昨天接到Raza的电话,说他已经拿到博士学位了,准备30号回孟加拉。他邀请我星期天去日内瓦,说只是个小城,一天足够逛逛了。因为电话声音质量不好,所以没有听清楚他这次回国后还会不会再返回瑞士工作。如果这次真是“一去不复返”,那下次再见就真的是遥遥无期了。(I recieved a phone call yesterday from Raza, telling me that he has got his Doctor's degree and would go back to Bangladesh on 30th this month. He invited me to Geneva, and said it is a small city, one day is enough to go around. Due to the poor voice quaility thru the telephone line, I didn't hear clearly whether he would come back and work in Swiss after the trip home. But if he would not, the next time we meet may be really long after.)
Raza 是我到新加坡以后第一个认识的非本地人。当时是注册的第一天,在University Hall里面填交材料的长队里面,他排在我前面,好像是我问他或是他问我借笔,就说了几句,他学医,给人的感觉很温和。后来下午新生 orientation在一楼等车,我和林丹都去little India,后来看到Raza也在就很搞笑的拉他一起去了(说搞笑是因为他本身是孟加拉人,对印度的了解其实一点不比印度人自己要少)。我当时听说他正在找房子,就很自然的说,如果他找房子有困难的话,就搬过来和我住一起。这句话他后来经常提起,一句关心的话,成了我们以后关系的基础。当时 在little India的一家香料店里面问他是什么地方的人,他说:Bangladesh,我们几个中国人竟然都听不懂,后来吃完饭又经过了几家店,我突然想到孟加拉,问他是不 是有孟加拉老虎,他说是,才恍然大悟。记得在经过一个观音庙之前,我在揶揄他叫他多运动,因为他的肚子比我的3个都大:-D。我也不清楚为什么记得这些细节,甚至发生的地点,初到新加坡的记忆,永远都很清晰。(Raza is the first non-local friend I made after coming to Singapore. It was the first day of the new students' registration, he stood just next to me in the long queue submitting registration documents in the university hall. We started talking to each other after a pen-borrowing transaction. He was studying medicine, gentle and warm to people. In the Orientation later in the afternoon, Lin Dan and I decided to go to Little India. Raza was also there, and we requested him to go with us (we knew later he's Bangladeshi, and he doesn't seem to lack knowledge about India at all). He told us he was looking for a room, I responded, if he had difficulties, just come to mine and stay with me. He mentioned about these words many times later, a few warm words, built a ground of our long term relationship afterwards. Wandering around little india, we asked where he is from. "Bangladesh", supprisingly none of us a few Chinese got which country it is. After lunch, passing by a few more Indian spice shops, "Meng Jia La" suddenly flashed thru my head. I asked him whether they have Bangladeshi tiger? Yes, he replied. Bingo, I'm a genius. In front of a Chinese temple, I joked and asked him to do more excercises, coz his abdomen easily tripled mine :-D. I don't know how I could remember these in so much detail, even where a word was spoken/told. The memory of being fresh in Singapore is always crystal clear.)
其实我们的交往次数并不是很多,大有一种君子之交淡如水的感觉。我和他谈起我的女朋友,他说他30岁了,还没有女朋友呢。他常回家看望父母,让他们看他和我的照片。他请我和林丹到Jurong Point晚餐,请我到他PGP的住处吃他自己做的饭,他两次从家里面回来都给我带T-shirt,一件Bangladesh tiger的,一件有很多Bangoli文字的,他买了笔记本电脑让我去帮他看网络...... 他的生活,到现在3年多一点的时间里,也经历了不小的变化(我自己却没什么不同)。从他父亲的去世(当时我第一批被通知,我知道他对他父亲的感情很深,email里面那些苍白的话也根本没办法安慰他),NUS拿到硕士毕业,和Nadia结婚,在日内瓦一边做医生一边拿到了博士学位。即使如此,他给人的感 觉还是那么温和,我希望自己也能如此。(We kept infrequent contact since we first met till now, this let me think of one Chinese saying "the friendship of gentleman is as clear as water (君子之交淡如水)" (while the friendship of villain is as sweet as honey). I mentioned my girlfiend was still in Shanghai (at that time), and he said, "I'm 30, and I don't even have one". He went back home frequently to see his parents, showing them photos we took together. He invited Lin Dan and me for dinner in Jurong Point, asked me to his PGP apartment to taste his cooking skill, brought T-shirt for me two times after coming back from Bangladesh (one with a Bangladeshi tiger, another with many Bangoli calligraphy), asked me to help setting up the network after he bought a new laptop, etc... His life, changed a lot within 3 years (while mine is almost the same as it was). From the passing of his father (I was told immidiately after that, and I knew my words in the mail intended to comfort him was too plain in front of his deep feelings of his farther), graduating as master of medicine from NUS, being married to Nadia, to being a doctor in Geneva hosiptal and finally getting the Doctor degree. Even though, he still remains so warm and gentle. I hope I could be like this myself.)
7月5号他早上做完手术以后就匆匆跑到机场来接我,他说“it's so funny to see PanYu here”。看着他和Nadia在认真地讨论要点什么做午饭,我想说“it's so funny for you to complain u didn't have a girlfriend three years ago”。一件NUS百年校庆的T-shirt和一个中国旗袍式的小手机袋,他和Nadia能刚好各取所需,我真的非常开心。我还打探到,他们不久之后就 会有小baby了,哈哈。明天就是星期天,照相机充好电,帮他们一起多照些像。(On July 5th, he rushed to the airport after doing an operation to see me, he said "it's so funny to see Pan Yu here". Looking at him and Nadia discussing seriously what to order for lunch, I would like to say "it's so funny for you to complain u didn't have a girlfriend three years ago". A NUS centenial T-shirt and a little Chinese craft, I was really happy that he and Nadia both found what they wanted. Whatsmore, I was told they are expecting a baby this December, haha. Tomorrow is Sunday, camera fully charged, I'll take a lot of pictures with them.)
不过,我更加盼望的是,不久之后的某一天,我,或者他能再次地说:“hey, it's so funny to see you here”。(However, what I am looking forward more is, one day not long from now, I or he will tell "hey, dude, it's so funny to see you here".)