Yesterday, I woke to find a very sad E mail in my box. My very good, dear friend and colleague, "Aussie Tom", as known by us all here at Peizheng College passed away in Brisbane, Australia the previous night.
Tom was one of natures true gentlemen and was admired, loved and respected by all who knew him here, both Chinese and Foreign.
I first met Tom when I began at this school last year and we spent many enjoyable meals together at various venues, both in and outside of the school grounds. One of our favourite haunts was the Northern Restaurant, where they sell food from the norther city of China, known simply as Dongbei. We often frequented this restaurant, with at times of up to 20 people and these nights always started with a lot of laughter and ended in much more. Another haunt we liked to grace our presence with was a local BBQ restaurant, where we could sit outside and watch the locals pass by doing their daily business, of finding something to eat. Then there was Magik Cafe, where one could always find very cold beer and After Five, which usually was the last haunt of our nights, if not Red Lovers.
Last Christmas, us Aussies decided to old our own Xmas dinner and along with the couple of New Zealanders here, again we enjoyed another fantastic and memorable night. No one can remember what time we all ended up going home, but I do remember it was late. On Christmas morning, we all got together again to enjoy an "Aussie" Xmas brekky of Bacon and eggs, tomatoes, baked beans, toast, Champagne and orange, sausages and of course coffee. This was one of the best Xmas' I have ever experienced in China.
The college held a Xmas party for all of us foreigners, complete with entertainment for the night. At our Xmas dinner party, we decided we were going to submit a late entry for this and promptly sat down and re-wrote the carol "12 Days of Christmas" to suit our life here in China and perform this act. This re-write was done at 2 am in the morning and after we had all consumed many bottles of good wine etc. Needless to say, the act went of better than we hoped and yes - Tom was right there with us, all the way.
Every time something was happening here, Tom was right there to help us enjoy ourselves to the max and was right in the middle of all of which was going on around him. Even in class, he loved his students, as they did him and was a very popular teacher here with them all. He had time for all, no matter how busy he was in his own life.
Tom, you will be missed greatly here, as you have been since your return to Australia for treatment for your health problem. You will forever be in our thoughts, hearts and our memories. It has been an honour to know you and to work with you over the short few months we spent here in Peizheng College. Very sadly missed by all.
My thoughts are with his family now and I know they will move on in their lives, just as I will do in time, but still draw on all the good memories we have of Tom.
Rest In Peace, Tom as I know you are now with your loving wife and your God.
