The Rectification of Names
So I just received an email from the program that’s hosting my trip to China this coming spring (in just a few weeks, actually) when I’ll be studying Chinese in Beijing. And attached to the email were some last minute instructions, as well as a list of all the other American students who will be going over there with the program as well. I looked over the names, but of course, you can’t learn anything about a person by just reading those two words.
I thought back to the last time I was in China with a program like this, and all the other times I’ve found myself with a group of other students going off on some common adventure, for lack of a better word. I remember in particular a trip I took to Ecuador as a part of a biology class at Hopkins, and I walked into the room where we’d be holding our first pre-trip meeting, and as the other students walked into the room I’d size them up, so to speak, making my first impressions and trying to learn something about the two dozen or so people I’d be cooped up with for the next two weeks.
I wasn’t particularly impressed, as I recall, no one really stood out, and a lot of them didn’t seem like very nice people. I had a premonition that I wouldn’t get along with any of them particularly well, and I worried how the trip would go.
And then over the next two weeks I got to actually know these people. I learned which ones were funny and witty, and which were cold and reserved, or just plain annoying. I knew which were actually interested in what we were doing, and which were along just to get drunk out of their skulls. I made friends with some, and developed somewhat of a thing, shall we say, for this one girl in particular. And I thought back to my first impressions, rather dismal and cold, and thought how interesting it would be to compare them with the reality that unfolded in the following days. I had no idea what was in store for me, and no idea what would unfold.
And again I have this list of names. They mean nothing to me, but I know that in four months I will come back to that list, and the names will have a resonance that I could not possibly imagine. I can look at each of those names and guess, but how can I possibly imagine, for example, if “David Fisher” will be my annoying roommate, or if “Jessica Lu” will be the girl who gets drunk and throws up all over the shirt that I got a really great deal on at the Silk Market, or if “Garrett Luk” and I will be study partners, desperately trying to stifle our laughter as we are reminded of one of our countless inside jokes in the middle of class. Or maybe I will fall madly in love with “Melissa O’Brian”.
Or maybe none of these things will happen, and I may never so much as exchange one friendly word with Garrett, whoever he turns out to be, or I may turn out to hate Melissa while developing a hopeless crush on the girl whose name is listed right beneath hers. Maybe in the future I will look back at this entry and laugh at the irony -- or perhaps amazing accuracy -- of these wild guesses of mine.
Who knows? Who can say? It’s all a mystery, and it’s all an adventure.
And I can't wait.
I thought back to the last time I was in China with a program like this, and all the other times I’ve found myself with a group of other students going off on some common adventure, for lack of a better word. I remember in particular a trip I took to Ecuador as a part of a biology class at Hopkins, and I walked into the room where we’d be holding our first pre-trip meeting, and as the other students walked into the room I’d size them up, so to speak, making my first impressions and trying to learn something about the two dozen or so people I’d be cooped up with for the next two weeks.
I wasn’t particularly impressed, as I recall, no one really stood out, and a lot of them didn’t seem like very nice people. I had a premonition that I wouldn’t get along with any of them particularly well, and I worried how the trip would go.
And then over the next two weeks I got to actually know these people. I learned which ones were funny and witty, and which were cold and reserved, or just plain annoying. I knew which were actually interested in what we were doing, and which were along just to get drunk out of their skulls. I made friends with some, and developed somewhat of a thing, shall we say, for this one girl in particular. And I thought back to my first impressions, rather dismal and cold, and thought how interesting it would be to compare them with the reality that unfolded in the following days. I had no idea what was in store for me, and no idea what would unfold.
And again I have this list of names. They mean nothing to me, but I know that in four months I will come back to that list, and the names will have a resonance that I could not possibly imagine. I can look at each of those names and guess, but how can I possibly imagine, for example, if “David Fisher” will be my annoying roommate, or if “Jessica Lu” will be the girl who gets drunk and throws up all over the shirt that I got a really great deal on at the Silk Market, or if “Garrett Luk” and I will be study partners, desperately trying to stifle our laughter as we are reminded of one of our countless inside jokes in the middle of class. Or maybe I will fall madly in love with “Melissa O’Brian”.
Or maybe none of these things will happen, and I may never so much as exchange one friendly word with Garrett, whoever he turns out to be, or I may turn out to hate Melissa while developing a hopeless crush on the girl whose name is listed right beneath hers. Maybe in the future I will look back at this entry and laugh at the irony -- or perhaps amazing accuracy -- of these wild guesses of mine.
Who knows? Who can say? It’s all a mystery, and it’s all an adventure.
And I can't wait.