Cheers to the past

Home is the beginning of the story

　　Life is a journey

　　Only you

　　Master the map

　　How many times do people have to move in their lifetime, and has anyone calculated?! Moving is a record of growth. When I was a child, my family moved from Beijing to Sichuan, then from Sichuan to Guangzhou, and then back to Beijing. Growing up, going to college, moving from his parents' house to the university dormitory; meeting him, moving into his dorm room.

　　In the first few years of marriage, i was destitute, it was not difficult to move, from the house I rented to the house that the unit temporarily borrowed, there was no decent furniture appliances, as long as I brought myself.

　　When I went abroad, that small home was a few large pieces (if the newly bought bicycle was counted as one, would you laugh?), all of which were given to friends and relatives, which was really a bit painful, not the value of the object, but the memory of the former home has never been commemorated.

　　He flew from Beijing to California in 1997 and made his first home in the UC village of Berkeley, California. It was a college family dormitory that had been converted into a university family dormitory that had been converted into a military barracks left over from world war II in the United States. Berkeley has several family quarters, new houses in good condition, close to universities, and high rents. UC?village is 15 minutes away by car from the university, and the bus stop is just outside the university village. It's a neighborhood that looks simple, quiet, harmonious, and safe.

　　The university village is a small two-storey building, each with 4-6 households. There is a green grass between one building and the other, and on the grass are children's toys: walkers, toe bikes. I had just arrived from China and was surprised to find that no one had stolen the things that were being placed outside. The home is very small, living on the second floor, one bedroom and one living room, only the shower in the bathroom. The building is very close to the building, sitting in my kitchen, looking out of the window to see the friend's home across the grass.

　　Most of the people who live in College Village are married couples, mostly berkeley? Staff, students, family members. Because we are in the same university, many people know each other. When we were in California without children, we became good friends with four young couples who lived there. Among the men, my husband is the only one who does not do students, everyone calls him old g, the rest are graduate students of the university, berkeley is like China's Peking University Tsinghua, famous, can be admitted to the Chinese students are very good.

　　The husbands were all studying for a doctorate in science and engineering, and at that time, they were doing research for the boss or being a teaching assistant in the school, so that they could avoid paying tuition and receive a thousand dollars. That money is really scarce in California, where consumption index is high, and after paying five hundred rents, the rest includes all expenses for January. Everyone's home is very simple, there is no furniture, most of them are picked or bought second-hand goods, the bed is just a mattress, it is placed on the floor of the bedroom, and the table is used for both eating and studying.

　　At that time, everyone was "poor" and happy. Looking down on the latest movies, everyone will go to the shopping mall to see the second round of old films that have been put away, and only pay 1-2 yuan to see such a good film as the Titanic. Usually, everyone does not go to the restaurant to eat, and the New Year's Festival is entangled in the aa system to eat and chat together to relieve homesickness. One year on Christmas Eve, we found a place to play bowling, one round for one dollar, and had a good time. Friends are there, and life is not lonely. On weekends, as soon as the window was called behind the door, people gathered, played cards, drank cold water, drilled the table, and were very happy.

　　The first time everyone rented a car to go out to play, they actually chose a national park that is not only far away, but also difficult to open the mountain road: Yosemite. To save money we rented two of the cheapest and least horsepower cars. Four couples were loaded into two cars and set off before dawn. All the way is a mountain road, a uphill, no matter how the throttle is stepped on to the end, the car is not accelerating, only listening to the roar of the car's motor, looking from the rearview mirror of the car, our car has to keep giving way, parked on the side of the road, let the car behind go first.

　　Although the two husbands who drive can drive, they are still novices. I really sweated at my husband who was sitting next to me driving, and he didn't have any experience driving on mountain roads. The mountain road is extremely narrow and steep, often lined with cliffs. Sitting in the car and looking out the window, I was creepy worried, but I heard someone snoring behind me, and when I looked sideways, I found another couple napping in the back seat and sleeping soundly. In order to save money, everyone refused to stay in the hotel, and drove back on the same day, driving a total of 500 miles.

　　On the way back, I saw the most beautiful sunset on the plain, and I also heard my husband's most terrifying whisper: my legs are numb, I have to stop and rest. We worked hard to get home at 10pm. I turned on the TV and was just in time for the big international news: Princess Diana of England was killed in a car accident in Paris.

　　Postscript: When the two drivers returned the car, only to find that the car rental office has long been closed, the original newcomer car rental, do not know that only the airport car rental office is open 24 hours, heartache can not be, had to rent for two days, and then find a nearby tourist place to play for another day.

　　Stories like this have been played out from generation to generation. When I was young, I didn't have money, but I had the mood, the time, the happy days and friends. Many years later, I got a green card, became a citizen, found a job, bought a house, but I didn't know where to look for the deceased, I could only toast with the past!