Page 22 - moondani kyema
P. 22
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 22
My maternal grandmother,
'Grandma Weir', lived in the
Perth suburb of Bayswater.
This was the first time that I
had been outside of China,
and I was intrigued by the
differences. I found it unusual
for Europeans to be doing all
the dirty work, such as wharf
labouring and not Chinese
labourers. The architecture
was quite different. My
grandmother's house was a
smallish weatherboard house
with a corrugated iron roof.
Rainwater was collected from
the roof into a corrugated iron tank. In China the only water I had seen collected off
the roof was into barrels about the size of a wine barrel.
In my mind I had envisaged that all the roads in Australia would be perfectly made -
no potholes or wheel ruts. But when I went for a walk to the corner shop, my fantasy
was shattered. The roads weren't even paved to the full width, and the soil was dark
and sandy, nothing like the soil as I remembered it in China. Not only that, but there
was rubbish and dog poo along the road. I thought that sort of rubbish only existed in
China.
At the corner store (sadly now few and far between) my main memory is of the
screen door which gave a wonderful squeak when I opened it. A bell tinkled as you
entered, which seemed unnecessary when the door itself made so much noise. I
have always loved screen doors that squeak.
Perth is on the west coast of Australia, facing the Indian Ocean with the next stop the
Horn of Africa. It boasts some beautiful beaches and it was there that I had my first
taste of the Australian beach culture. However this experience had a down side.
Percy and I dug a deep hole in the sand. We may have had Alan's help as well. The
hole was deep enough so that when I was helped by father down into it, it was deep
enough to block my view of the beach and the ocean. One of the things I had learned
that day was that the tide moved the water up and down the beach, and I was shown
the high tide mark where the water had come up to. Percy called out urgently to me,
"You had better get out of there, the tide's coming in!" I panicked as there was no
way I could get out by myself, and, obviously not understanding the real fear that I
was experiencing, he laughed at me stuck in the hole with the tide coming in
Towards the end of 1940 it was time for my parents to return to China. We would
cross the continent to Melbourne and then take a ship to Hong Kong and then to
Shanghai. There I would be placed in the hands of a couple of the teachers from the
Chefoo Boarding School who would take me by coastal steamer to Chefoo, while the
rest of the family made their way overland back to Hanzhong.
My maternal grandmother,
'Grandma Weir', lived in the
Perth suburb of Bayswater.
This was the first time that I
had been outside of China,
and I was intrigued by the
differences. I found it unusual
for Europeans to be doing all
the dirty work, such as wharf
labouring and not Chinese
labourers. The architecture
was quite different. My
grandmother's house was a
smallish weatherboard house
with a corrugated iron roof.
Rainwater was collected from
the roof into a corrugated iron tank. In China the only water I had seen collected off
the roof was into barrels about the size of a wine barrel.
In my mind I had envisaged that all the roads in Australia would be perfectly made -
no potholes or wheel ruts. But when I went for a walk to the corner shop, my fantasy
was shattered. The roads weren't even paved to the full width, and the soil was dark
and sandy, nothing like the soil as I remembered it in China. Not only that, but there
was rubbish and dog poo along the road. I thought that sort of rubbish only existed in
China.
At the corner store (sadly now few and far between) my main memory is of the
screen door which gave a wonderful squeak when I opened it. A bell tinkled as you
entered, which seemed unnecessary when the door itself made so much noise. I
have always loved screen doors that squeak.
Perth is on the west coast of Australia, facing the Indian Ocean with the next stop the
Horn of Africa. It boasts some beautiful beaches and it was there that I had my first
taste of the Australian beach culture. However this experience had a down side.
Percy and I dug a deep hole in the sand. We may have had Alan's help as well. The
hole was deep enough so that when I was helped by father down into it, it was deep
enough to block my view of the beach and the ocean. One of the things I had learned
that day was that the tide moved the water up and down the beach, and I was shown
the high tide mark where the water had come up to. Percy called out urgently to me,
"You had better get out of there, the tide's coming in!" I panicked as there was no
way I could get out by myself, and, obviously not understanding the real fear that I
was experiencing, he laughed at me stuck in the hole with the tide coming in
Towards the end of 1940 it was time for my parents to return to China. We would
cross the continent to Melbourne and then take a ship to Hong Kong and then to
Shanghai. There I would be placed in the hands of a couple of the teachers from the
Chefoo Boarding School who would take me by coastal steamer to Chefoo, while the
rest of the family made their way overland back to Hanzhong.
