I actually do love USA very much

You might have read a bit of what I been writing in https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/china-ballistic-missiles-and-nuclear-arms-thread.t5881/ .

I am not anti American at all

The two countries I love the most are China and USA , and not necessary in that order.

I grew up in an English speaking environment at home and in school and with friends. From very young, I was reading books by Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Thoreau, Harold Robbins, Jack London , Louis L’Amour and the likes. Enough to develop a strong liking for USA and Americanism.

Even now, many of my favourite authors are American such as John Sanford, Baldacci, Lee Child, Vince Flynn and the likes which I enjoy.

And which you can recognise I can hardly read if I do not like USA.

Only when I was 40++ , when I was posted to Taiwan that I got to speak Chinese and discovered my Chinese roots, hidden away from me by my very Westernised education. And recently 4 years or so ago, at age of 65, learned on my own to read Chinese and enjoy reading Chinese and got to know even more of my roots and a love for things Chinese. And a history and background that I never got to learn about in my earlier school days. And access into Chinese publications on military matters, even if much of what I used here in Quora came from Pentagon and Western military think tanks.

I also read many books on war, such as by Ian W. Toll and Hornfischer , David Halberstam to know Americans can fight very well. And books by Neil Sheehan eg “A bright shining lie “ to know Americans fought heroically in Vietnam in a fight they should not have been fighting but for the stupidity of their politicians.

Wuming Chan's answer to What happened during the Vietnam War that nobody talks about today?

Only when I got into Quora recently that I discovered such a upwelling of hatred and bad mouthing and mocking of China and things Chinese that I felt compelled to step in to try to balance the very unbalanced view points being preached here such as the existence of this question and similar chest thumping and goose stepping questions.

That China is a fucking walkover , and will be a pushover any time for USA.

Which terrified me as that will be a sure way to a very bad and damaging war for USA and China, that I love both very much. And the world we lived in. The hatred and ill feelings that will be generated from a war between USA and China regardless of the Pyrrhic victories/defeats meant a series of further wars infinitum.

Provided no nukes are used, in which case, the end of us all and no more worries of Global warming and plastic pollutions and balance of payments.

And so as said by me many times.

Please do not have war with China.

Young men and women of both countries and all countries should smell roses, make love and drink and dine and laugh and go enjoy sunrises and sunsets and play with their kids and children.

Please do not have war with China.

There are so many better and worthwhile things we all can do together and with our lives.

I have greatest respect for fighting men(and women) regardless of the flag they fought under.

With the sole exception of ISIS that I considered lower than demented microbes.

Just as I salute all that lied in the fields of Flanders where the poppies blow and gave my respect to all of them when I visited the place that they all dwell remaining forever young.

Young men and women of both countries and all countries should smell roses, make love and drink and dine and laugh and go enjoy sunrises and sunsets and play with their kids and children.

And not make war and die or make others to die for their countries.

ISIS and their likes the only exceptions and should be send on to remain forever young.

As said, I gave honour and respect to all of them when I was there.

Divided in life, and now united and remaining young forever .







Jan 20, 2019

 

I will bear that in mind and refrain from that F word unless I am describing my trip to the *ields of *landers in Belgium
where the ode to poppies blowing and larks still bravely singing, fly.

 

Perhaps if you read the books I read in my childhood days, you might feel a bit different. Those books left behind a very lasting impression on my views of American (at least as represented in those books).

And to show I did not lift the earlier photos from other folks, here are some of me when I was there a few years ago in pilgrimage to the stupidity of mankind.



With real poppies in the Field of Flanders blowing behind me and over my head.

And yet another twist.

There is a third country (or place) that I love even more than those two I mentioned.
With many great friends and where I spend many of the happiest years of my life in.

That is Taiwan. My mind screwed and heart torned apart each time China rattled her missiles or Taiwan trying to distant herself and seeing 'Muricans jumping in
to make hay while the sun shines for them. China should be left in peace to sort out the differences between siblings as those two know best how to settle family quarrels.

I was last in Taiwan in June this year to be with my Tinkerbell that I had to leave behind in 2004. http://shanlung.com/
Best explained in
https://www.facebook.com/shanlung/posts/10157146305268421 with the many many visits I taken to be with her.

And I will be back again with her a couple weeks later.

Those are the subjects I much prefer to write about that will add to your happiness.
Than what you folks seen me writing about here or formerly in Quora.

 

I am sure that they are many here who might wish that they can read Chinese instead of depending on Google translate or any other translate.
Not withstanding I picked up spoken Chinese, very fluent spoken Chinese , from the roadside of Taiwan. To the point 4 months later holding on conversations with local Taiwanese and eavesdropping on other chinese conversations alongside of me. Fragments of earlier memories of Taiwan ,

I could not read Chinese. That was to my despair and I had to rely on google translate almost all the time.
Then because of a couple of major catalysts, I decided I will go and teach myself how to read Chinese about 4 years ago when I was 65 years old and decided better to retire from my work in Riyadh Saudi Arabia then to keep making money without the time to spend it and later see the money going to my wife for her to spend on her toyboys when I keel over. And she got more money then me as well.

To my amazement and those following me and I recorded in real time, I got into not just reading of Chinese, but the enjoyment of that. I read perhaps 1,000,000 chinese characters in the space of about 2 months.

From a zero starting point, I started with Water Margin 水滸傳 .
I cannot recommend short stories. In long stories, sequences will be repeated and important sequences repeated more often to drum into your head and heart the pattern of Chinese thoughts. 水滸傳 is a very beautiful book. Too beautiful I decided for getting into the language, but mind you, I got to chapter 20. The descriptions of mountains and forest sceneries were breath taking after I translate those word by word. With enough repeats, I need not even see those translations. The feats of martial arts were better then those you seen in Hongkong movies as those movies took their scenes from that book.

水滸傳 was also written 600 years ago. What was bai hwa wen (simple chinese) to that writer would be considered as wen yen wen (serious classical formal chinese ) in our days
I gave up halfway as that was too complex.

I decided to switch to the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo and read that in Chinese. I have read that book in English twice before. I found the Chinese equivalent
基督山恩仇記 or ji du shan en chou ji or Jesus mountain gratitude revenge memoirs

I finished that book and onto Lu Ding Ji 鹿鼎記 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deer_and_the_Cauldron ,

Perhaps you might like to read how I did that and this might be the road for you to get into Chinese. Or actually into any language of your choice
The Idiotic Taoist way of getting into Chinese

 

I did mentioned I be visiting Taiwan a couple weeks later.
Here a couple of my Facebook entries that you might gauge how I love Taiwan and my friends there. and the beauty of that island.

https://www.facebook.com/shanlung/posts/10157845797138421

https://www.facebook.com/shanlung/posts/10157854975733421