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One Can't Go to the Station Alone......

I am going to tell you a true story, friends. With this narrative I wish to share with you my understanding of the meaning of friendship, and the meaning of life as well. And I hope you will enjoy it.

I got up at seven o'clock that morning, I was going to take the train at nine to Berlin, from where I would fly to Bukarest by Romanian Airlines, and stay there for some hours waiting for the connection flight back to China. I had been away from my motherland for quite a few months and I missed it so much. Really much indeed. In my home country, people are so friendly, they talk a lot, freely and casually, they get acquainted easily with each other, they invite you to their home for eating, then see you off to the gate and beyond......

Germany is a very nice place, everything is neatly organized here, you feel a sense of security, and people are honest and  much better cultivated, I should say. Well, you just can not expect everything to be perfect. You very often feel lonely, especially if you are a foreigner. People do not like talking very much.

So I got up that morning at about seven. I had to catch a train, as I said. For the last ten days I had been lodging in a friend's room. He shared an apartment with three other students, two  girls and a boy. This friend of mine, who kindly allowed me to use his room, was German, we were already close friends. Unfortunately he left for somewhere at the border between Germany and Austria the next day I came back to this city from Stuttgart. So you see I was sharing the flat with the other three young people. I had actually nothing at all to do on those days, which was a problem. Everybody had to attend his or her lessons, and to do necessary reviewing in the evening, nobody had free time for long chats. Sometimes we met in the kitchen and say a few words, I myself was quite tired after two months' working. 

One of the girls, who again was German, was a bit different and she seemed interested in having some more words with me. I saw this, but I did not feel like talking to her too much, I had lived in that society for quite a while and I had become accustomed to limited talking. The night before I came to the other two roommates and said words of farewell. Then I came to knock at her door. She opened it and met me at the doorway. I'm going to leave early tomorrow morning, I'd like to say bye to you now. What time? She asked.  I'll get up at seven, I said. Then we can meet in the morning, I'll have to be up early too, said she. That'll be better. Have a good night, I wished her.

So the next morning when I woke up, I felt a whiff of fresh and cool air that came into my room through the open window. This is the air of morning, the air of hope and most of all, the air of life. I got up at seven o'clock as planned. When I came into the kitchen, she was the first sight I caught there. This was a sight of comfort, a sight of gratification.  Morgen, we greeted each other. I brought my food from the fridge and sat down to join her at the table. Your friend didn't come last night, did he? She asked. No, he failed to come, but he will come directly to the train station and meet me there. I answered. I had told her that one of my Chinese friends would come to stay with me over the night and see me off the next morning.

We ate quietly for a while. Then I will accompany you to the station, she said. Please don't trouble, you have to attend your lesson this morning, don't you. But I see you've got a big case in the room, she continued. That'll be all right, I can manage. You're a lady, I'm a man, anyway. The breakfast went on. She started to speak again after a short while, Denis, now that you're going back home, are you feeling excited? Well, to the contrary, I answered, I feel sad because I'm leaving the city I like very soon. How long have you stayed in Germany then? Nearly eight months now, I replied. Then I must see you off to the station. Why? I said, being surprised by these sudden and determined words. One can not go to the train station alone after he lives in a place for eight months, she explained.  I look up from my dish and straight into her eyes, that was a pretty pair of soft and kind eyes full of sincerity!  For a moment I couldn't find a single word! I looked down back to my food immediately to hide my own eyes, which were on the verge of tears.

When we arrived on the platform, the train was already there waiting. I put down my back sack on the ground and opened it. I took a small piece of wax-painting out of it. Look, I said, here's a little something for you, it's a typical art of painting from Yunnan, my hometown. Oh no! she gave a low cry of surprise. How lovely! Then, saying thanks, she gently fold it and put it in her handbag. The next moment, she drew a small package out of the bag.  I've also brought you something, Denis. She unwrapped the package slowly and carefully, it was a wood elephant! I brought this from Africa, hope you'll like it, she added.

Then comes the time for me to climb up the train. It was not difficult to find my seat before I sat down and looked out of the window. She was still there, standing on the platform. I considered this to be quite unusual in a western country. I've seen a boy seeing off her beloved at the underground. They kept embracing and kissing until the train came. Then the girl started to step into the train. Much to my surprise, the boy already began to move away when the girlfriend had hardly finished her first step through the doorway with the other foot still remaining outside. Well, different countries have different cultures. In countries like mine, this would be neither acceptable nor logical.

Well let's come back to the train station. She was still there. I waved to her as a hint that it was time for her to leave. Yet she did not move, looking up through the window, smiling. I had never expected a westerner to behave this way. A sudden impulse came into me and I rushed down the train and ran up to her and held her arms and gave her a long kiss on her left cheek and then the right side. In the west, kissing is nothing more than hand shaking. But in China, this indicates a strong feeling, a really genuine passion......

Friends, in my last hour in Germany, I was deeply struck with the extreme kindness and friendship of this young lady, who I had known for just a few days. In this last hour, the women of Germany gave me an unforgettably nice impression, and the country of Germany too. I always keep those little sweet happenings in the depths of my memories. The name of the girl of this story is Mellisa, and the city I stayed in Leipzig.