interesting site

[JingJoseph]

i dont know if anyone has posted or gone to this website... http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recent...s/10/105_30.php ....is U.S.Geological Survey website and will show the location of the earthquakes at there in the past week i think...and also tells all the information about each quake....interesting site

 

Yes its pretty much as close to real time as we can get

here in the states. NASA sats give more detail real time

but most can't access these sat views. Can tell you what

you see on the tv (forget it). The web sure a small portion.

 

It's much worse. The quake and afters is one thing.

What could happen from them is beyond mosts

understanding.If there truly is a god I pray for his help.

What we see on tv and the web is only a portion of

what has happened, and what can still happen.

[charles]

My wife was in China when it happen and still is,

my heart stopped till I got in touch with her over the

phone, god was smiling on us, she was not where

the Quake was and is doing fine,

Thank you god