Well, this is not actually a news and is not so great cause a yellow and a brown who love to burn themselves on the sand shouldn't use the verb "tan", but "blacken".
OK, toady's real headline: Amanda got into one of the Ivy League institutions - Columbia University, graduate school, Latin America studies.
Amanda is the first mutual friend of Raj and me (it was also because Amanda went back home for weekend so that Raj found out an empty room... anyways...), we all spent an unbelievable summer in Berkeley I-House, year 2008. For kids like Raj and I who come from loud and crowded countries like India and China, Amanda is different from what the American girls "should be" according to American soaps and movies. What is the difference? I can't accurately describe, but I love the sincere way she treats her friends, I love her messy dorm, I love her talkative and energetic Philipiono mom and the backyard farm they have.
Somehow I envy a lot their little farm at backyard. Amanda's parents are taking care of all kinds of vegetables, they are also feeding about 15 chickens and collecting their eggs...The vegetables and eggs come from their farm are so different from the ones in supermarket, no matter labeled "organic" or not, they are fresher, greener, goldener and juicer.
Last time Mrs. Bradshaw brought us a box of fresh eggs from her farm, this made me so happy because my mom also loves to buy me "local eggs" (土鸡蛋) from farms where chickens have standing life and successful crow. Industrialization, even eggs are industrialized...Anyways, so each time when I opened the box, I touched each one of the eggs very carefully, picked up one, smelled it, since this could bring me back to my childhood memories when I was playing around with cats dogs crickets and carpenter worms at my grandma's garden.
This is beloved Amanda cuddling her beloved chicken.
Mrs. Bradshaw and I are making spring rolls - Philipiono style :)
It is indeed a fruitful season, dozens friends are admitted by more than one top universities worldwide. I-house gangsters Shailabh, Suman, Gourab, Raj's other friends from IIT and Bokaro. Although I don't really know all the details, also they still need some more time to make the final decision, I would like to say congratulations to all of them :)
Raj's friends are mostly top ranked engineers in India even the whole world, if possible, lots of them would love to get out of India for different reasons, temporarily or permanently. It is almost the same situation in China. Recent years more and more scientists and engineers went back to China since the Chinese economics's ability of absorbing talents has improved. I wish India is embracing the same progress so that these smart ass IITians could actually pay some more valuable tributes back to India other than direct foreign investments.
But somehow, I am more worried about China in the sense of absorbing talents besides scientists and engineers, for example, independent journalists, film makers, writers and artists. Ironically, it is usually this kind of "idle" people who give history a big kick once a while. Can China move in the right direction without consulting them? Can China stubbornly maintain the same attitude towards them? How long it would last? I wish within my life time, I could find out the answers.
Ohh, and our summer plan !
China and India !!
Would be my second time to visit India and Raj's first time to visit China. There are already a few Raj's friends have confirmed that they would come and join us in New Delhi and around. Yeeeeee, I am so excited to meet them and see Delhi with them !!!
For Raj, I would most probably show him Xia Men, the very fine city at the coast, take him to eat a lot the Chinese food and I won't forget to show my Chinese lady friends the rare animal - an Indian boyfriend.
Sounds fun!
ReplyDeleteWe are hoping Sushant could visit China next summer.