American at home in home for elderly

By Xing Yangjian (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-21 05:48

It is lunchtime and Ruth Kim, the first American resident at an old folks' home in Beijing, is still chatting with a Chinese couple, her neighbours.

"Ruth is a very lovely old lady," said Sherry Lin, the granddaughter of the couple, and their translator. "She has become a close friend of grandpa and grandma."

Ruth, 80, is a popular figure curiosity having something to do with it ever since she arrived at Sijiqing Old Folks' Home in Haidian District two months earlier.

When she walks in the corridor or stands in the lobby, there are always people waving to her or saying hello. And in the canteen, people are eager to share the table with her.

In the beginning, Ruth didn't understand a word of Chinese. Now, she does a little.

"I have some friends here, big and small, little and cute," said Ruth, smiling. "I like to know people's names and try to remember them. Gradually, I will learn to speak Chinese."

Luckily for her, the residents include Chinese professors who can speak English; and the staff started learning English from last year.

"We have old people who used to work at ministries and can speak English," said Liu Zhongli, director of the home. "There's even a professor who communicates with Ruth by writing because he is very hard of hearing."

Also, there are volunteers from a local foreign language school visiting. "I teach them English and they teach me Chinese," Ruth said.

Liu said that Ruth's arrival had pressured them into learning English and providing international-standard service. "Maybe we need to learn other languages in case we have more foreigners," Liu said.

To better serve their US guest, Sijiqing makes some Western food and has assigned a staff member to specially care for Ruth.

Ruth, who likes the activities at the home, has joined the chorus group and a few days earlier sang the popular Auld Lang Syne with a group of students from Beijing Haidian Art Professional School. "Singing with the children was very sweet," Ruth said.

"There is an activity committee run by the old people here, which has many different programmes such as the folk yangge dance, Taijiquan (shadow boxing) and Chinese calligraphy," said the director.

Ruth is the first foreign resident since Sijiqing was set up in 1958. Today, it is host to about 440 aged people, 45 of them more than 90 years old, and the oldest, 104.

"Their longevity is because of the nice environment and harmonious atmosphere here, which is why Ruth chose us," Liu explained.

Hanya Kim, Ruth's daughter, couldn't agree more.

"When we first visited the place, my mother was very excited to see people of her age practising Taijiquan and dancing," said Hanya, who started work in Beijing two years ago.

"And, the people are very nice to her."

Before coming to China, Ruth was living with Hanya's elder sister Pamela on a large farm in Maryland. The farm was beautiful, but very remote. In the winter, the snowstorms caused power outages for at least two weeks every year.

There were not many neighbours around and any of Ruth's old friends died during the last few years. But the biggest blow was Pamela's death two years ago from a heart illness.

"My mother aged quickly during the last two years," said Hanya.

Once Ruth found she could not drive any more, life became even more difficult.

Last year, Hanya spent five months at the farm helping her mother, but her work suffered and she was virtually commuting from Beijing. At the same time, she found that her mother was becoming senile.

"Still, my mother refused to leave the farm because, I think, it was the connection with memories of my sister."

During that period, Hanya tried to find some old people's homes in the area but was disappointed at what was on offer.

"One facility part of a chain was really bad. Lots of sad old people sitting all alone in their rooms."

Hanya finally convinced Ruth to visit her for Christmas last year and once she arrived in Beijing, she marvelled at all the sites and, above all, was overjoyed by the kindness of people around her. "Everyone was very polite and careful with her. Many people took the time to stop and greet her on the street, including complete strangers!

"Their kindness and warmth made her want to move to China," Hanya said. "In the United States, people are often very curt because her hearing is bad and she is a bit slower doing things like ordering food and so on.

"But in China, everyone is very considerate to her, and this has contributed to the improvement of her overall emotional well-being and health."

Hanya has a busy career making children's educational programmes for TV and Ruth spends two days at her daughter's home every week.

"I thought my mom would prefer to live with me but she misses her new Chinese friends when she comes over," Hanya said.

(China Daily 04/21/2006 page1)