My Friend from the northern half of Korea

Yesterday I got my writing midterm exam back. In it we had to write a short note and an email based on things we'd studied, and a longer description of a friend, also based on earlier examples. I chose to write "to" and about my friend from North Korea, and he chose to write "to" and about me.

Yup. How many of you can claim a N. Korean friend? Or, how many of you can claim you've ever met a N. Korean? (shameless little plug for YOU to come study in China)

Things transpired rather naturally. The first days of class everyone is kind of finding their own 'rhythm' and place in the class, choosing seats that will become later habit. For the first couple of weeks the three N. Korean's in our class took turns sitting next to me. Not that it was that obvious, but they just 'happened' to sit next to me. At first I didn't make any overt attempts to be friendly. I didn't want to scare them off. But we made small talk, about the lesson, homework, etc. We settled into a routine, and one of the guys in particular has been sitting with me ever since. Not at every class. I think that would be too 'obvious'. But we seem to have developed a rhythm, and in certain classes on certain days we sit together.

We don't talk about too much, though we've shared about some family things, what we're studying, and some cultural things. Once in a while the course text will talk about something in America, and he'll ask me, "is it really like that?" And usually I have to smile and say, "well, not really, but it makes a nice story, huh?" I'd say we've reached a pretty good comfort level. Here's a little introduction, that I wrote for my exam (with the teachers corrections):

在中级班，我有一个很好朋友。他的中文名字是-- -- --。他来中国三个月了，而这是他第一次来中国。他到中国之前，学汉语五个月。他的汉语水平比我高。
In my class I have a good friend. His Chinese name is (I left it out, you can never really know who's reading). He has been in China for three months, and this is his first time to come. Before he came to China he studied Chinese for five months. His Chinese is better than mine.

他比我大四岁，也比我高一点儿。他有一个妻子，很漂亮。我希望有天跟她见面。他有一个女孩，六岁，很可爱。
He is four years older than me, and a little bit taller. He has one wife who is very beautiful. I hope to meet her one day. He has a daughter who is six years old, and very adorable.

他来武汉学习生物学，读博士。今年他只是学汉语，明年开始学专业。
He came to Wuhan to study for a PhD in biology. This year he is only studying Chinese, next year he will begin studying his major.

虽然他从朝鲜，我从美国来，我们的国家有差别，但这并不妨碍我们成为好朋友。
Although he comes from N. Korea, and I come from the U.S., and our countries have their differences, that does not hinder us from becoming good friends.

他是我很好的朋友。
He is my good friend.


I barely squeaked an A. :)

I'll admit that the test was not too hard. But I'm glad for that. Chinese writing (characters from memory) can be tough. When we got our tests back, he and I traded and read what the other had written. He laughed when he read that he had only one wife, and joked that he's not an emperor like in ancient China. We both laughed.

When he read the end, about our countries having differences but that doesn't hinder us from being friends, he said something to the effect of, "yes, that's true." And we smiled.

I've been trying to think of something profound to say, about stepping beyond our boundaries, reaching out in strange contexts, and the rewards it brings, but nothing comes to mind. I will say, I'm afraid for America's future, because most people in our beloved country don't do that, don't step out of the cushy comfort we think is ours by 'right', and we don't care to (heck, we've earned it, right?). And that's a sure sign of 'heart failure', which only leads to death.

We'll see where our friendship goes in the future. I hope it can last through dark nights, long years, and after we part ways, we meet up again one day in the future, and perhaps walk and talk and share life together, forever.