Fruit, food and futbols

Hello Wilson!

It's almost noon in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. I've just finished the first leg of my long flight home. I have news to share about donating a couple One World Futbols on this side of the Pacific and some information about the people helping me do that.

The two women below are making the donations possible. The lady on the left is my friend, Ann Anagnost, a cultural anthropology professor at the University of Washington. On Ann's left is the person she connected me with, Yu Huang. In 2012, Yu was Ann's student at the UW and now has her doctorate in anthropology, with a focus on environmental anthropology. Yu will be taking two futbols from Hong Kong to two cities in China.

Ann Anagnost and Yu Huang, with one of the One World Futbols that Yu will deliver.

This is a genuine honor, because Yu is a scholar whose research uncovered some alarming information with implications not only for China, but for all of us.

Yu obtained her undergraduate degree in China, her Master's in Florida, and her anthropology doctorate at UW. For the past two years she has been a professor at the China University of Hong Kong (CHUK), where Ann has been lecturing in the summer. CHUK makes it a point of staffing its summer institute with professors from prestigious universities such as UW, which is rated at the top level for research institutes.

Biodiversity reduction

Yu is working on a project on corn seed use in China.

For centuries, Chinese farmers selected seeds to serve their ecological needs, so there was a huge legacy of biodiversity, and it is disappearing. Last summer, students from all over China came to Guangzhou (Canton) to learn anthropological field methods. Then they  fanned out over five regions. Many of these students were from cities and new to the countryside, so they were "roughing it."

What the project discovered is that seeds are not being saved because of the increasing use of commercial seed, meaning that there is an alarming reduction in biodiversity.


Donating the futbols

Yu will be visiting two Chinese cities to deliver the One World Futbols:

1. Lijiang, a Unesco heritage site which dates back 1,000 years and is the home of the Naxi people. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the area:

The Baisha Old Town was the political, commercial and cultural center for the local Naxi people and other ethnic groups for 400 years from the year 658 AD to 1107 AD....In ancient times, the Baisha Old Town used to be the center of silk embroidery in the southwest of China and the most important place of the Ancient Southern Silk Road, also called the Ancient Tea and Horse Road or Ancient tea route.The Ancient Southern Silk Road started from Burma, crossed Lijiang, Shangri-La County, Tibet, journeyed through Iran, the Fertile Crescent, and ultimately to the Mediterranean Sea.

Some of the villages are poor and Yu plans to donate one of the soccer balls to a school there.

2. Xichang: Yu also plans to donate a ball to a village school in Xichang, described by a local college as "one of the greatest tourist attraction in China and one of the ten prettiest ancient cities nationwide." Xichange is also the location of an important spaceport.

The farmer's market

In all of Hong Kong, a city of seven million, there are only two farmers' markets for local organic food, and we met up with Yu at one of them. The entire market was composed of stalls with umbrella-like covers, all protected by a shade tarp, as shown below:

The organic farmers' market was surprisingly small and lightly attended.

Vendor with Jack Fruit

One of the first items we ran across was Jack Fruit, pictured to the right. The woman holding the fruit is fortunate, because she's holding a small one. This native of India can get up to 100 pounds in weight. In her left hand are the fruit pieces that are separated from the fruit, each bearing a large seed about the size of the first joint of my thumb.

The operators of these stalls post certificates showing that they are registered for sales of organic fruit. I found it surprising that the place wasn't teeming with people. In a community of seven million, two organic farmers markets seems like a very small number.

The photo immediately below is of fire dragon fruit -- the entire fruit, and a section sliced out of it. It has a hard rind and a very soft pulp with lots of seeds that you hardly notice. I cut it open and ate it with a spoon. It was almost like scooping up butter.  This specimen was mildly sweet. Commercial varieties tend to be white inside.

A fire dragon fruit and a fruit section.

These bitter melons are relatives of the cucumber.

The photo above is of bitter melons, which are used in soups and which, under Chinese medicine practices, are considered to be healing for people with diabetes. One study published in the Journal of Ethno Pharmacology in 2011 says that a daily dose of bitter melons reduces blood glucose levels for people with Type II diabetes.

These dragons eyes are similar in character to lychee. You break the rind to access the fruit.

Compared with dragon eyes, this yellow skin fruit seemed rather unremarkable.

Well, Wilson, the next time you hear from me I'll probably be writing from home. But before I close this, I want to post a correction.

Correction:

I want to thank my sometimes traveling companion, Shirley Ganse, who has a great deal of experience with China, for pointing out that I said in my last letter that a particular cut of meat cost $230 per pound. I think I should have moved the decimal point over a tad. The actual cost was probably $23. So, uh, while the price for that cut was pretty high, it wasn't THAT high!

Love,
Robert

Jack fruit pods and seed

Apocalypse and Sustainability

Hello, Wilson.

I don't know whether you're in a safe place atop Mount Adams, but at least you'll have a good vista point when the comets start falling.  I have it on good authority that the world is coming to an end September 23, 500 days after French Foreign Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and US Secretary of State John Kerry allegedly announced the length of time we have before climate chaos.

Don't worry about the date. The last Friday in September will be the last Friday--period.

 This Armageddon announcement comes as a courtesy of the renter in my house in Pacific, WA, who fell under the spell of a gay-soon-to-be-straight homeless man-of-god who, with the help of an ample amount of marijuana, has a Rasputin-like hold on her that facilitated the end of days for her third marriage. In January, the scales fell from her eyes, she abandoned the Mormon church as the work of the devil, and, at age 45 went into retirement so she could focus on warning everyone to prepare for the end.

Uh, this is not a joke.

In a retirement letter and multi-page manifesto she alerted 300 co-workers to the coming calamity. She also told me that, although her contract runs until Nov. 30, she won't be in the house in October.

Well, of course not. Self-declared as one of God's cruise directors for the Rhapsody, she'll be with Jesus. Following the formula of offer + acceptance = conclusion, my attorney readily accepted her intent to get out of the house two months early, declaring her contract curtailed. This was strictly a business decision. I figure there are going to be plenty of prospects wanting to move in when the comets hit their homes. I'm seriously considering raising my rate in preparation for the increased housing shortage.

This isn't the first time that the City of Pacific has faced the end of days. This last-picture-show town, a carbuncle on the backside of Auburn, eyeballed the Apocalypse barely three years ago (that's actually when I learned how to spell Apocalypse) when one narcissistic mayor was replaced by a crazy one who came on like a plague of locusts and just about destroyed the city by making it uninsurable. These images, from Speed Trap City, a blog about Pacific's impending doom, sort of tell the story.

At the last minute the city found a new insurance carrier who postponed the, uh, end by offering less insurance for more money.

What if she's right?

But this time, I'm wondering whether my renter might be on to something. Time to hedge my bets. Where's a guy to hide at a time like this?

Ah, now you finally understand why I'm in Hong Kong.

I found my renter's proclamation so disturbing that I decided to spend my 70th (and final) birthday as far from the end of the world as humanly possible, so here I am in China's honey pot. But I'm not sure I'm any safer here, because this city may be just as crazy as my renter is.

And regarding China...

For sure, China seems a little nuts. This morning I Skyped with my son, the shoe designer, who has visited Chinese factories many times. In Hong Kong, he notes, at least you can see the sky. "In southern mainland China," he adds, "you can't see more than a few blocks at times." And yet China has announced plans for a mega city complex around Beijing. They are talking about a city of 130 million. That seems a little nuts.

But back to Hong Kong, closer to a scale that we can imagine. Check out the photo below:

According to the Climate Change Business Forum, Hong Kong is a "thermal heat island."

 Not only does Hong Kong have a lot of its capital vulnerable to rising sea levels, it also is getting hotter, because it is a thermal heat island. Don't believe for a  moment that, because they live here, the locals are used to the heat. Check out this image of a high-rise:

An air conditioner for every unit.

 Now consider this photo:

A glitzy indoor multi-level air-conditioned shopping mall.  Hong Kong has more than 100 malls. The mirrored surfaces help to create an illusion of more space.

Right now, Minions are Hot! Malls are a place to recreate, and the "culture of cute" provides Mom with a photo op during an outing to the New Town Mall.

 Shopping malls in this city of 7 million are the new social space. They provide room to move around and recreate. Shopping is a major activity and you see something in Hong Kong you don't see in America--people using rolling suitcases to pack what they buy.  When you rely on the subway to get around, that only makes sense. And since virtually all malls are air conditioned, you escape the smothering heat/humidity.

The malls also make possible what has been described as the world's most efficient urban transit system. The "MTR" subway system makes owning a car largely unnecessary for most residents. When you transfer from one train to another on the underground, the system is so well timed that the other train has probably just arrived and is waiting for you as you disembark the first. And they, too, are air conditioned. Meanwhile Hong Kong is experiencing the hottest temperatures recorded. And it is muggy. Really muggy.

At virtually every subway stop there is a mall; the malls underwrite the system, enabling it to be profitable and efficient.

Reliance on China

Hong Kong goes to great lengths to capture its drinking water. But other household water is shipped in from China, reports a visiting professor in urban sustainability at the summer institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Facts and figures roll off his tongue faster than I can record them, and it's more than you probably want to know. But what catches my attention is that the food, household water and electricity which Hong Kong depends on largely come from China.

Then there is the consideration of the cost of living. 500-square foot apartments are largely the norm. According to this professor, approximately half the Hong Kong inhabitants live in public housing. And the best description for the cost of food would be "freaky." 

For example, consider the package of meat below, photographed in one of the malls.

No matter what cut this meat is, it's still unbelievably expensive: $230 per pound. (*Correction: I think I was off by a decimal. It's probably only roughly a miserly $23 per pound.)

What the price of this package of meat reveals is an extreme income disparity in a city where the most expensive home is reportedly $1.8 billion. Of course, the people who actually pay that price presumably fall into the category of the highly refined and uber-wealthy but the price is still an eye-opener, at least for me. Compare this price of meat to the cost of the meal below, which I purchased at a subsidized student cafeteria for approximately $2.50 U.S.

A meal at the student cafeteria.

So I leave you with the question: Which is more crazy -- the lady who wants to be our cruise director for The Rapture, or Hong Kong? I'm too new here to know what to make of this, but to me, it's bizarre.

I hope you'll join me for the next dispatch, Fruits and Futbols.
Love,

Robert

Beyond expectations

Hi, Wilson.

Sorry it's taken me more than two weeks to write. It must be cold at night at the top of Mount Adams -- I suppose you are still up there, although it won't be long before the intense ultraviolet sun rays break down your tether and Mount Adams' howling winds send you skittering across the summit. But I'm going to presume that you're getting this message for the time being.

Wilson campaign exceeded objectives

In barely a week, the Wilson campaign to raise 100 One World Futbols will be concluded. As  you know, your charming personality actually resulted in the raising of 109* futbols for distribution to kids living in tough environments elsewhere in the world. But did you forget about the bonuses? (*This just in: As of July 30, the number is 116!)

After we met our first objective--raising 20 balls--your campaign became eligible for a $5 match for every ball raised. So, according to Emily Hopcian, marketing manager for One World Play Project (and my invaluable mentor), your campaign also raised $545 in bounties, yielding another 27 balls!

Special gift gave big boost

And then there's Carla Stanley. Remember Carla? She is the customer service representative who created the Team Wilson flag for the ascent of Mount Adams. Our very own Betsy Ross. The One World Futbol Project sometimes rewards its employees with gifts of One World Futbols, and Carla was provided with 40 balls -- all of which she donated to the Wilson campaign, bringing the total number raised to 176!

So, uh, I'd say that was a little more than what we bargained for. In fact, the matches drive the price per donated ball down from $25 to $15.48. What a great bargain!

156 remain to distribute

So far, the project has distributed 20 to us, 10 of which ended up in Ecuador, and four in Tijuana. I've got another six left to distribute, and four of them are with me here in Hong Kong.

So, what to do with the remaining 156?

Share your thoughts

Well, I am hoping to hear from the donors on this one. You know how you can give to a charity and then you never know what happened to the gift? That's no fun. I'd like the donors to know where the balls are going and maybe even let them have a say in it.

Those who want their donation to be handled by the One World Play Project should tell me that, and I'll honor the request. That will put the balls in the distribution pipeline immediately. Just say so by writing to me at dancingpotter@gmail.com. Otherwise, I'm going to personally distribute as many of them as I can.

Helping me on the distribution will be Ann Anagnost, my close friend and a cultural anthropology professor at the University of Washington. I'm staying with Ann in Hong Kong, while I celebrate my 70th birthday on the other side of the International Dateline. (By the way, I'm talking to you from the future, because I'm writing to you from tomorrow.) I brought four futbols along, with the hope that  Ann can help me find the right home for them here.

European refugee camps considered

Ann is lecturing in Hong Kong until the end of July. In October, she starts a nine-week class in Rome, and she has invited me to join her there for more One World Futbol adventures. There are refugee camps in Italy and the Balkans, and the One World Play Project has a distribution center in Germany. This means instead of hauling a few balls in my luggage, I can have a whole passel of them shipped to me from Germany when I'm in Rome and take them to the camps in Italy.  That kind of secure shipment isn't always possible in third-world countries.

Hoping for embassy help in Ecuador

For example, I'd like to return to Ecuador to distribute more futbols. Shipping a few dozen there posed a challenge, because shipments are subject to pilfering and petty corruption. Fortunately, we may have found a way to get the balls shipped safely to the U.S. Embassy in Quito, where I can take possession of them for distribution to communities that can use them.

When these events happen, you can expect stories and photos about the people who receive the balls, as well as the people who helped make it happen.

That's the plan anyway.

If any readers have suggestions they want to share or preferences they want to express, I want to hear from you. As far as I'm concerned, by coming this far with us, you are all part of Team Wilson. You can write to me at dancingpotter@gmail.com.

And although we've well surpassed our goal, there may be people who want to make a donation still,  before the Wilson campaign shuts down July 31. You can do that by clicking on this link, which will take you to the Wilson campaign. After that, you can always make a donation by going to the One World Play Project home page.   Those who are so inclined can include futbols in their holiday giving list.

Anyway, now everyone knows more details about the long-term game plan. We'll see what happens.

Miss you Wilson.
Love,
Robert

Season 2

THE NEW TERRITORIES--July 21, 2015

You know, there's always a dead time on TV between last year's programs and the fall lineup. The same is true for the Team Wilson campaign. Last season we talked about the training for climbing Washington State's  Mount Adams, and how that was resolved with the unbreakable soccer ball reaching the summit and the two old guys limping back to camp.

But now, as I write this from the far side of the Pacific, I think  it's time for the second season. Last year was about raising funds for the One World Futbol while preparing for the ascent of the state's largest mountain. We surpassed the goal of 100 futbols, thanks to many generous donors.

Time to distribute

Until now, only a few of those balls were actually donated -- partly because we wanted members of Team Wilson to be on-site for the donations to document and share the stories. This season it's about delivering the promise.

I could sit back and let One World Play Project handle the job, but what's the fun in that? I want to be there when it happens, and I would like to share with you donors the story of the people who are receiving your gift.

Fragrant Harbor

Oh, I should mention that although this dispatch is dated July 14, I actually finished most of this several days ago, and I'm sending this to you from Fragrant Harbor, a community of 263 islands situated near the mouth of China's Pearl River. You know it better by it's more common name, Hong Kong.

Well, OK, I'm really sending this from the Hyatt Regency in Shatin, a city on the outskirts of Hong Kong, in what is referred to as "The New Territories."  Instead of spending my 70th birthday glissading down the snow-covered upper flanks of Mount Adams, I am sweltering at sea level in  the former British Crown Colony in southern China just around the corner from Vietnam. It is hot and muggy here.

Gullible's Travels

Last year I learned a little bit about the difficulties of making contact and delivering the goods, and found out how big a job it is. Refugee camps and impoverished third-world locations are not environments I move through effortlessly. So this year it's time to learn, and I was a little tempted to call this first dispatch of the season "Gullible's Travels" as an acknowledgement of my inexperience and the mistakes I expect to make along the way. But those mistakes should make the venture that much more enriching.

While Hong Kong  is a honeypot of commerce, my understanding is that there are pockets of extreme poverty here, and I want to see whether any of them are suitable for One World Futbols, so I brought four along with me.

Ann Anagnost

My mentor here is a Ann Anagnost, a University of Washington cultural anthropology professor who has lectured in Hong Kong during the summer for several years. She is trying to help me sort this out. Although we've made some contacts here, we have yet to find an organization that can receive these balls and put them to their proper use.

So this is part of the learning curve. I have higher hopes for greater impact at another location in October, but I'll save that news for later.

Students are gifting futbols

By the way, across the street from my Seattle condo is the Seattle Academy, a private high school. Several  students from there heard about the Madison Street Marathon last March, in which Wilson and I carried eight little Wilsons for 27 miles up and down Seattle's Capitol Hill, to raise awareness for the One World Futbol.

Well, we raised a little bit of awareness, and the students raised $300 to take One World Futbols to Zambia. A contingent of Academy students go there every summer, so they are well aware of what Zambian youngsters use for soccer balls (pop bottles, rag balls, etc). When they learned about Wilson, they realized they could do something about that Zambian situation. I hope to share  details about how they fare in their effort.

Keeping Wilson informed

Naturally, we won't be distributing One World Futbols without keeping our legendary unbreakable friend informed, so for Season two, we have this new blog,  Letters to Wilson, which you are reading now. There will be a lot fewer dispatches this year, but I hope you find that what we send will be worth reading.

If you are into reruns, you can visit season one's Brimstone and Ice. The archives remain online.

Love,

Robert