There is just no better place to have a celebration in the gweilo's honor than at his Chicago bar. How does that happen? As Cassie appropriately condemned, what business do I have coming here and putting together nearly the same life that I had left behind? How is there even a Chicago themed bar in an upscale mall less than two blocks from my law school? Do fourteen people come back to school on a Friday night to take the white boy out for a surprise birthday party? I find surprise waiting for me around every corner. One would say that these things happen; that this is something that just happens to people like me. By now we've come to understand something else is at work here, because without lifting a finger, we put the band back together.
Simone and Jay and the birthday dinner. Native to Hong Kong, she went to school in Nottingham for the past few years, and has the perfect British accent. She's on the moot court team for the law school that I have been drafted to assist. The ironic part of that is I have never been on a moot court team, I have barely any idea of what the actual competition is supposed to be like. I assume it’s like high school debate, and I get to teach people how to speak with authority in oral arguments. I have experience in raising my voice to get my point across.
Cora and Jay at the Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Law dedication ceremony. Cora went to Michigan and lived in New York for a year, but wanted to come back to her family here on the island. She is the smartest among the juris doctor class of law students and my pick to take over for me as the president of the student body when I'm done playing kingmaker.
Vanessa, Elodie, Chester and Jay after the dedication event. I was like the mascot at the football game that everyone wants to have their picture taken with. This adventure has taught me how to make friends with anyone, or maybe, how to communicate through a series of hand gestures and grunts. Probably the latter, I don't have any idea what people talk about here.
I came here to start over. I came here to put to use what I thought I had perfected before. I came here to confront my great expectations, to fulfill a promise I made when this confessional began. I have hundreds of reasons why I am living on the dark side of the moon. Not just living, but thriving, building on something, the adventure that never ends.
I suppose these things happen.
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