Sunday, January 16, 2011

Story in box

There are 12 things in the box:

1. A wooden ruler
2. A stone stamp (China), it shows a Chinese name "罗伦"
3. Three chestnuts, it looks like a kind of food in China
4. A wooden head, it is a woman without hair
5. A small green jar, there is a cork on the top
6. An African man plays drum, he gets a hat and covers a scarf
7. A small bamboo boat
8. A dark yellow wallet, it is a kind of leather
9. A small blanket
10. An African woman with long ears
11. A very small plate
12. A house with a big yard, a nice tree closes to the house


A silent night, a group of people sat under a big tree near a lake. With the light wind, the lake was rippling. People sang and danced. There was a foreign man inside. He was playing harmonica and looking at people, he felt happy and peace in his heart.

 His name was Jam, he was from America, and he loved travelling. He spent his whole life for travelling. During the Second World War, he was in a beautiful village in China. This village produced the chestnuts, it was their main product. There were also a lot of bamboos and trees.  People used the bamboos and trees to make many hand products. They could make the wooden rulers. They were exported to some big cities.
Jam liked there, he had been stayed there for one year. It was the first time that he stayed a place for a long time. It was a quiet place to relax, besides, the local people were hospitality. Jam usually played harmonica under a big tree at night, after he done his playing, he took out his dark yellow wallet, watched a photo of woman. She was his wife, but she was dead by disease few years ago. She liked to listen to Jam to play harmonica when she was alive, that was why Jam still always played it every day since she died.

Jam learned many handiworks from local people. He knew how to make a Chinese stamp; he picked a Chinese name for himself. It named “罗伦he carved his name on the stamp. Why did he choose this name? Because when Jam came to this village, an old man supported a house to him, his family name was “”, and he also gave the name “” to Jam, it meat that to be a moral people, it was an important word in China. Jam liked this name very much. Besides, Jam also learned how to make a bamboo coat. He built a good and deep relationship with local people. No matter young or old people, male or female, they all liked Jam. Jam always told them many stories about other countries, it was interesting.

Because Jam had to keep his trip going, and at that time, Japan invaded China. China was in a serious war. Jam had to leave China. Before he left, the local boy named Bing gave Jam a small bamboo boat, a wooden ruler and three chestnuts as memory. An old lady knitted a small blanket to Jam, even though it was a small one, it represented people’s love. The village head used to be a medical man, he made some pills which were made by herbs, they were used for headache when you took boat or train; or you were stomachache. He put them in a green jar with a cork, it could keep long time. The next early morning, Jam took the big bamboo boat which was made by him. It departed to Shanghai port. Jam waved his hand lightly and left, he saw the people and village disappearing in the morning mist. He looked at the stuffs which were received from those nice people, Jam knew they would be in his memory forever and he also looked forward to his next trip.

Jam had already decided to go to a country in South America, it was Peru. He heard a letter from his best friend who also liked travelling. He told Jam a lot of funny things in Peru, nice culture and ancient sites, it was amazing for Jam. He couldn’t wait any more, so he bought a sea passage ticket to Peru. It was a long voyage. It passed through India, Arab, Mediterranean, Spain, Cuba, then was Peru. Jam wrote down his travelling experience on his notebook, he liked to record his trip by writing. He spent his time on writing during the sea trip. The favorite thing he did everyday was that looked at the sunrise. It meat a new and nice day for everyday! It brought hopes for people, especially for the war times. Jam missed his Chinese friends, he prayed for them every night.  

After several months, Jam finally arrived at Peru. It was a multicultural country. It was formed by the combination of different groups, such as indigene, Spaniards, Africans, mixed, Chinese and so on. Jam saw many different colors of people there. There were many crafts and architectural achievements. The most important one was Machu Picchu. It was an Inca site on a mountain. On the way to the mountain, Jam found a small plate in the bushes; it was very small with nice decorative pattern.  Maybe it was left by Spanish conquistadors. It didn’t look like local styles. Jam kept it in his bag. Jam extremely enjoyed this site. Jam came to a village where black people’s habitation was. Their ancestors were slaves bought by European. When they came, they also brought their own culture. People liked to play drum and dance. After a long time, they formed their own music. They called Afro-Peruvian music. At first, local people didn’t like Jam, but Jam saved a baby by his Chinese pills, people began to welcome him. Before Jam left, they gave their nice artworks to Jam. It included African culture. One is a wooden head of woman; she was made up, and looked true to life. Another one was an African man, he was playing drum with wearing a hat and a scarf. The last one was a female with long ears, it looked a little weird, but it showed an excellent carving techniques. They passed down from generation.

Jam liked to collect artworks, he kept those nice things in his big bag, and he very appreciated them. After he left this village, he came to Lima which was capital of Peru. It was his last trip before he went back to America. Because of the Pearl Harbor incident, he was drafted into the army. In Lima, Jam saw totally different scenes. The buildings there were very European. On the street, there were white people, mixed, black people. Jam bought a small artwork in a shop. It was a European house with a big yard, there was a green tree closed to the house; a donkey carried some things in the yard, it was nice. As for Jam, when he saw it, as if he could feel the peace in his heart.

Jam carried his things to go back America, he didn’t know what would happen in his future, but he knew he had to keep going for his life!

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