Retired Chinese Philosopher from Switzerland

OK, queue breakfast muzak, pour some cereal, find place to sit. None of the students from my class were present, so I asked to sit with an older gentleman, who appeared to be Chinese. He graciously agreed, and started the conversation - "where are you from?" He originally guessed I was from Britain, since a few of my new friends are British, and he had overheard their accents.

It turns out that he is a native Shanghainese, but has lived in Switzerland for 40 years. He is a retired Philosopher, who had studied under a Nobel Peace Prize winner. I can't think of his name, but I'll find it and update later.

His relationship with his former professor reminded me of a similar relationship that I was fortunate enough to rekindle just last year, with a former professor of mine, from Vanderbilt University. My professor had turned me on to a couple authors such as Cormac McCarthy, (The Road) and Jacques Ellul, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul a French philosopher, sociologist and author that my professor has studied for most of his adult life. I mentioned this to my new friend, which seemed to take our conversation to a new level.

We had a great discussion about world issues. He asked me to wait while he went to his room to fetch a 13 page essay he wrote last year about his views. I took about 20 minutes to read his writings, done in English... his sencond language. What a gift. It was a strange and powerful connection, like something from another lifetime. (Ask Heidi) But we seemed to have an instant understanding. Isn't it odd the way that we come across these people? If my other friends were there that day, I would have never met this man.

He had to leave for morning service (Sunday), but I asked him if I could have a copy of his writing. I'd like to make it available for any interested readers... maybe I'll find the time to type it into my blog if my new friend is ok with that.