I haven't updated my blog for a while. Of course I have all kinds of reasons, which I will save here. Now the summer is moving fast, and I don't want to let it go without leaving a few traces here. My first entry after the hiatus, however, is about sending my friends off, sadly.
The two persons in this photograph, besides myself, are my colleagues and friends. The guy in the middle is Hung Kuang-chi, three years above me; the girl on the right is Bian He, one year above me. We are all from the same department - History of Science at Harvard. And if Kuang-chi is right, we are the only three Asian graduate students in the entire history of this department.
That fact has made us a special species, and nucleated us tightly. The first time I came to Harvard - in the spring of 2009, I met them for the first time during my campus visit. They have different personalities: Kuang-chi is laid-back, expressive, and passionate; He is modest, reserved, and attentive. We became quick friends.
More than five years have passed, and we have together shared many memorable moments during our fun and arduous PhD study. Kuang-chi liked to work in the basement of the Science Center, where he finished his magnum opus - his over-600-page dissertation - within half a year. Often before I left the building, I would drop by and say hello to him. He then would pull himself out of the piles of books, and get out so he could light a cigarette and talk with me about his favorite subject - Asa Grey, the great American botanist in the 19th century. Yes, that is where his passion stays - how Grey gathered species all over the world, how he communicated with his collectors, how he supported or disagreed with Darwin, etc. After ten minutes, he would go back to his place, continuing transcribing Grey's letters. And I would bike home, still immersed in Grey's expeditions.
I met He more often, because we worked on similar subjects - materia medica in China, and with the same mentor - Prof. K. He is a quiet person, but underneath her serene face lie a perspicacious mind and a warm heart. Her words are always precise and incisive, compassionate and caring. Most impressively, she understands well the potentials and limits of her capacity, and executes her plan with ambition, but rarely impractical, with creativity, but never loose-ended. Many times I went to her place, chatting with her about our research, and, of course, playing with her lovely cats - Little Black and Little White. Years later I may forget the content of those conversations, but one thing I won't forget is the way she cuts cookies. Once she and her husband came to my place to borrow my car. It was deep fall, right before the Thanksgiving. I just finished baking some cookies and took them out of the oven. Seeing that they all solidified into one big chunk, He carefully cut them into pieces, quietly, precisely, full of enjoyment. And I think that said a lot about He as a person: her enjoyment of life may not be easily discerned, but always real.
Sometimes I think that at the fundamental level, what connects us three is less of our Asian identity than of our shared background - we all studied biology before, and later defected. Although we are now historians, the science part never left us - it has made us humble, honest, and most importantly, tough. With passion, we entered the new field; with the toughness, we have persevered - at least so far.
Now my good comrades have both graduated and continued their illustrious career: Kuang-chi will teach at the NTU in Taipei and He will teach at Princeton. Early today, we had the last dinner in Boston. It was good that we didn't dwell much on the past memories - as what I did here because I am a hopeless sentimentalist - and spent more time on the future: what kind of scholars we want to be, how to produce the first book, etc. Yes, the friendship in the past is cherishable, yet what is coming is even better. One day, as Kuang-chi suggested, we may offer a course together on the history of Chinese natural history. That is the spirit!
So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight. I hate to go and leave this pretty sight.
So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, adieu. Adieu, adieu, to you and you...
