this term i was confronted with a dramatic change because i made a new friend. well, you may laugh, what's the big deal about a new friend? how can he or she change my life dramatically? maybe it is because she tips the balance of my life, or rather, she brings something brand new into my life. she is a german girl.

    we met each other through a "mutual-help" program. my original intent was to improve my oral english, hers to learn chinese--both very practical and instrumental purposes. it sounds funny that i should find a non-native speaker for an english language partner. and i felt this way myself since my english speaking ability goes like a parabola: at first i could speak english more fluently, and then i found i had acquired a slight german accent. what a thing! however, as compensation, we both have made good new friends. i don't know how we managed to become so close, but i remember we didn't try too hard (she often says that we are "fated"). i sometimes think there's an unbridgeable gap between any two cultures. that may be true. but it shouldn't be a serious obstacle for two peoples to be true and good friends. we talk just as we talk with our respective native girl friends. we tell each other a lot of interesting things. so we are often shocked by the one another's experience and then burst into laughter. how cultures differ! what is common in germany cannot help but be extraordinary in china, and vice versa.

    i also met lots of other german students through my friend. they were mostly friendly and talkative, and enthusiastic about chinese culture, which satisfies me and makes me and a little bit proud. what they ask about chinese language and culture often leaves me c