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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1955)
Medford United Press Full Leased Wire Tribune United Press Full Leased Wire Second Section MEDFORD, OREGON, TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1955 Pagesl-6 Ko Tun Oo's Four-Week Visit In County Gives Hosts Better Understanding of Home Land (Editor's Note: The John Ousterhout family, Dutton rd., has been host for the past four weeks to Ko Tun Oo, of Myaungmya, Burma, who is in this country' through the In ternational Farm Youth Ex change program. The follow ing story, about Ko Tun Oo's visit in Jackson county, was written by Mrs. Ousterhout, a former member of The Mail Tribune staff.) BY EVELYN OUSTERHOUT It is interesting to welcome a friend, and the farther he has traveled the more welcome the visit. It was with such a thought that we looked forward to the four-week stay of Ko Tun Oo from Burma. We were both willing and curious when we told the coun ty 'agent we would take the Burman, who with three others, was coming to Jackson county under the International Farm Youth Exchange program. The agent said it would be a "two way street to understanding a way of life'' of others ... to learn by living it with you." Study Youth Activities Each of the four would spend four weeks working with a "typical farm family" with em phasis on youth activities of 4-H clubs and Boy Scouts, as all are prospective scout executives for Burma. They would be away from home for eight months, each spending four months on four different American farms, with the remaining months training in scouting, studying farm life, and traveling com pletely around the world. Our's was Ko Tun Oo's first American home. Maung Thein Nyun stayed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Don Minear of Med ford; Maung Thein Lwin, Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Wilken, Mur phy; and Maung Nyi Nyi, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Stone, Provolt. The four fast weeks were in deed a two-way street to under standing. We learned many things, not only about Burma and the Burmese, but about people in general, and about Ko Tun Oo in particular., What he thinks of us and what is the Impression of them all concern ing America may change during their several months' tour, but to date Ko Tun Oo has found rural America "friendly and hard working." Everyplace they, went, the Americans showed a serious in terest in everything about their homeland, asking many ques tions on every conceiveable subject. We discovered that Burma is equal to most coun tries in almost every respect, for she has great natural re sources, such as timber and oil, and almost every type of vege table, grain and fruit is grown someplace in Burma. Many Automobiles America was found to be quite different in at least one respect, for all four Burmese commented on the automobiles, which were inevitable and in great numbers everywhere they stopped. The super-markets also were new, but business for the most part is carried on in Burma as in the United States, we were told. Ko Tun Oo enjoyed a Sunday afternoon baseball game (Burma has a similar game of "round ers" played by children) and both he and Maung Thein Nyun were enthusiastic over the hard J3p races, although they shivered under coats and blankets in the "cold" night air. Television has not arrived in Burma, but most homes have radios and telephones. Electrici ty still is not in general use in small towns, although there is enough for lighting, and an ex tensive government power pro gram should bring much more in the near future, he said. Res idents in the small towns worked free and for long hours to bring electricity to their homes, according to Ko Tun Oo. It took little time for us to realize that Ko Tun Oo was not identical to every other Burman, any more than we could be de scribed as like every other American family. But having been born and raised in My aungmya, Lower Burma, he was Burmese and represented a way cf life very different from ours in many respects, although exactly like ours in most others. Independence Recently Won Burma, a moderately popu lated country which the lead ers feel is full of promise, has not yet recovered from the ex citement of its recently won in dependence from Great Britain. Much of Ko Tun Oo's discussions cn his homeland was related to the fight of the young Burmese leaders who first chased the British, and then the Japanese from Burma. Ko Tun Oo and Maung Nyi Nyi were leaders in Burma's famed guerilla fighters and Maung Thein Nyun worked with army intelligence. It was a thrill hearing their personal stories of the struggle to win freedom from imperial ism. Twice Ko Tun Oo escaped the enemy with bullet tears in his clothing, and many times took part in underground opera tions preparing for Burma's fight for freedom. In Myaungmya, a town of about 20,000 population, Ko Tun Oo lives with his wife and four children, two sisters, and his mother. Most Burmese families remain together, even after mar riage, with one householder often assuming responsibility for many relatives. The Burmese names, which first sounded strange and unpronounceable, became household words, and we were soon telling friends of his children, Maung Chit Swe, Maung Myint Swe, Ma Nyein Swe, and Maung Tint Swe. The Burmese have no family names, as do most of the world, so each child receives a name entirely his own. Each person also has a title, the males from birth to age 25 being called Maung and past 35 Ko. The term "U" is used for men of great age or distinction. Women are addressed as Ma until of an older age, when Daw is used. Ko Tun Oo, who often made comments revealing his individ ualism, said that he chose to name all four of his offspring similarly, adding "Swe" to each name and relating it to his own legal name of Ko Tun Swe. He adopted the name Ko Tun Oo when leaving on the present trip explaining that he would then Know by the name he was called just where he had met the friend. In his home he is called Ko Tun Thoung, a name which stuck while fighting the Japa nese and British, We told him that in America he would be called an "activity man" and a "rugged individual ist," to say nothing of "enre preneur," for he is president of the district farm association, leader of the town militia, pres ident of the local gymnasium and bazaar union, and also takes part in many sporting activities traveling to many parts of the country. Built Hospital He joined with a friend, who is a doctor, to build a 200-bed private hospital (Burma has socialized medicine, also), and then he established a pharmacy He and his wife, whose exotic name of Ma Khin Tint intrigued many Americans he met, operate the "Duwun" book and station ery supply shop in Myaungmya. All this was in addition to op erating a oo-acre rice farm a short distance from the city. The way in which Ko Tun Oo fitted immediately into the Ous terhout mode of living amazed us! His short height of five feet, three inches, and his dark color were quite different from the six feet, four inches of his host, and the skirt-like longyi and velvet sandals were quite new to a blue-jean and work-shoe house hold. But he appeared greatly at east from the time of his arrival Our three meals per day were different from Burma's for they eat only at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m l Father's Day June 19, 1955 MEDFORD'S FINEST MEN'S STORE MAIN AT CENTRAL with the exception of tea and toast early in the morning and at about 2 o'clock in the after noon. Ko Tun Oo, however, did not miss the tea, for unlike most Burmese he did not "take the tea," and drank milk with his meals. Preparing food for our Bur man presented its problems, not because Ko Tun Oo was diffi cult to please, but because we wanted to learn exactly how the Burmese cook a meal. Curry with meat, with vegetables, and with eggs, is a Burmese standby. And chili powder also is a favorite spice, although Ko Tun Oo admitted the "world is upside-down" when people in the hot climate of Burma prefer a highly-seasoned diet while those in a moderate zone cook their food with little spices. Out of deference to his American ac quaintances, Ko Tun Oo directed the amount of curry to be added to a chicken dish be less than that in Myaungmya. The end of more than one meal, however, found a number of strong Amer ican males asking for water and wiping away the perspiration! That the children in ' their hosts' homes were "a great con solation" to the somewhat home sick Burmese was a happy relief to their hostesses, for so inter esting and exciting a houseguest as each Burman was, brought much running and shouting and theatrics by the youngsters. On a particiularly trying eve ning, after the third attempt to "clamp" the two and four-year old in bed, I threw up my hands and exclaimed to .Ko Tun Oo, "Are your children EVER . like this?" "Yes, yes," he laughed, "Just the same." We discovered that family recreation in Burma is very much the same as here, without the automobile, which is mostly a luxury in his country. The chil dren are read stories in the eve ning before bed, are taken to ball games and picnics, and Ko Tun Oo's four are most for tunate in having a city park across the street. To picnic, he said, his family often goes by ox-car or bicycle. Burma- also has national Debbie, Eddie Fisher In Week End Rendezvous Hollywood (U.R) Debbie Reynolds admitted today she and Eddie Fisher had a secret week end rendezvous and "we still plan to be married." Fisher slipped into town un noticed Friday night. The pair spent the week end at her uncle's desert home' in Palm Springs. "There's been no change in plans. Everything is the same," Debbie declared.-"I love Eddie and he loves me and we're going to be married. We still haven't set the date." recreation program which pro motes all sports, from badmin ton to boxing, and the govern ment provides gymnasiums and instructors throughout the coun try. As president of Myaun- gmya's gym, Ko Tun Oo over sees the sporting program and construction and improvement of facilities. He travels over many parts of Burma during the year at his own expense partici pating in or watching the exten sive sporting activities. Plan San Francisco Meeting ' When Ko Tun Oo left, we were reluctant, as were the other host families, to see the Burman go, for the four weeks in our home had brought us a close and treasured friend. We have plans to see him again in December, after the American visit is over and he is in San Francisco en route by air to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and home. By then we should understand each other with little trouble, and Ko Tun Oo should have a sound and studied view of America. Whether or not we actually meet again, the newly-found friendship will always remain and we cannot erase the feeling that men really, are brothers, as the philosophers say, no matter how. different the outward ap pearance and background. For what could look more dis similar than the short, dark man in the green-plaid longyi, travel ing by steamer up the Irrawad dy, compared with the tall, sandy-haired jean-clad American speeding to town in the station wagon? But we discovered that they are so much alike, the dif ferences are mere "conversation pieces" and - what remains is a fine comradeship and' respect for each other which will last a lifetime. Back Stairs: Many White House Dishes By MERRIMAN SMITH United Press While House Writer Washington (U.R) Back stairs at the W'hite House: Lo the busy White House dish washer. The last inventory at the executive mansion showed 2,427 items of glassware, 10,114 dishes and 6,201 pieces of silver. Although automatic dishwash ers do most of the work, a num ber of the White House glass, crystal and Chinaware items are too fragile and valuable to trust to a machine. These pieces must be done carefully and by hand. . In Mrs. Eisenhower's cupboard also ' are 2,200 tablecloths and napkins. Mr. Eisenhower's snappy new summer hat caused a lot of com ment recently at West Point. The hat is cut along Homburg lines in charcoal straw with a wide white band. . . : . . When the President first ap peared in his new skimmer, some of the staff thought it was a class reunion hat as the old grads sometimes love to wear. This, however, turned out to be decidedly not the case. Mr. Eisenhower was quite proud of his new hat, and more important, Mrs. E i s e n hower thought he looked fine in it. Probably the most anonymous member of the White House staff is the mild mannered house keeper, Mrs. Mable Walker. She has been in this post since the Truman administration and she shuns publicity like the plague. Her-attitude toward publicity has the full approval of the Eis enhowers. The less their per sonal life is exposed to public view, the better they like it. And they consider the work of their housekeeper to be their private affairs; not the subject of maga zine articles and radio interviews. Mr. Eisenhower's shoulder bursitis must " be better. He waved his right arm a good bit during his recent three-day visit to the U.S. Military Academy. In previous weeks, he favored his ailing right arm noticably and did most of his waving with his left arm. - Notes from Gettysburg: The President insists on re taining the ancient, rusty and creaking windmill on his farm He says it reminds him of his boyhood. At last count there were 21 ducks on the Eisenhower pond, these are not to be confused with the two mallards that took up temporary residence in the White House . fountain. There would have been more ducks on the farm this spring if it had not been for marauding rac coons which ate the duck eggs. Secret Service guard booths around the farm house look like sidewalk telephone booths. The framework of each booth is painted a brilliant green, but most of the booths consist largely of glass panels to give the agents warmth at night and freedom of vision in all directions. Washington U.R) Eisenhower will not hold a news conference this week because he will participate in Operation Alert, the three-day Civil. De fense exercise. Dead line for Sunday Classified la at noon Saturday o) d cz iiimv AUTOMATIC inOrJERX All Pcrctfein Inside & Outt Pushbutton Controls! ' flow Rfas! 1955 model LR-6 AUTOMATIC MM f YOURS FREE OF ADDED COST WITH THE PURCHASE OF A ADTODnTIC (I PAY AS LITTLE AS .... . $2.83 A WEEK ity talflM V "Medford's Exclusive 'HOTPOINT' Dealer" 127 North Central - Across from Penney's-PhOne 3-5743 hm OPEN WEDNESDAY UNTI L 9 P.M. ja ' ' ' Putting up new lines to serve you is a big part of this construction truck's work. A special hoisting boom is among its 400-plus pieces of equipment. Materials are stock-piled at key loca tions to enable the crews to carry on the day-to-day job or meet any emergency. Tour telephone system brings you good service 'round the clock because we're continually looking' ahead . . . planning to meet any problem that might arise. Tool chest on wheels"" -part of good telephone serv ice. Fast, reliable telephone service takes A-to-Z planning. A good example of this is the construction truck above, which, as you can see, is like a rolling workshop. It's fitted out with every item that could possibly help its crew work more rapidly, safely, and efficiently. And, of course, it's operated by men who've had the very best train ing possible. Providing good equipment for people who know their jobs is one sure way to bring you dependable, low-cost telephone service. And this is the constant aim of telephone men and women all along the line, Pacific Telephone. The telephone people of Medford work to make your telephone a bigger value every day tmu kwifitu tffict: 131 N. tartlet St Tel. 2-6101
