---An Interview with Canadian World Expo volunteer Lawrence Lavigne and His Father

By Ding Li/ Picture by Lawrence Lavigne & Ding Li

I was fortunate enough to get to know Lawrence Lavigne, a young Canadian, at a gathering of the Sino-Canadian Association on Julu Road at the end of last year. Mr. Lavigne, a plain young Canadian who once worked in the IT industry of Quebec, came to China about a year ago out of his love of the Chinese culture, and he has adopted a Chinese name: Luo Heng. He initiated a friendly chat with us once hearing that we are collecting information about the Expo 67 Montreal. Looking quite excited, he told us that his father worked as a volunteer for the Montreal Universal and International Exposition of 1967, making many contributions to that World Expo, which had greatly changed the career and life of his father. “The World Expo had great influence upon the life of my father,” Lawrence said, adding that he was willing to help us tap the unforgettable memory of his father by asking him to tell us stories of Expo 1967 Montreal. Lawrence is currently working and studying Chinese in Shanghai, and he wished to follow the step of his father to take up some volunteer job for the Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Lawrence and his father Jacques Lavigne shared their stories of the Montreal Expo via the long-distance phone call from Canada. Jacques Lavigne just turned 17 in1967, when he signed up to be a volunteer of the World Expo. Speaking of the World Expo, Lavigne the senior began to gush about, releasing his long-sealed memory of Expo Montreal.

“Twelve large tents were pitched around the major pavilions to function as places for young people to hold outdoor activities and gatherings. My job was to install and check the effects of the acoustic and lighting devices for these places, and it took me several weeks to finish just one project,” Jacques said.

“Truth be told, I was greatly honored to participate in the giant Expo Fair at the age of 17, particularly in consideration of my becoming an acoustic and lighting technician in my life later. I feel proud and it gave me a sense of achievement when many exhibitions came to me for help in aspects of acoustic and lighting,” he added.

The World Expo not only provided opportunities for learning and practice for Jacques, who was just about to enter the society at that time, but more importantly, the involvement with the World Expo also brought far-reaching impact upon his future thoughts and his prospective life. He described with passion the situations at the Expo 1967 Montreal. At that time, the information technology and communication equipment were not as advanced as today, and although the Montreal Expo made proper preparation in terms of hardware, it was still not confident of its possible role in promoting cultural exchanges.

“What we know is only that we will face people coming from all around the world, and they speak different languages with different cultural background. In terms of reception, we need to accommodate various forms of culture, including the elegant one of the Europeans and the joyous Americans. To this end, I went to the school to cram various courses such as the geographic knowledge of participating countries, their languages and customs,” Jacques said.

“I explored the world map carefully, in particular the situations of countries with slower development in education. I have learned many useful things, and it could be said that this helped me lay the foundation for my future work and life,” he added.

Photos:

1.      Lawrence and his father.

2.      Lawrence’s hometown.

3.      Lawrence in Shanghai.