Same dusty old town, new refreshing weather. My travels have taken a complete turn, and within a couple of days I have found a school, (probably) a job, and an apartment. The latter still looks like a construction site, with a bed and my things around it, but the fact that it’s on the upper store of a cafe-bar (the one I grew to like and wrote about back then) is enough to rate it “cool as fuck” in any teenager\hippie lexicon.
Right now, I am sitting in the bar downstairs. A rock show is held by a group of excited young pimpled students, surrounded by a handful of enthusiastic classmates. Outside the front window, simple people on their way home from the daily peddling have gathered and are gawking in with big smiles. Wonder if that’s how it felt in the early 60’s.
Leaving that comparison in mind, let me add it’s an off-campus apartment, steps away from Henan University, one of the greenest and liveliest campuses I’ve seen. Everywhere you go – from the sport courts (oh, are the Chinese students into sport, or at least into "sportiness"), to the paths, main square and the food markets around every gate – things are seething with activity. Even my Chinese, now that I have a Chinese roommate and a stable friend circle, finally feels like a language should - feasible and functional.
And so, like during my first stay in town, yet dazed by the blooming season, my mind overflows by daydreams and inner promises about a glorious future supposedly coagulating in front of my eyes: "I am telling you, this place is going places, and if you wish, it won’t be long till the message gets around". Kaifeng rocks.
Right now, I am sitting in the bar downstairs. A rock show is held by a group of excited young pimpled students, surrounded by a handful of enthusiastic classmates. Outside the front window, simple people on their way home from the daily peddling have gathered and are gawking in with big smiles. Wonder if that’s how it felt in the early 60’s.
Leaving that comparison in mind, let me add it’s an off-campus apartment, steps away from Henan University, one of the greenest and liveliest campuses I’ve seen. Everywhere you go – from the sport courts (oh, are the Chinese students into sport, or at least into "sportiness"), to the paths, main square and the food markets around every gate – things are seething with activity. Even my Chinese, now that I have a Chinese roommate and a stable friend circle, finally feels like a language should - feasible and functional.
And so, like during my first stay in town, yet dazed by the blooming season, my mind overflows by daydreams and inner promises about a glorious future supposedly coagulating in front of my eyes: "I am telling you, this place is going places, and if you wish, it won’t be long till the message gets around". Kaifeng rocks.
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