PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2006.01.05
EDITION: Final
SECTION: City
PAGE: D3
BYLINE: Bruce Ward
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen
ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Sgt. Eric Jolin, Rideau Hall / Lu Shumin learnedabout Canada as a student here in the 1970s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canadian studies helped shape Chinese envoy: Lu Shumin tells Bruce Ward his time as an exchange student here helped prepare him for the day he would return as his nation's ambassador.
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When Lu Shumin presented his credentials to former governor general Adrienne Clarkson last March, he wore a conservative business suit, as befits China's ambassador to Canada.
But when Mr. Lu first came to Ottawa on May 1, 1973, he was wearing a baggy Mao uniform.
Mr. Lu, then 23, was among a contingent of nine Chinese students who were about to make history at Carleton University. They were the first students to come to North America from the People's Republic of China, a diplomatic coup for Canada. The countries had re-established ties in 1970.
"We came to upgrade and polish our English skills, and at the same time learn about the culture and history of the country," Mr. Lu said in an interview. "At that time, there was a lack of people who could speak English in the foreign service."
To help ease the culture shock, the students boarded with Ottawa families for about a month. It was an experience that generated "life-long memories," said Mr. Lu, who had spent the previous three years doing manual labour in rural Shanxi province, in a village that had no plumbing or electricity.
"We wanted to understand how a Canadian family lived. We enjoyed our stay, we learned a lot from the parents and kids and also the neighbours. Some were curious about what was happening in China and we tried to explain about Chinese history and culture, different aspects of life."
Mr. Lu and one other student stayed with Dr. Owen Kealey, his wife, Pat, and their seven children.
"It was an enrichment for our family, because you sort of looked at everything in our culture through their eyes, coming from where they were coming from, and that made it interesting," said Mrs. Kealey.
"And they had lots of teachers. If they were watching TV at night, there was always a kid sitting beside them.
"I guess it was interesting for him, too. They were hoping they would improve their English, and get used to eating with a knife and fork and learn to work a washer and dryer."
At the time, the evening CBC national news was followed by a program called Viewpoint, a forum of opinion and commentary.
"There would always be some individual speaking about some topic, probably disagreeing with the way things were going. As a Canadian, I can remember thinking, 'Isn't it wonderful that they can see how democratic our country is.' "
Six of the students were billeted in homes on the same street. "We took two, our next-door neighbour took two, and neighbours just down the street took two," said Mrs. Kealey.
"They were very smart. These were the first students to come out to Canada and I'm sure the People's Republic of China sent their brightest and their best. And they wore their Mao outfits even when it was 90 degrees."
The uniforms caused some consternation in Ottawa South, where the remaining three students were staying with Elizabeth and Dalton McGuinty Sr., and their family of 10 children, nine of whom were still at home. The neighbours knew something strange was happening at the McGuinty house. Early each morning, a bunch of the McGuinty children would gather on the front lawn, with the three young Chinese students dressed in Mao outfits.
The students could be seen slowly waving their arms around in some strange ritual. Each move they made was copied by the McGuintys. Although the baffled neighbours didn't know it, the McGuintys were learning the rudiments of Tai Chi. This made them possibly the first suburban white children in Canada to take up the Chinese system of calisthenics.
The students wound up with the McGuintys thanks to Dalton Sr., then a professor of Shakespearean literature at the University of Ottawa, said David McGuinty, the incumbent Liberal MP in Ottawa South and brother of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
"One day, my dad got a call: 'We've got three students to place. Would you know any families who are interested?' And my dad said, 'We'll take them all.' So he came home to my mother that night to announce, with nine kids around the dinner table, that three Chinese students were coming to live with the family for a month or six weeks," Mr. McGuinty said.
"My mother looked at my father, and I guess she thought he was joking. But they ended up staying with us."
The Tai Chi sessions raised eyebrows, Mr. McGuinty said. "At one point Tom Feeney, who was then dean of the law school and lived in the neighbourhood, stopped my dad and said, 'Dalton, you know the neighbours are talking.'
"My father said, 'What are they talking about?' He said, 'We're not sure, but we think you've joined the Canadian Communist Party'."
His parents lived locally, but thought globally, he said. "They were way ahead of their time. You can imagine the fear in the 1970s about everything that was Communist."
The Chinese students had their fun, too. Mr. Lu learned to skate on the Rideau Canal before moving on to the University of Toronto to complete his studies.
Before returning to Ottawa this year, Mr. Lu was China's ambassador to Indonesia. In the late 1970s, he served as a junior staffer at the Ottawa embassy.
"Now, as a senior diplomat, I understand Canada better. I see it from a different angle and perspective. It's a process of constant, continuous learning. The country also changed a lot in terms of its relationship with China. Canada has already become China's No. 2 trade partner. It's quite impressive."
He said there are now more than 50,000 Chinese students studying in Canada. "So imagine the change. It's a good change. It helps people from both sides understand each other, especially in a world that changes so fast."
The original nine students -- five males, four females -- came from various backgrounds -- three were factory workers, three were peasants, two were miners and one was a nurse. Several went on to serve in China's foreign service.
"One of the group is ambassador to Singapore. Still another one is ambassador to New Zealand. Two of the ladies are also in foreign service with husbands who are either ambassadors or consul general in different parts of the world."
A few months ago, Mr. Lu arranged an embassy dinner for the Ottawa families who had opened their homes to the nine Chinese students in 1973.
"These families were great helpers to us," said Mr. Lu. "The Chinese tradition is we never forget our friends, especially these people who helped us when we were very much in need."
Betty Bergin, who worked for the dean of student services at Carleton University, played a key role in finding the Ottawa families who took in the Chinese students. She remembers them as being studious and hardworking. "They had quite a bit of English. It didn't take them long to get up to speed.
"It's quite remarkable. We're now seeing the outcome of student exchanges. Mr. Lu must be one of, if not the only, ambassador to Canada who has such a good knowledge of the country."
DATE: 2006.01.05
EDITION: Final
SECTION: City
PAGE: D3
BYLINE: Bruce Ward
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen
ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Sgt. Eric Jolin, Rideau Hall / Lu Shumin learnedabout Canada as a student here in the 1970s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canadian studies helped shape Chinese envoy: Lu Shumin tells Bruce Ward his time as an exchange student here helped prepare him for the day he would return as his nation's ambassador.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Lu Shumin presented his credentials to former governor general Adrienne Clarkson last March, he wore a conservative business suit, as befits China's ambassador to Canada.
But when Mr. Lu first came to Ottawa on May 1, 1973, he was wearing a baggy Mao uniform.
Mr. Lu, then 23, was among a contingent of nine Chinese students who were about to make history at Carleton University. They were the first students to come to North America from the People's Republic of China, a diplomatic coup for Canada. The countries had re-established ties in 1970.
"We came to upgrade and polish our English skills, and at the same time learn about the culture and history of the country," Mr. Lu said in an interview. "At that time, there was a lack of people who could speak English in the foreign service."
To help ease the culture shock, the students boarded with Ottawa families for about a month. It was an experience that generated "life-long memories," said Mr. Lu, who had spent the previous three years doing manual labour in rural Shanxi province, in a village that had no plumbing or electricity.
"We wanted to understand how a Canadian family lived. We enjoyed our stay, we learned a lot from the parents and kids and also the neighbours. Some were curious about what was happening in China and we tried to explain about Chinese history and culture, different aspects of life."
Mr. Lu and one other student stayed with Dr. Owen Kealey, his wife, Pat, and their seven children.
"It was an enrichment for our family, because you sort of looked at everything in our culture through their eyes, coming from where they were coming from, and that made it interesting," said Mrs. Kealey.
"And they had lots of teachers. If they were watching TV at night, there was always a kid sitting beside them.
"I guess it was interesting for him, too. They were hoping they would improve their English, and get used to eating with a knife and fork and learn to work a washer and dryer."
At the time, the evening CBC national news was followed by a program called Viewpoint, a forum of opinion and commentary.
"There would always be some individual speaking about some topic, probably disagreeing with the way things were going. As a Canadian, I can remember thinking, 'Isn't it wonderful that they can see how democratic our country is.' "
Six of the students were billeted in homes on the same street. "We took two, our next-door neighbour took two, and neighbours just down the street took two," said Mrs. Kealey.
"They were very smart. These were the first students to come out to Canada and I'm sure the People's Republic of China sent their brightest and their best. And they wore their Mao outfits even when it was 90 degrees."
The uniforms caused some consternation in Ottawa South, where the remaining three students were staying with Elizabeth and Dalton McGuinty Sr., and their family of 10 children, nine of whom were still at home. The neighbours knew something strange was happening at the McGuinty house. Early each morning, a bunch of the McGuinty children would gather on the front lawn, with the three young Chinese students dressed in Mao outfits.
The students could be seen slowly waving their arms around in some strange ritual. Each move they made was copied by the McGuintys. Although the baffled neighbours didn't know it, the McGuintys were learning the rudiments of Tai Chi. This made them possibly the first suburban white children in Canada to take up the Chinese system of calisthenics.
The students wound up with the McGuintys thanks to Dalton Sr., then a professor of Shakespearean literature at the University of Ottawa, said David McGuinty, the incumbent Liberal MP in Ottawa South and brother of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
"One day, my dad got a call: 'We've got three students to place. Would you know any families who are interested?' And my dad said, 'We'll take them all.' So he came home to my mother that night to announce, with nine kids around the dinner table, that three Chinese students were coming to live with the family for a month or six weeks," Mr. McGuinty said.
"My mother looked at my father, and I guess she thought he was joking. But they ended up staying with us."
The Tai Chi sessions raised eyebrows, Mr. McGuinty said. "At one point Tom Feeney, who was then dean of the law school and lived in the neighbourhood, stopped my dad and said, 'Dalton, you know the neighbours are talking.'
"My father said, 'What are they talking about?' He said, 'We're not sure, but we think you've joined the Canadian Communist Party'."
His parents lived locally, but thought globally, he said. "They were way ahead of their time. You can imagine the fear in the 1970s about everything that was Communist."
The Chinese students had their fun, too. Mr. Lu learned to skate on the Rideau Canal before moving on to the University of Toronto to complete his studies.
Before returning to Ottawa this year, Mr. Lu was China's ambassador to Indonesia. In the late 1970s, he served as a junior staffer at the Ottawa embassy.
"Now, as a senior diplomat, I understand Canada better. I see it from a different angle and perspective. It's a process of constant, continuous learning. The country also changed a lot in terms of its relationship with China. Canada has already become China's No. 2 trade partner. It's quite impressive."
He said there are now more than 50,000 Chinese students studying in Canada. "So imagine the change. It's a good change. It helps people from both sides understand each other, especially in a world that changes so fast."
The original nine students -- five males, four females -- came from various backgrounds -- three were factory workers, three were peasants, two were miners and one was a nurse. Several went on to serve in China's foreign service.
"One of the group is ambassador to Singapore. Still another one is ambassador to New Zealand. Two of the ladies are also in foreign service with husbands who are either ambassadors or consul general in different parts of the world."
A few months ago, Mr. Lu arranged an embassy dinner for the Ottawa families who had opened their homes to the nine Chinese students in 1973.
"These families were great helpers to us," said Mr. Lu. "The Chinese tradition is we never forget our friends, especially these people who helped us when we were very much in need."
Betty Bergin, who worked for the dean of student services at Carleton University, played a key role in finding the Ottawa families who took in the Chinese students. She remembers them as being studious and hardworking. "They had quite a bit of English. It didn't take them long to get up to speed.
"It's quite remarkable. We're now seeing the outcome of student exchanges. Mr. Lu must be one of, if not the only, ambassador to Canada who has such a good knowledge of the country."
