Once upon a time, there were four, very different girls. Each of them had led their own, distinct lives before meeting each other, but on one day in late August, the threads of each of their lives finally crossed with each other and afterwards would remain forever, inextricably knotted. Each of them, if it could be said, occupied their own space: Kimberly, bubbly beach chic from California, Luya, the Georgian southern belle, Kate, Massachusetts all-American girl, and me, hailing from preppy, Puritan Connecticut.
We made for an unlikely group of friends, and we can't claim to have become best friends at first sight. Long ago (or so that's how it seems now) we were randomly placed into good 'ole Giles dormitory at Duke University. Giles has all the charms of a Jeffersonian architectural relic: in the sunlight of a receding twilight, it radiated Southern hospitality and homeiness. I had just had my massive suitcases, packed tight with the all clothes I had ever owned, hauled up to the uppermost floor by frighteningly enthusiastic FACs and was beginning the long process of unpacking and rearranging when my dad, with an uncharacteristic eager look on his face, knocked on the door frame. Behind him, standing awkwardly out of place, were Luya and her mom. "Look, another Chinese girl!" he exclaimed proudly. Luya was the kind of girl who had the gorgeous, Korean popstar hair, glamorous clothes and of course, the best room down the hall whose decor I was secretly jealous of for a very long time.
Kim appeared in my life shortly after. She lived only a door down my hallway, and it was sometime later that week that I caught my first Kim-sighting: she poked her head out of her doorway cautiously, as if testing the air for danger, prairie-dog style, before emerging in her ubiquitous PJ shorts and hair upswept in a trademark, messy bun. She had the self-assurance to excuse herself from the desperate socializing all freshmen are wont to do when they don't know anyone in a new place. I was allowed into her lair once and was surprised to find her skyping with Big. Boys come and go, but Kim had staying power. She was just as able to rock the lived-in look when feeling homey and her unique, upbeat yet edgy style when we went on many of our later adventures.
Kate appeared last, but certainly not least. She lived in the distant wastes of first floor which I only passed through to use the door. One night I passed her, huddled against the wall with a phone pressed to her ear, walking by just slowly enough to catch the whispered confession, "people just aren't very friendly here..." But hidden behind her doll-like eyelashes and freckled cheeks was a biting humor and pragmatic ambition. Kate completed our I like to think that Kate got her start at Duke when she met us, but then that would be true of all of us. We have grown as much as our own persons as we have grown in each others' company.
Kate appeared last, but certainly not least. She lived in the distant wastes of first floor which I only passed through to use the door. One night I passed her, huddled against the wall with a phone pressed to her ear, walking by just slowly enough to catch the whispered confession, "people just aren't very friendly here..." But hidden behind her doll-like eyelashes and freckled cheeks was a biting humor and pragmatic ambition. Kate completed our I like to think that Kate got her start at Duke when she met us, but then that would be true of all of us. We have grown as much as our own persons as we have grown in each others' company.
Somewhere out there, the Duke administrators that possess the all-important, near divine powers of deciding roommate and dorm assignments, had serendipitously decided to place us together in the same dorm. Could they have predicted what their casual choices would yield? That they were playing with the fates of four girls in particular, forging and destroying friendship that had not yet come to be and in some cases, would never come to be? It's funny how life works, that the decisions of someone I will never know suddenly introduced into my life three girls who over the next formative two years (and I'm sure, in the years beyond) would be by my side through trial and tribulation, laughter and tears?
This summer, Kim will be going off to the technocratic, autocratic (what's another word that
rhymes?) Singapore for a summer study abroad to pursue her passion in environmental science. Kate, productive as usual, will be heading back to New England for a summer job. Luya and I will be on an entirely different continent entirely, in Beijing, where we will be roommates and each other's sole friend for a month. Budding businesswoman that she is, Luya is completing an ambitious internship with an investment banking firm, while I slack off with super-liberal artist types at a contemporary art magazine in Beijing and take classes in Shanghai.
It's so easy to think that life will always be this adventurous, this fun and exciting. Our time together seems endless, our summers only necessary pauses in our weekly adventures in Durham and North Carolina. From picturesque beach trips to food runs to local restaurants, becoming regulars at the Farmers' Market to attending concerts in the local area, I like to think of us as divas of Durham. But our time is limited and thus precious. Even though we might be apart for a summer, I trust that we'll be able to have enough of our own adventures to make up for each others' absences. This blog is meant to bring us together across cyberspace even when we occupy different geographic spaces, to bring us together even we are apart.
To quote Gilmore Girls,
"If you're out on the road
Feeling lonely, and so cold All you have to do is call my name
And I'll be there on the next train."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-B70hgYPt4
This summer, Kim will be going off to the technocratic, autocratic (what's another word that
rhymes?) Singapore for a summer study abroad to pursue her passion in environmental science. Kate, productive as usual, will be heading back to New England for a summer job. Luya and I will be on an entirely different continent entirely, in Beijing, where we will be roommates and each other's sole friend for a month. Budding businesswoman that she is, Luya is completing an ambitious internship with an investment banking firm, while I slack off with super-liberal artist types at a contemporary art magazine in Beijing and take classes in Shanghai.
It's so easy to think that life will always be this adventurous, this fun and exciting. Our time together seems endless, our summers only necessary pauses in our weekly adventures in Durham and North Carolina. From picturesque beach trips to food runs to local restaurants, becoming regulars at the Farmers' Market to attending concerts in the local area, I like to think of us as divas of Durham. But our time is limited and thus precious. Even though we might be apart for a summer, I trust that we'll be able to have enough of our own adventures to make up for each others' absences. This blog is meant to bring us together across cyberspace even when we occupy different geographic spaces, to bring us together even we are apart.
To quote Gilmore Girls,
"If you're out on the road
Feeling lonely, and so cold All you have to do is call my name
And I'll be there on the next train."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-B70hgYPt4
Love <3
ReplyDelete