Busyyyy!

I've been too busy lately to update.

As you all know, and earthquake hit China a little more than a week ago. Ever since that day, my friends and I have been fundraising for the Earthquake Relief effort.

We have raised more than $10,000 from the Chinese students at my school, and have raised more than $100,000 from the Chinese parents at my school. All within one week.

To my surprise and disgust, NONE of the Caucasians at my school donated to this cause; one Caucasian person even said "You Chinese people are so fucking rich you can just sell one of your three Porsches and save the whole fucking earthquake area."

I was so freaking appalled. But we Chinese people do not swing that way, and indeed we do not slander people of other races. I wanted to curse that Caucasian guy out so badly, but contained it because I'm in Canada representing my home country and I will not let my childish jingoism damage our national reputation.

However, what I'm extremely proud of is how well the Chinese community in our school and in Vancouver bonded over the course of this disaster. All Chinese students in our school meshed our differences and made this Earthquake Relief project a collaborative effort. I'm so proud of everyone and myself for organizing four events in one week and delegating 50 people while coordinating with and being interviewed by local Chinese media.

We will be delivering the money to the Chinese Consulate General of Vancouver on this Friday. I've spoken with the Accounting department at the Consulate and they've agreed to put our money towards school reconstruction projects in the Sichuan Province, the epicenter of this earthquake.

I am extremely proud of myself, my fellow Chinese students, and my country for reacting so rapidly and enthusiastically to aid our country, our home. However, there is one person I am especially proud of and much of our fundraising efforts was inspired by this person -- my friend Dan.

On May 13th, the day after the earthquake happened, Dan jumped on a train to Chengdu, the nearest major city to the epicentre of the earthquake. Upon arrival in Chengdu, Dan joined several hundred independant volunteers and went to Wenchuan, the epicentre of the earthquake. He stayed there for a week, where he dug out corpses from the debris of fallen buildings and attended to injured refugees. He stayed till the Chinese army ordered all volunteers to evacuate because the water level was rising and another major aftershock was imminent.

I didn't hear the news until a week after Dan departed Beijing for Chengdu. I desperately called his cellphone. No answer. I stayed up the whole night contacting our mutal friends in Beijing. No one has heard from him.

I was truly worried. However, over the weekend, I got a message from Dan. He was safely in Beijing, but traumatized.

I had a brief chat with him last night. Indeed, he is now much more somber and serious for he has seen too many things beyond his years. His girlfriend was outrageously worried about him, and I could see why.

Dan graduated from one of the most pretigious highschools in Beijing before his sixteenth birthday. In the two years right up till now, he has been volunteering in some of the poorest villages in China, teaching little kids Math and Chinese. He applied to many pretigious universities both in China and abroad, getting into QingHua University in Beijing, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT. He's starting at Stanford in the fall.

I have one last chance to see him in Beijing before he goes off to university in San Francisco. He already made me promise to visit him this Christmas, since I'm going to visit UC Berkeley anyway.

All of this has been such an inspiration to me to work harder in life, accompolish more both for myself and my country.

I will never forget my words when I first started school in Canada: I will make China proud. I will make Beijing proud.