Chinese Version
2022-03-16, Wednesday, Sunny
In 2021, Julia, one of my alumni from Shuguang middle school in Zigong, invited me to a Chinese Local Tourism Group. I once invited relatives and friends who had never been to Zigong to watch Zigong’s Lantern Show in Boston zoo, a group activity organized by her; I also took part in a lunch gathering at a Chinese restaurant owned by a Zigongian and recommended by her; I followed her journey to visit Gibbet Hill‘s autumn scenery too. I found Julia’s passion towards natural sceneries very attractive, as we are living in the same city that is far from our homeland. I could not help mentioning a discussion of how Robert can attract Francesca after watching the old film “Bridge of Madison County” a few weeks ago. In my opinion, Francesca, a lonely housewife who was far away from her hometown for a very long time, suddenly met a person who knew and really liked her hometown, this was the reason Robert was attractive to her at the beginning.
At 10 a.m. this morning, Julia, four other friends from the tourism group, and I met at the brand-new parking lot of Prospect Hill Park. We climbed the hill along the spacious paved road that was designed for cars but which was closed for cars that were entering now. In early spring on the East Coast, the trees on the hill were still lifeless and the road on weekdays was empty. The six of us. along with a couple who were walking a dog, only eight people and a dog walked on the road. While Lisa and Mary, ZZ and I, Jessica and Julia walked together, we breathed in and enjoyed the fresh air and quiet atmosphere of the well-maintained Prospect Hill Park.
The top of Prospect Hill is a good place to look at downtown Boston. When we climbed to the top, though the sun had not come out, the vision under the clouds was very clear, as the air was very clean and transparent. Standing at the top of the hill, I heard the sharp-minded Jessica sigh: “I feel like I’m in a science fiction blockbuster.” I was surprised because I couldn’t come up with such feeling; I was also delighted because I enjoyed sharing fresh new thoughts among friends.
After enjoying each other’s company for a while and after our muscles had warmed up, we shared each other’s birth years: 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1971 and 1976. Then we complimented each other’s vibrant minds and active bodies, I felt the sincere praise exude a kind of sweetness and collecting it was just like a busy bee. I enjoyed the moment very much. In the United States, we all use English names now, but I like to ask after the former Chinese names of the born-in-60s, because I can understand the meaning of the born-in-60s’ Chinese names. When Lisa said that she now used English name even in China, I joked: “You were very modern then!”
We ran into a friendly Caucasian couple, Mary and John, at the top of the hill. After learning that we were all Chinese, John told us he had read the “A Dream of Red Mansions” and he liked Baoyu. I was very surprised to hear his comment on Daiyu: “She was a goddess.” as I felt the same here. The couple was curious about us too. When they heard Julia said: “I arrived in the United States just over a year.” John and Mary praised Julia: “Your English is very good! Do you like America?” We also learned that John is a lawyer and Mary is a social worker, that they work from home, and that they are on their work break.
While going down the hill on Sunset Trail, I stopped and pointed to a stretch of water in the distance and said, “look, that’s the Charles River.” “Why is the river so wide?” Someone questioned. “It should be the Cambridge reservoir.” “It’s the Cambridge reservoir, a beautiful place in autumn.” “Every time I pass there in autumn, I want to stop and go for a walk. but I could not find the parking lot.” “You can stop under the Cambridge bridge.” All of us focusing on the water in the distance made me understand that the wide water surface was not the Charles River at all. It was memorable!
Accompanied by mature similar age girlfriends, the open natural scenery and intimate chat made outdoor group activities more comfortable. ZZ and I met for the first time. While going down the hill together, we shared the timeline of our first landing in the U.S. from China: she came to the East Coast from Beijing in 1991 and I came to the East Coast from Zigong in 1989. We chatted about the hot topic of a Silicon Valley man which bursted out on March 14. We agreed that many OBC (Oversea-born Chinese) adults are paying great attention to this affair, and the vast majority of ABC (American-born Chinese) youngsters don’t care at all. Then we had a good time chatting about family, marriage and children. When we said good bye to each other, I forgot to give back her bottle of water that I carried all the way up the hill which she didn’t have a chance to drink. Well, we will meet again later.
Little Episodes
1. The science fiction blockbuster scenery commented by Jessica：
2. Chatting with Mary and John at the top of the hill：
3. Unseen views at the top of the hill as we are climbing:
4. Sharing the same passion and road，we are going down the hill：
5. Our joke of “Boundless world” and “Supremacy over all”:
6. The oil film “Bridge of Madison County”
