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July 13, 2005

Eat, drink and sleep. That has been pretty much what I do nowadays. Last night, about 15 my high school classmates got together and had a banquet. It was so nice to see everyone again. I saw all but one last year when I was here.

Our class master Teacher Zhou looked better than last year. He told me that he had an operation done since then. Now he did not drink as aggressively as before. Among the classmates, there were a successful enterpreneur, head nurse, general manager, teachers, and engineers. They all seemed happy. While eating and drinking, we talked about many funny stories and who (boy/girl) was interested in whom (girl/boy) while in high school. We all agreed that it was unfortunate that not even a single pair existed among us. Last year they had tried hard to set me up with TQ, still single like me, to make up for the regret. This year they did not seem as enthusiastic. Maybe they finally got the message. J

After the dinner, six of us went to a coffee shop to continue the conversation. I felt much more comfortable with this setting, and was more engaged, than among many people sitting around a dinning table. Around 00:30 the party was over. They on purpose arranged TQ to give me a ride. It turned out that it was my first time to drive in my hometown. While in the driver’s seat, I saw differently from a passenger’s point of view. To survive, drivers in China have to be both daring and cautious at the same time. It looked to me that cars entering main roads from side ways had right of way (daring part) and cars on main roads had to yield (cautious part). Do you think drivers in the US would survive here?

The driving reminded me of an incident when I was a little boy. The house we lived in then was on top of a hill. On day a friend and I saw a tractor parked at atop. I just came back from a farm and was told how to drive a tractor, and more importantly, how to brake (you will see why soon). Boasting the skill, I jumped onto the tractor, released the brake and asked my friend to push. It started to move downhill gradually. I got scared and jumped off. It kept moving and gaining speed. My friend and I tried to run away, but senses came back to me. I ran toward the moving object, jumped on and applied the brake. Thanks heavens, the tractor stopped. Now looking back, I can’t even image what consequences it might have had if the tractor made its way down uncontrolled.

posted by Unknown @ 5:43 AM