Best friends forever (2)

There is nothing much to say about my college life. I didn't enjoy it as much as most people do. I was this small town girl living in the big city without knowing what to do. That's why I decided to leave shanghai and pursue my master's degree in Beijing.

And I am glad that I did it. During those two years in the place where I did my research work for my master's, I met some wonderful people and we soon became good friends. They were all smart and funny, and they loved me.

I won't say Ju was the smartest one among them, but he definitely knew how to survive successfully in academic fields. He was very good at analyzing things and putting them into words, which is a very important quality for researchers. When I heard from him last time, he was working for some Nobel prize winner in Columbia University as a research scientist. And I am sure that he is now doing great somewhere.

Yan and I had the same advisor. She was about to graduate when I got into the group. Well, I don't know what to say about this girl. I simply loved her. She has the free spirit like a child. When I was with her, I didn't need to pretend anything. Actually, that should be the right feeling when you are with true friends.

I can't remember exactly when was the first time I met all those guys, but I do remember that Wang didn't give me any good impression in the first place. I thought he was rude, loud and aggressive. After we became really close friends, I found he was just a kid pretending to be mature and responsible.

Actually he was one of the sweetest and most interesting people I have met. When he was in college, he once got into a train without carrying a penny and travelled thousands of miles for several days, simply in order to try if it's doable. And he is the kind of guy who would stand for his friends and fight for them. He was the top student in high school, but he only got into a middle-level college to be with his best buddy at that time.

It's quite ironic that Wang is working for the government now. I just can't imagine how he could be that serious dealing with all kinds of people and paperwork. When I met him last year in China, he didn't seem to have changed much. I was so happy about it.

Dai is one month younger than me, but he always pretended to be a big brother and tried to give me advice. My basic knowledge of rock music came from him. And he often laughed at my bad taste because I listened to all kinds of pop music. Whenever I hear "Hotel California", I would think of him, because he could sing this song accurately at karaoke without missing a single twist.

Two years ago he paid me a visit here on his way back from a conference to China. I wanted to treat him in a nice restaurant but he rejected my idea, well, as before. Instead, he cooked for me in my apartment. Watching him there and doing all the chatting was like the old days came back.

In one of my emails, I told Dai that these two years must have been the best years in my life. He replied with that I should look forward and time can't be turned back.

I know. All too well.