More on Sichuan

A view of Sichuan on the road south to Chengdu.

Today I was relieved to hear from my only Sichuanese student. I asked if his family was safe, and he said they were fine but they couldn't return to their home. He also thanked me for caring enough to ask.

I also found that about a quarter of my class wanted to get out to Sichuan to help in relief efforts. This made me feel much better about my group of students. This also happens to be one of my more enjoyable classes--they tend to put in more effort than some of the others.

For any of you out there who wants to read a great article, Peter Hessler (author of Oracle Bones) has written about the earthquake in The New Yorker. It's interesting to hear Hessler's comments on Chinese culture in times of disasters. He also has excerpts of letters from his former students in Sichuan province.