My father has lighted the Passion for China on me and we have been sharing this dream for more than 30 years. The possibility of carrying the Olympic Torch towards Beijing gives me one unique opportunity to pay tribute to my father and honor Chinese Minorities from Guangxi Autonomous Region.
A picture taken in 1976 from the Great Wall with people wearing one color vests, fancy dinners using ¡°China ware¡±, an acupuncture rubber doll and beautiful set of paintings hanging on the wall brings me my strongest memories from my parents home. China was so distant from my home country that I have rarely met anyone else beside my parents who had visited it before the 90¡¯s.
My dream since a child: live in China.
My father¡¯s dream: come back to China.
Being an expat in China was a dream that came through in July 2005. Besides all the benefit anyone can enjoy from such experience, I had an extra gain that will bond me to this country forever. That was the opportunity of bringing my father back and listen to his testimony how much this Country has changed and how happy people are now. It had been 30 years after his memorable visit and it has happened just few months before he passed away.
My mom is back for a short visit. The impact of his absence has been minimized by his love for this country.
I work as a forester and live with my family in Beihai, Guangxi, a sunny bay in a multicultural environment. I am not the conventional athletic type but in order to cope with the speed of this Country, we must all be strong and energetic.
I can speak little Chinese, but nobody except some of my co-workers can truly understand me. May be this is my "Brazilian accent". So, I have to count on my daughters (8 and 12 years old) as "out of work translators". Life is great, but not perfect ¡ No cheese available but I can taste the best fruits and the most delicious sea food from the world. Some funny episodes and small conflicts related to cultural differences are present on our daily life and working activities. I have been learning how to be ¡°less Latin tempered¡± and meet more the Confucius wisdom, but I am commonly facing some difficulties related to my own foolishness.
Living in China has been a daily learning opportunity for me, my family, my employees and my colleagues. Exchanging experiences in such a small unit (our company) has shown as that the best results can be achieved only when we respect the differences and optimize the relevant qualities from each other. We are people from many countries working together towards ¡°One Dream¡±.
As a World Citizen I would join all my strengths to carry this torch towards ¡°Beijing 2008: One World, One Dream¡±.
Xie Xie,
Simone
