Life Adventure
by Dave Barth, February 2008
This story is an exercise in creative writing. Any similarity to any persons is entirely coincendental.
My name is . . . well, it doesn't matter what my name is. What matters is the story I'm going to tell about my
adventures through life. Perhaps my daughter and
future relatives will marvel at it or, perhaps, think it quaint. In any case, it truly has been an adventure for
me.
In 1941 I was just a baby. Hong Kong had been invaded, and my parents decided to flee the city with their family
to keep it safe from the terrible violence
that had broken out. My parents loved freedom, but they weren't freedom fighters. They just wanted to raise their
family and be happy and safe. They realized
that goal wasn't going to be possible in Hong Kong at that time, so they decided to go to retreat to my father's
village across the border. They knew that the
family might be separated or face a worse fate if they stayed.
The road were blocked and guarded, as were the trains. It would be impossible to get out by public or private
transportation. We would
have to walk out, through the countryside. The countryside held its own dangers. There were marauding bands of
outlaws who robbed people, like us,
trying to relocate. I believe my mother was fearful for our safety, but my father was intent on getting us to his
village where we would be safe.
We took with us the minimal necessities because we would have to carry everything. Mother fashioned a back sling
for me to ride because I was too young to
walk. We took only the food we could carry, hoping we could find more along the way. Mother insisted that we bring
formula for me because I wasn't old enough
to eat solid food. We began walking out at night, trying to evade the guards as we traversed the city, intent upon
getting into the countryside as soon
as possible.
First, we had to walk from our home on Hong Kong Island to the ferry to get to Kowloon. I guess my father made some
excuse to the authorities that we were
going to visit relatives on the mainland. After arriving in Kowloon, we headed for the New Territories, a large
expanse of land leased by the United Kingdom to
provide an independent source of produce for Hong Kong.
We walked at night and rested during the day. As we got farther away from Hong Kong and the Japanese, we felt safer,
but now we were confronted by another
problem: gangs of robbers. One night, while we walked, we were ambushed by a gang. They took everything of value,
including our food and my formula,
even though my mother tried to tell them the formula wasn't nearly as important to them as it was to me. But they
took it, anyway.
Now, we were destitute, with very little money except what we had hidden in our clothing, and no food. Some kind
farmers along our route were brave enough to
risk punishment by the Japanese to provide us with a little food, but there was no formula for me. I began to get
very hungry, and I cried a lot. My mother felt very
sorry for me. For some reason, I lost hearing in one ear on that trek. I don't remember why. Maybe it was a rifle
fired at close range or maybe a bandit hit me on
the side of the head. I just don't know. In later years, my mother told me that I cried so much that my tears flowed
into that ear and caused it to go deaf.
Finally, we reached my father's village where we remained during the Japanese occupation. After the Japanese were
driven from Hong Kong, we returned, this
time by public transportation. We were still poor, but my father and mother were extremely entrepreneurial, a trait
they passed on to my two brothers, my two sisters,
and me.
After our return to Hong Kong, my father began to accumulate real estate, starting out very modestly. When he earned
enough money to keep the family
comfortable and fed, he invested what was left over in small plots of land or a small building. We children watched
what he did, and we learned from him.
We began to prosper, and my two sisters and I decided to immigrate to the United States. I decided that I wanted to
go to college there. Our culture dictates
that the sons in a family inherit their parent's business and assets, so we three daughters were not expected to
participate in my father's real estate
business.
I came to the US in 1958 on board the S.S. President Cleveland and spent the first year in the U.S. going to school
at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, about 80 miles from Houston. I attended
summer school at the University of Texas at Austin in 1959 and graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1964.
Ultimately, my sisters and I ended up in Los
Angeles which has weather that approximates that of Hong Kong, but perhaps a bit cooler. It sure beats living in
Minnesota or Montana in the winter!
Now, I have to provide some details about me, at least some that I have been told. First, I've been told that I'm
beautiful enough to be a model, but I don't
believe it. I think I'm average-looking. Second, I've been told that I'm very intelligent. Sure, I have a nearly
photographic memory, and that really helped me
get through college, but I don't think of myself as being above average. But my mental aptitude helped me whiz
thorough tests.
When it came to getting a job, I wanted to work for a world-class corporation. And I wanted to work in a high-tech
company, not one that bottled soda pop
or made french fries. I wanted to work for IBM. So, I applied and after taking some tests and interviewing, I was
hired. My math skills are good (IBM said
they were excellent), and I was placed as an IBM consultant at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA)
in the Mathematics Department. I worked
there from 1959 through 1965 as an IBM consultant to this prestigious university. After that, I was an IBM consultant
at other companies.
As for my love life, well, I don't like to talk about it, but suffice it to say there were a lot of guys who wanted
to date me. Sure, I dated a few, but I never fell
in love until I met another IBM employee, Conrad, who worked at Northrup in the computer department. He impressed me
with his good looks and cool demeanor.
I guess the title "Mr. Cool" could apply to him. Anyway, we were married, and as all great stories go, lived happily
ever after.
Oh, and I must add that I got into real estate in Los Angeles. While I was working at IBM, I saved enough money for a
down payment on an apartment building, and
that was the beginning of me following in my father's real estate footsteps.
My two brothers back in Hong Kong prospered, too. They took up my father's business and expanded it. I can't tell you
how much Hong Kong real estate
they have but the value is great.
It is not in my nature to talk about these matters, but I want to provide some perspective of the position our family
has attained after we were destitute in post-war
Hong Kong. For example, Hong Kong is a densely populated place. Public transportation is excellent, much better than
here in the States, but that is partly
because Hong Kong is a small area, not spread out like Kansas or Missouri. Nearly everyone uses public transportation
because the cost of licensing an
automobile is very high, usually costing more than the cost of a new car. Nearly all of the cars on the streets are
taxi cabs with a few high-end cars owned
by wealthy people. My brothers feel they have earned the right to own a car, and they can well afford to pay for a
new car and the associated fees.
But enough of that. You get the idea.
Before I end this story, I must note that Conrad and I have a beautiful, intelligent daughter. We are very proud
parents, but we believe in discipline, too. Perhaps
she will take over our real estate business someday.