Confessions of a Cat-holic (89)

Meanwhile in the academic year of F4 and F5, I had been constantly writing letters to Clairol to keep in touch with her. I also tried calling her every other week, and Daryl too. The idea of out of sight out of mind did not quite work on me. I wrote to Daryl and Clairol out of pure intentions as a friend. At the time, the internet thing was not as big and convenient so writing letters was still considered a solid way of communications. I did it with my other friends too, like Cici and Lili from Australia, during the first few years they moved abroad.

I wanted to see if Clairol and Daryl were doing alright and assure them that they had a friend in Hong Kong and that I was just a phone call away.

Clairol had a few noticeable changes ever since she moved to the states. First, she cut her hair really really short. And when I said really short, I meant that she was nearly bald one time and the time she grew it long, it was just an inch and a half. She came back to Hong Kong during her semester breaks and she highlighted her hair red in a spiral sign.

Appearance wise, she looked more sporty than before and she didn't bother to wear her glasses anymore. Despite her changes in her looks, she also started talking to me in English. I made sure I wrote to her in traditional Chinese, nothing fancy, nothing simplified but she only replied to me in letters written in English. She told me she had forgotten how to write in Chinese, despite only away from Hong Kong for less than a year?

Despite all that, I still tried to communicate with her in other ways and because of the time difference, I was only able to reach her on the phone once every few times I called. The only times I caught her between classes, she spoke to me only in English. But I was talking in Cantonese the entire time. There were a lot of noises in the background when we chatted. She told me it was her Korean friends speaking Korean in her dorm.

I wondered what had America done to my friends. Not only that, Clairol also told me that she had converted to vegan and she would not eat anything made from animals including milk, eggs and even butter. I told her about my life in Hong Kong and how I had been going to the Christian fellowship meetings in school but she confessed to me that she never attended anything related to church in the states and she was not a Christian anymore.

Even though I was a hardcore localist who used to laugh at Jennifer's American accents, I was quite amazed to see Clairol's changes. I was receptive. Of course, I wouldn't start talking to her like an international school student, because I wasn't one. All of a sudden, I kind of grew curious about America.

The thought of studying abroad in the states never crossed my mind for a second before I met Clairol. But looking at the way she carried herself, I kind of wanted to be like her. I wondered how life was like half way across the globe in the land of America. I hoped some day that I could also break away from my circle of friends, speaking English not Cantonese whilst staying perpetually out of this egotistic circle of chartered professionals in Central. I knew I didn't want to ever see my friends from SPCC again after graduation and a college degree in America gave me a good reason to jump out of this net.

Daryl, on the other hand, also came back to Hong Kong every other few months during his semester breaks. Daryl had not changed in the same ways as Clairol did. I liked Daryl, and I was not sure whether it was romantically or platonically. Daryl used to talk to me on the phone every day in the second semester of F3 but he seemed to be keeping his distance from me since he left for the states. He never called or kept in touch with me ever since he departed. But we still got to see each other when we hang out in a group.

Daryl invited us all to a dinner at Hard Rock Cafe in Tsim Sha Tsui when he came back to Hong Kong during one of his school breaks in F4. There were around 10 of us who showed up and we were all excited to see what he had to share about his study abroad experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL20snyHd68