Before the Chinese New Year, I had an amazing experience meeting the 17 year old son of one of my high school friends in Beijing.
On Monday January 25 I received an email from my high school friend in Beijing saying that her son, David, had left Beijing with his school travel group on a flight to Boston. I immediately replied to her that I live in Salem north of Boston and asked about her son’s final destination.
Tuesday I received her reply saying that her son is going to spend a week in Grafton MA attending Grafton Public High School. I had heard of Grafton, but didn’t know where it is located. I checked online and found it about one hour and a half west of Boston. Well, I thought I should try to meet my friend’s son.
Wednesday I replied to my friend that I could try to meet her son.
Thursday morning I received the reply. My friend was delighted at the possibility for her son to meet me and gave me the email address for the mother of his host family in South Grafton. I immediately sent an email to the host mother, Jen, and explained that David’s mother was my high school friend and we had not seen each other for almost 3 decades; I now lived in Salem and would like to meet David. To my surprise, Jen called me soon after the email and told me that David and his school group were visiting the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem that very afternoon, just a few blocks from my home. I then called my son’s school and asked that he be allowed to go to PEM to meet David.
Here we were, at PEM, where I met my high school friend’s son age 17 and introduced my son age 13 to him. They said “Ni Hao” and “Hello,” shook hands with each other and posed for a photo. A boy from Beijing meets a boy of Salem, and their mothers were classmates at Beijing No. 8 Middle School.
After PEM, wanting to spend more time with David as a way to connect with his mother, I joined his group touring around Salem. As the last stop they visited the Olde Pepper Companie candy shop on Derby Street. The group of Beijing students crowded the shop and bought many Valentines sweets. As David suggested, I bought a heart shaped box of chocolates and a bouquet of chocolate roses for David to take home to his mother.
David returned to Beijing just before the Chinese New Year, which arrived on Valentine’s Day this year.
