Talk

The Thank You Dinner finished early, and HQ – a friend of mine from the mainland – invited me for a beer.

We found ourselves sitting in a seafood restaurant of the local bazaar, and were joined by BL (a senior physician from Sweden) and PH (a nephrologist from Belgium) - both good friends of HQ.

After a glass of beer or two, the two Europeans began to share their view on the history of the world - I was too happy to be a humble audience. The discussion began from the construction of the Grand Canal of China (京杭大運河), then the genetic mix-up between Mongols and Han people in the Yuan dynasty, followed by the invasion of Europe by Genghis Khan (成吉思汗), next to the invasion of England by Roman and Viking, and concluded with the development of the English language in the past millennium.

When we walked back to the hotel after a heated discussion, I said to PH, "Gosh, you are the only one I know who could tell the history of medieval England to the accuracy of year. Knowing that you are actually a Belgian, it is really an admirable achievement."

"Not at all," my new friend replied, "I lived in England for three years as a student."

I nodded, but said to myself, "Many of us lived in our country for half a century but still know close to nothing about our own history."