We are gathered here today to mark the passing of James. D. Lloyd (aka. Jimmy-Lad or 罗玄德) into the afterlife. This is not though the afterlife that some of you maybe thinking of. No, this is not a pathway towards the showering light of heaven but a passing, from the light to the dark, from the glowing streets of Xi’an to the darkest depths of Bolton, England. This is the after-Xi’an-life. After four years in this little planetary oasis of peace and tranquillity, James and his ever present companion 朱宇 (aka. Flora or Big F), have decided to head towards the fresh green pastures of northern England.
James will be missed by all those who have walked Side-by-Side with him over these last few years. There were those students at Aston English School who were delighted to find playground capers had made their way into the classroom. As well as those who initially had faces of sadness, who only wanted to learn vocabulary and grammar the way they knew best, by having it beaten and drilled remorselessly into them, but who were later surprised to realise they were actually learning English and that it was exciting and fun doing so. Even if some did find themselves unwittingly saddled with the names of Bolton FC players, none more afflicted than a 10 year old boy I discovered one day with the name Jussi Jaaskelainen, after the great Bolton shot stopper.
There were all those on the streets of Xi’an who marveled at the sheer height and stature of this skinny Laowei Lad from England. There were also those touched, intrigued, confused, surprised and moved by the sight of James, accompanying Tony and many other volunteers at the Yellow River Soup Kitchen over the years, giving out food to those suffering on the unforgiving streets of Xi’an. James has been working alongside Tony since the Soup Kitchen’s inception and was only two weeks ago putting his height to good use, as a bunch of volunteers renovated a small school in Lan Tian. They transformed the school with the painting of walls and furniture, the adding of windows and coal heaters, and the creating of a library with the help of the Library Project.
There have also been the many Xi’anese locals and foreigners who have suffered at the competitive hands and legs of ‘The Jimmy Lad’, on the badminton and tennis courts, table tennis and pool tables, football pitches, running tracks and even the odd competitive run around the city wall. There were of course, in the early days, all those vanquished at the poker table. Though, as James found himself softened by the Chinese civilization that surrounded him, so his prowess and single-mindedness at the poker table waned and the results just didn’t go his way!
Finally, to all those searching for inspiration, motivation or method in their Chinese studies, take a leaf out of James’ book and find the way that suits you. If you like sitting in classes with a number of classmates, do it, if you want to study randomly whatever you come across and in whatever environment you want to, then do it. I take my 李宁 Cap off to James for getting out there and using this language from the very beginning, and doing so in every possible situation, with whatever developed or undeveloped language he possessed at the time. He continues to be an inspiration.
There are a number of James’ friends who will find a gap appears from his passing. He brings a positive, optimistic light to whatever endeavor he is faced with or whichever person he stands along side. Xi’an will be a shade darker with his passing, but Bolton, and my God it needs it, will be a lot brighter for his return. Who knows where the Old Jimmy Lad will end up, the next stop is South Africa in the summer, but wherever it is it will be a better place for him being there. To borrow a few words from his good friend Tony:
“We cannot assist everybody in all the areas of their need but if we persevere perhaps we can make just a small difference to some of the people that we encounter. As single individuals, we reach only a limited number of people, but if those people in turn connect with others then a chain reaction is beginning. So together… if we drop just a few small pebbles in a few lakes who knows how far the ripples may spread and how many people they may touch along the way. Positive energy is extremely contagious; long may it continue to be so.”
So, to all those reading this who have just seen the British advert for his services as a teacher of Chinese, ignore it, unless of course you fancy your life taking a positive turn for the better.
ps. As the Great Chinese Sports Company Li Ning once noted: “Anything is Possible”
西安