Friendship

I've noticed something about a lot of the Chinese people that live in Wudang. Most of the adults here don't seem to have many, if any, friends. At first it's something that you don't notice, because most Chinese people are very friendly to one another, so you'll see complete strangers sitting around talking at the park together. But when you really get to know some of the people, you start to see a pattern. There's many people that are business associates, or other sorts of acquaintances, but it's rare to see friends spending a lot of time together.

So I expressed this observation to one of my classmates, and he said something that I found confusing. He said he didn't find it strange because many of us think that we have many friends, but then in a few years, how many of them will still be around? So are they 'real' friends?

I've made so many new friends over the past five years here and I consider myself lucky to have met so many people from around the world. During my time here, I've also lost some friends. People that I've bonded with but never seen again from home that I just can't seem to manage to keep in touch with. Maybe they've started families and just don't have as much time to spend with their ol' pal Mel.

But when this happens, I've learned to accept it. People grow apart, and they change, and sometimes that means that you lose a friend. But to me, that has never meant that they weren't a "true" friend. They were a part of my life when I needed them, or when we had something to share with one another. Maybe now, that part of our lives is over. But I cherish the love and memories of every person that has impacted my life and helped me to become who I am today.