Overlooking the Golden Horn May 12, 2010

Wishing You Joy, Peace and Love . . . Now and Always!

Dear One –

Hope this finds you well and happy. Praying that you are living in the fullness of God’s love, joy and peace in Christ.

I thank the Lord that I arrived safely in Vladivostok not long before noon on Sunday, May 9th – the 65th Anniversary of the Russian Victory in The Great Patriotic War against Nazi fascism. It was a well celebrated day here, in Moscow, and all over the former Soviet Union, as you may have seen on the news. British, French and US contingents were supposed to have participated in the parade in Moscow, but I didn’t get to see any of it on television here. I trust it was memorable. I wasn’t there for the parade, but saw (I did however see part of the practice for the parade on the evening that my friend Zhanna and I went to the Moscow Art Theater to see “The Master and Margarita”. That was interesting!)

Vladivostok is seven hours ahead of Moscow, and fifteen hours ahead of Atlanta and the rest of the U.S. East Coast. Being here makes it the closest I have been to the International Date Line in a long, long time. When I lived in Alaska, I was blessed to be able to go to Japan and to South Korea. And this is the way it worked. We had to stop twice on the way to the air base near a city on the southwest coast of South Korea, where we stayed for about three weeks.

Not very bright-eyed or bushy-tailed, we left Anchorage about 4:30 AM on a Tuesday, and saw the dawn on Shemya Island. The people stationed there wore t-shirts that said on them -- “SHEMYA – NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, BUT YOU CAN SEE IT FROM HERE”. It’s nearly at the end of Aleutian Archipelago. We stayed there just long enough to re-fuel quickly. Then we re-fueled again in Tokyo and took a break to have a meal in the terminal.

So, because of all those stops, and because of crossing the International Date Line on the way, it was about 3:30 PM on Thursday by the time we landed in South Korea. It was much more than two days after we left according to the calendar, but about 22 hours of either flying or resting and re-fueling.

On the other hand, after spending a week in Japan, we left for Anchorage on a Thursday morning and flew for about 10 or 12 hours, arriving early that same Thursday evening. I used to joke that of course there is a way, when you cross the International Date Line to actually arrive at your destination before the time that you left your point of origination. Dr. Einstein was right in so many ways when he figured out that time is relative (I know that is an over-simplification and don’t pretend to understand physics, the most mystical of the sciences. But I love thinking about it all!)

I once visited my eighth grade history teacher, Mr. Peterson, many years since I had last seen him as a young Middle School student, but not long after I had been to South Korea and Japan. He seemed to get a kick out of what I said about being able to arrive before you have left in some cases. It was fun to tell him about how my life had been since the days that he so enthusiastically taught. He and one of the other history teachers, Mr. O’Grady, took delight in drawing maps of battles of the French and Indian War and of the Civil war with colored chalk on the huge floor to ceiling “green boards” in our brand new state-of-the-art Barrington Middle School. Built without hallways, and with a plan that not only included team teaching, but also had unusual class scheduling, it was an amazing experience to be a student there.

I was in the first eighth grade class to graduate from the school, but it wasn’t completed until January of that year. The first half of eighth grade was spent in the already condemned building that had been Barrington Hough Street Elementary school. The seventh graders were with us, too, but the sixth graders were farmed out to Sunday school classrooms in many of our local churches. They finished the sixth graders’ wing at the Middle School first, and I think they started studying there in November of 1965.

That was all a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I didn’t mean to get so far off the track on that sentimental journey . . . please excuse me!

However, speaking of a long time ago, the city of Vladivostok will be celebrating its 150th birthday in June. So that’s pretty exciting, and since they just finished the May holidays, I’m sure everyone is not only happy about the signs that spring is casting out the rough winter they endured here, but also that the summer will bring even more chances to celebrate.

The Vladivostok 65th Anniversary of the Victory in WW II included a parade, concerts and the placing of wreaths at monuments to those who gave their “last full measure” as well as lauding the veterans still among us in Veterans’ Homes or wherever they live. I was blessed that evening to go to a concert at the philharmonic hall in beautiful downtown Vladivostok, right on the port of an inlet of that part of the Pacific Ocean called the Sea of Japan called The Golden Horn. Mountainous islands and peninsulas shield the port from the open ocean, and it is very lovely.

The USNS Blue Ridge, which is the flagship of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, was in port to help celebrate, and a Navy jazz ensemble played in a concert hall on a program that included a Russian band as well. The Russian band began the program with some rousing marches, waltzes and folks music. Then they were joined by six or seven U.S. Navy musicians and played some pieces together.

The predominantly Russian audience was very appreciative and the mistress of ceremonies was a gracious show woman. Everything was translated over the PA system so people who spoke either Russian or English could get the jist of what was going on. The music spoke for itself.

When the Russian band members gave up their places on stage and the U.S. Navy musicians began to play and sing it was marvelous. There were several encores called for each band, and at one point people were dancing in the aisles.

One of the most popular pieces seemed to be a big band number from the WW II era, but music by The Eagles and Stevie Wonder was appreciated as well. Of course a John Phillip Sousa march couldn’t have been left out, and the Russian band ended their program with the U.S. Navy’s “Anchors Aweigh”!

There was some dancing in the aisles, there were lots of cheers and applause, many smiles, much hand-shaking, many photos taken and there were even requests of some of the navy musicians for autographs. What a joyful time!

Have more to tell you, but I will leave you with all the above and look forward to sharing some more later.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours.

Thanks and Blessings – Kathy

The Joy of the Lord
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Nehemiah 8:10


Kathleen Ware Harris  © 2012
kwharris777@gmail.com