Ben Rebach - Journal
Saturday, March 11, 2006 :: ARCHIVES
The Rest of Last School YearIt's been a long, long time since my last post, and I think trying to tell the whole story would be a lost cause given updating history thus far. Instead I'm going to give a 'brief' overview of the past year. Let's start with Fang...
I met Zhang Fang when she came home from her university in Beijing to see her family for Chun Jie, the Chinese New Year festival. Much like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the West, Chun Jie is a time when families come together no matter the distance. I had month break for the holiday, and I spent the first week in Macheng before going to Shanghai to meet my mother and father. Dai Li, one of our local teachers, invited me to spend time with her friends Hu Lu and Zhang Fang. Fang was studying for her masters degree in English translation, and Hu Lu also had a good command of the language. Over the course of the week the four of us spent a lot of time together. We went hiking in the countryside, played cards, and explored the city. Fang was both beautiful and clever, and at the end of the week it was difficult for me to say goodbye to her. We decided to keep in touch with QQ, a messaging system similar to Instant Messenger or MSN Messenger.
After a day long train ride I arrived in Shanghai and met with my parents. We visited many of the usual tourist spots and watched the New Years fireworks from our room at the hotel. My parents both seemed to enjoy their first trip to China, and it was wonderful to be able to share a little of my experience with them. At the end of the second week my father returned home, my mother continued north to Beijing, and I met up with Luther to head south. Luther and I traveled to Yangshou, which was a tiny mecca of western food and beautiful scenery. Our stay there was much too short.
I returned to work in Macheng and stayed in almost daily contact with Fang. We were able to meet in Huanggang and Huangzhou during later holidays, and I decided to look for work around Beijing for the following year, so as to be closer to her. As the school year - and my time in Macheng - slowly came to a close, I managed to find an excellent position in a northern Beijing suburb called Huairou.
In the end it was difficult to leave Macheng. Despite the lack of some conveniences, I had become very fond of the dusty little city and its people. But after a few farewell meals and a lot of packing, I was on a train north.
Ben Rebach
100 Mainsail Drive Cary, NC 27511 919.469.1915 ben@benrebach.com