Ina Aus China

Just about when I was struggling how to introduce Taiwan and China to a group of 60 German kids from Regensburg in April with my limited German vocabulary, I came across Ina Aus China by Susanne Hornfeck.

The cover page of a little girl sitting like a ballerina China doll caught my immediate attention on the new arrival shelf of the Hsin-tien Library. Without a second thought, I borrowed the book about a seven year old Chinese girl who traveled to Brandenburg, Germany in 1937 when the Japanese invaded China.

I finished the book overnight to know Ina traveled from Tsingtao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Genova, to Berlin in 1937, and spent her childhood in Branderburg during the nazi Germany till 1944. When Ina came to Taiwan in 1955, she had to learn to articulate the Mandarin language in four tones and adjusted to the Taiwanese environment, weather and culture.

The book is informative for me to appreciate the German language and culture and it is a good reference for German to understand Chinese culture. I shall use it to tell the German kids from Regensburg in April about the Chinese cultures and customs.

Hänschen klein geht allein In die weite Welt hinein. Stock und Hut steht ihm gut, Er ist wohlgemut. Doch die Mutter weinet sehr, hat ja nun kein Hänschen mehr. Da besinnt sich das Kind, kehrt nach Haus' geschwind.