Poems from China

The original can be found at UHA

March was a special month because there was always something happening this time of the year. Maybe spring was the season that could bring out all kinds of surprises. However, funny things did not happen every year. It only happened every four years and almost always happened on the year of power transition. On the record related to this story, the first time it happened was in March 2001 in the mid air, then March 2005 over the white house, and most recently March 2009 on the sea.

The water was deep blue, just like a piece of mirror, no waves, no movement. The sky is a bit of lighter blue, no breeze in the air, only a few smoky type clouds lingering around. Everything was calm and lazy, just like the intelligence office deep down under the sea. Same quietness, only the environment here was more moist. From time to time, a few dolphins showed up, but only the noises of their splashes gave them away.


He came here no for the tranquility, leisure tourism, suntan, because his interest was not on these sort of things. Besides, the ocean had the mood swing worse than a woman, so swift as if it could turn a kind mother into a wicked witch, a nice girl into a nasty bitch in an instant.

Ever since he was recruited into the intelligence station, he was trained and worked in this remote space undersea, a far, far away place from any civilization. It was a good thing that his life was dull and he was crazy about computer programming. His campus life was one line connected with three dots: classroom, cafeteria, and dorm. At the Station, he was like a fish swimming in an aquarium, no more academic pressure, no more nagging from his parents, no more bullying from his peers, and no more mandatory light outs. He would work day and night nonstop, and his job was his favorite: a hacker. To put it more precisely, his work was to open doors to remote computers far far away. The job was very addictive to him. For every door he opened, he would be rewarded with higher ranks and would rake in more and more dough as well. His freedom to choose his victims would be easier and broader, his restrictions would be lifted more and more, and his desires soon went wild.

However, what he did not realize, more precisely, know, that everything he did was carefully administered and monitored. In such an undersea intelligence Station, there were more than a dozen officers like him, all were isolated from the real world and all contacts with outside were all craftily arranged. They were chosen because of their expertise and their geekish personality. Their jobs were all carefully assigned accordingly to their talents and interests of the Station. His job was simply unique: Keysmith, just open certain high security doors so his colleagues could do what they were good at. Sometimes he did linger around after he had done his part. Most of what he found were things foreign to him, something like astrological figures and dull data streams. Occasionally, he did run into some interesting photo albums, however, he could not understand or be interested. Foe example, he could not figure our why some of the barely naked photos possessed such a high price tag while other more exposed and more compromised photos had no value whatsoever.

He was so puzzled that he would ask around. His colleagues not only offered no explanation, but laughed at his ignorance for lack of a sexual life. He felt so ashamed as if he was experiencing the same childhood bullies and humiliations.

It aroused his interests in women, however. He became intentionally social with female colleagues, hoping to find answers to satisfy his curiosity. In about a year, he had plenty of experience and mastered quite a few tricks along the way. At the same time, he was also humiliated numerous times, especially the women he devoted more investment with. To make things worse, the women seemed more technical than emotional. Recently a woman even accused him of sexual harassment after more than a month of a steamy relationship with him. The woman was transferred away soon after because the station seemed to know his character better than that of the woman. During an affair, however, one of her coworkers told him a different story that the woman had used him to escape the Station.

This incidence injured his heart so deeply, and made him harbor so much anger and suspicion towards women. However, childhood experience saved him again. He’d shift more and more of his energy to assignments and used the work to occupy his mind to rid him of all the frustrations.

It was his turn to conduct a globe positioning synchronization (GPS). This was a one man job, with one submergible boat, one computer, one emission device, one corresponder, and life saving equipments among other necessities of daily life.

He turned on the GPS routinely, and it was filled instantly with all sorts of signals. In such a 70 miles radiance, there were millions of millions emitters! He opened his notebook computer, keyed in several commands, and filtered out the majority of the signals, left only several dozens of the signals, marked as blue, red, and green dots. He still felt they were too much, so he eliminated the blue dots because they were military vessels equipped with counter-hacker devices. These military entities did not pose any threat in peacetime, even though they were operating in the sovereign territories of the foreign countries. He then carefully checked out the remaining green dots, and dismissed them as well. For the rest of the six or seven red and a couple of brown dots, he analyzed their traveling patterns for the past few hours, and sent the reports back to Headquarters.

This sort of operation could only be conducted in this remote pelagic area, because information could only be gathered using all available satellites in orbit, which included foreign, military, and domestic types. The operation here would not put the station at risk, because of the obvious tractability and political liability. The Station had operated in secrecy for many years. It had contributed a lot of information on the advancement of science and technology, foreign policy, military and pirate operations, counter espionage, and political maneuvers. Recently, the information it gathered had aroused suspicions that the Station’s identity was at high risk since many nations had focused on the location of the operation. More present danger was the activities originated for a defense treaty reduction agency whose counter espionage tactics were more ingenious than those of the central intelligence agency. Because of this looming threat, the Station became more prudent and reduced the frequency of certain sensitive operations. This time the Station dispatched him again in an effort to coordinate another delicate hacker activity over a distantly located white house. Unbeknownst to him, there was a counter-hacker unit operating in a nearby neighborhood, and its interest was solely on him.

Waiting for the response from Headquarters, he took a routine patrol in his boat. He had to make sure there was no manmade stuff nearby, because there should be no fishing activities. If there were, the fishing boats should not be wired. If wired, they would not be simply a fishing boat. They would be either too bold/ignorant or had some conspiracy just like him.

There was still time before the orders came back to him. He sat back in front of his notebook again, staring aimlessly at the background picture of the woman who had accused him of sexual harassment. An innocent looking face with a pair of attractive eyes, a small berry like mouth always made him linger around. Her body was typical, not outstanding to say the least. Hard to imagine such a young woman possessed so many skillful techniques. However, her heart was evidently not on him. At the beginning, his lack of sexual experience blinded him from realizing she was just acting. It hit him like a hammer on the nail that instantly made him recall vividly how his parents behaved right before they got divorced. He understood right away that she was doing her job, just like his parents were executing conjugal obligations. To him, he still devoted too much of his thoughts to her. He could not help keying in her identity and parameters into a searching program he wrote specifically for her. He could not execute this program at the Station. Other than the obvious protocol violations, he also needed the information from domestic satellites that were not so restrictive. Here on the open sea, he could use foreign and unrestricted satellites, could evade typical monitoring mechanisms, and freely access the WIFI without any limitations and check points. If he were careful, the Station would never have any knowledge of this activity (how naïve he was!).

A few seconds later, he was astonished at what information he extracted: the woman had an automobile accident just two days ago, survived only by her husband and toddler daughter. He did learn about her marital status after he became very suspicious about her knowledge and techniques on sex. She had to admit that she was not a virgin and she had married. It made his suspicions subside, but left him experiencing a tinge of guilt every now and then. The out of wedlock fact, however, made their experience more exuberant. Facing the news, he was somewhat sad, and did actually shed tears.

“Ding~” the notebook cut his sorrow short. A brown dot was marked with a red ring. He mechanically typed in its identity into his program, accidentally ran through his searching program as well. Almost instantly the brown dot changed its lazy zigzag behavior and headed to him directly with full speed. This sudden turn of events took him by surprise. So did the station, Headquarters ordered him to abort whatever he was doing and return home immediately.

“Crapola!” He instantly cursed himself so reckless this time. “Woman! Woman!” He cursed bluntly all the women in the world including his mother! “March eight! March eight!” He waved one of his fits in the air, “I’d rather sleep with my antique 38 mm than with any woman!” He took a glimpse at the monitor and saw the notebook blinked dead right after a firework with a greeting of the “International Women’s Day.” “March eight international woman’s day! Only women would demand such a festival day! Only women could make me so crazy and reckless!” In less than half a minute, he quickly put away all instruments and submerged the boat heading back to the Station under the sea.


There were simply too many things he did not know. In less than three minutes after he submerged, a military intelligent ship manned by civilians had rushed to the area less than a mile away from where he had just disappeared. If not for the interference of five vessels, three of them were from law enforcement agencies, he would have been apprehended or even killed. However, his ignorance about all this, his rigorous trainings, and the swift emergency management at Headquarters have saved him.

He did not know that in the same March eight years ago, one of his colleagues was spotted at a similar position. The air force came to the rescue and put on a gallant aerial play that resulted in a crash of a fighter jet and a seizure of a group of intelligence officers. And in the same March four years ago, the Station conducted a daring hack attempt on the white house that intrigued so much chaos that both heads of the white house had to be evacuated into secure bunkers.


Eight years ago, it was purely a mental competition in retrospect. The Captain of the reconnaissance aircraft made a clear statement to the fighter jet pilot: “We know what you are doing! Even though you are at your home, we know! We just want you know that we know. We also have the same policy that ‘we will not offend you if you do not offend us. If you offend us, we’ll definitely fight back!’ We have manpower, finance, and expertise! Do you?”

The Pilot was as ignorant about the truth as that Keysmith. He knew this spy craft was a frequent visitor in this region for quiet some time and was ignored until this engagement. His order was to attract its attention, only for three minutes. Three minutes seemed short to ordinary people. To the fighter jet pilot, it could mean an eternity.

First he attempted to fly parallel with the bulky reconnaissance aircraft, but he was ignored completely. Air force ordered him to get closer, making every attempt possible to force the spy aircraft to change its flight pattern, even change in the altitude would suffice. Clearly, he had never attempted anything like this before but had to comply.

The Captain was a decorated veteran with a lot of combat experience. He ignored the fighter jet completely at first because he knew the fighter pilot dared not to shoot down his spy aircraft. His task was to circle on the same spot, lingering long enough so that the counter intelligence crew could identify the target identity and the location.

Looking at the fighter pilot, he had to alert the mission Commander on board, a civilian law enforcement officer: the jet flew too close, a mid air collision was possible.

The Commander did not believe the Pilot had the balls, more importantly he could not afford losing precious time: “using some tactics to scare him off, get us some time!”

The fact the Commander lack of combat experience had forced the Captain to reassess the situation. A consistent flight pattern was essential for hunting the target. That was the very reason the Pilot would not allow him to fly steady. Seeing that the two aircraft got so close that the wings were almost overlapping, the Captain came up with a brilliant idea.

Suddenly he tilted the wing slightly, sort of like a nod at the Pilot. Such a maneuver would have scared off a lot of the pilots, even some experienced ones. The fighter jet was too small compared to his bulky spy plane and a collision would have definitely caused the Pilot to loose his jet.

The Pilot broke off immediately without any turbulence. Such a maneuver demonstrated undoubtedly the Pilot was indeed well trained and had a tremendous concentration, an overall a seasoned flyboy. However, the nod did not scare away the Pilot and he flew right back! Two wings almost overlapped again.

The Captain was so impressed with the Pilot, his guts, skills, and determination. If this went on, he surely would have to change the fight pattern. In addition, the turbulence the jet made would have interfered with the tracking device on board.

The Commander was clearly irritated and impatiently ordered the Captain to get rid off the fighter jet. The Captain tried another scare maneuver but he did it mildly this time for he wanted it to be a respectful warning.

This time the Pilot did not waiver. It might have been that the Pilot thought it was another joke again. So, the fighter jet did not dodge at all. The Captain had always insisted that was what happened till the day he died years later!

“Bull!” The Commander was furious and ordered the Captain to stop toying with the Pilot.

“He knows!” The Captain argued. “If this goes any further, we’ll collide!”

“Bull! He dares not!”

“What if~?”

“This is a direct order! Do it or I’ll have the Co-Captain do it~” He changed his tone almost instantly, “All right, just one more time! One more! That is all I’m asking for~”

The spy aircraft dipped its wing again. What followed was completely out of everyone’s wildest dreams: the Pilot seemed to know precisely what the Captain was thinking. At the exact moment when the Captain tiled the wing, the Pilot parachuted out of the fighter jet, and the unmanned jet sliced right into the spy aircraft.

Almost in an instant, the tail crewmen alerted the Captain that a squadron of fighter jets was on their tail already. With a warning shot exploded right in front of the spy aircraft, the fighter jets made their demand very clear: Surrender or else.

The Commander caved in and ordered the Captain to obey the fighter jets, albeit the Captain protested because he would rather die in a crash than surrender. Besides, their Carrier was not that far from here and he would have about 60% chance of making it. However, the Commander did not want to risk his life.

The reconnaissance plane had to surrender, and the crew was detained on a small island. Later, the crew was sent home, and the plane was taken apart and shipped back in pieces.

For a long time, the law enforcement and the military had their differences. The military did not want to sacrifice their pride and the law enforcement did not want the military to interfere with their political agendas. Soon, the law enforcement started contracting out military equipments without the military’s muscles. The military did not care and was glad not to get involved in many missions that surely would have tainted their gallant reputations.

This time, the pursuing boat was just another civilian contracted military reconnaissance ship. Fatefully, it was another encounter with the target so close yet slipped away because of interference again. The difference was the fact that eight years ago, it was in the air, and this time the drama was played out on the sea. In either case, it was better off than that encounter four years ago over the white house.

As soon as the reconnaissance ship got close to the target, two trawlers blocked the way dropping logs in front of the ship, forcing her to stop. An intelligence collection (NIC) ship, a fisheries patrol vessel, and an oceanographic administration patrol (OAP) soon joined in.

Reluctantly the reconnaissance ship slowed down, not wanting to let the target get away.

The NIC and the OAP attempted to emit electronic waves in attempts to interfere with the chase.

The reconnaissance ship fought passing through, trying to lock on the target. The electronic interference was a headache, but the crewmen did manage to shield it off, but they were losing precious time.

The NIC and the OAP tried to get closer hoping for more luck, and they got within 25 feet of the ship.

The commander on the reconnaissance ship came up with an idea, he ordered his crew to open the fire hoses on the vessels close to the ship, hoping to force them to back off and ridding off the interference. At the same time, he signaled that they were to follow the orders and ready to leave the area in an effort to gain some precious time.

The NIC and the OAP could not get any closer, interference and intelligence gathering would not be successful, and they did not like to lose this opportunity if the reconnaissance ship left too quickly. So furious was the Leader on the NIC. Under the high pressure of the water, he tore down his wet uniforms, madly threw them on the deck in protest. His tanned muscles resisted the high pressure like an animal in frustration.

The fire hoses got weaker because the spy crewmen were amused. They were stunned at what they were evidencing.

Seeing got attention of the renaissance ship, the Leader took off his wet pants as well, left only with his boxers~

Knowing the mission had to be aborted, the reconnaissance ship had to leave. However, the ship could not leave freely, beside the semi-naked scene on the deck had clearly captured all attention of the spy crew.

“Ignorant fools!” The Commander cursed his crewmen for lack of experience and being too easily amused. One of the crewmen even shot a clip with the high tech spying equipment, a clear give away about what they were.

It was too late though. The Commander realized the mission was a failure again.

Well, there was another distinct difference between civilians and the military. The military would have treated each mission seriously and would not give away their secrets. Civilians, on the other hand, did not have such high discipline. Not only did they lack discipline or principle, they did not know pride either. The sold the clip to the media at the highest bidder. The sad thing about all this was that the reputable news media did not even want this piece of child play. Only one agency with little concept of shame bought it and showed it on the screen, all for laughter and ratings.


Later, in a media conference, the head of the white house had a not-so-nice exchange with a reporter from that agency who bought that clip. The reporter asked why the head delayed the response to that incidence and why the response was a down play of what had happened. The reporter tried to portray the head as a coward and as one who could not lead. The head harshly responded. First he liked to get all the facts together because he’d like show the people he knew what he was talking about. Second, he did not like to provoke people because tension was never a good solution.

“It only demonstrates that you and your party are lacking of principle, Sir!”

“That is our principle!”

The original can be found at Halloween


Mystery lurked at every corner
...and ghosts were cruising everywhere
Jack-o-Lantern laughed out flare
...while monsters chased after one another
Witches and skeletons were altogether
...for Happy Halloween was the craziest scare
All the miseries did no longer matter
...another season was another fall affair
At the annual festive for any harvester
...let’s all spawning joys and laughter
With all the best wishes out there
...enjoy all the dances happily ever after

International airport at San Francisco was busy as usual. I stepped out a narrow pathway with an anxiously feeling to meet someone.

There were quiet a few people standing all over the place, holding a nameplate. Obviously they were waiting for whoever has the same name on the plate.

I looked around and checked each plate carefully, there was none for me. No nameplate, no familiar face either.

I was informed that Dr. Johnston would be there to pick me up and take care of all the paper works.

I was wrong. I went downstairs to get my luggage, and then followed the directions to the official checkout booths.

"How are you, sir?" A cheerful voice from behind a window.

"Fine, thank you. And you?" Sounded normal.

"Nothing to complain."

"No-no-no, I do need to have my paper work done." I thought she meant something else.

"Okay." An understanding tone. "What can I do for you?"

"Here is my passport, my I-90, my air-ticket, my luggage, my......"

"Hold your horses. One at a time." A giggling wind.

I always hated that kind of laugh, belittling someone else. It was a kind of insults in my country. "I do not own any horse, my lady."

"I, shih, know. I meant you slow down."

"I have not moved at all." It really got on my nerves.

"Okay, the name on the passport is correct, am I right?"

"Yeah." Why?

"Okay. What is your purpose visiting America?" A small talk.

"I come to American to study." I was really proud of myself.

"Very good." She checked everything and pouched something into a computer sitting in front of her. "Everything is fine. I hope you study well."

“That all you have? A small luggage, a bookpack?”

“My family is not rich. These are all the properties I own.”

“Just a second, the computer is slow today.” She hit the monitor. “That’s all? Anything fancy, like jewelry?”

“No, I don’t have any family jew. My lady. I am from a communist country.”

“You don’t say.” She laughed out loud with tears in her eyes. “That’s all. Good luck to you.”

"Thank you." I threw everything into my luggage and walked out the booth as fast as I could. I did not know why she was so easily amused.

After twenty some hours flying, it was a wonderful feeling to be able finally walk out for some fresh air. I meant the real natural fresh air. At this moment, all I want was something fresh; maybe some fruits or vegetable would help.

I looked around, still nobody I knew in sight. “What should I do?” I asked for myself. “Maybe Chinese Embassy would be the best place for a start.”

I looked around. A middle age woman was walking right in front of me. I caught up with her and asked gently: “Madam, would you please tell me how to get Chinese Embassy?”

She stopped and looked at me for a good second. Then, she dropped her briefcase and hugged me. A big and nice smile cast on her face. No word.

“You are so kind.” As she turned, I stopped her again. “Now, please tell me how to get Chinese Embassy?”

She looked at me again and hugged me one more time. No smile on her face this time.

I stopped her again asking for direction as she tried to walk away without a word to me, again.

Again, she hugged me and this time she looked annoyed. I sensed something went wrong. So I pulled out my pen and wrote on my hand: Chinese Embassy.

She looked at my hand and a loud laugh busted out. For half a minute, I stood there with burning cheeks and running tears. If there were a hole, I would drop myself in for sure.

“Oh My!” After gained her composure back, she wiped away tears on her face, “It is Embassy, not embrace! What a trick!” She walked away. “Go back China, young man.”

<o:p></o:p>

Embarrassed, I quickly walked out of the terminal onto the street. There were quiet a few minibuses and cars lining along the side walk.

"Do you need a lift?" A young man walked up to me with a towel on his left shoulder.

"Yes, please. I need to find a hotel and a restaurant."

"Where?" He seemed confused.

"Hotel and restaurant."

"Wait here." He passed me by to greet others.

"Are you waiting for someone?" An older guy came unto me shortly after.

"Yeah, I think. A young man just asked me to wait for him here."

"Uh. He is one of us. That is all you have?" He nodded to my small luggage.

"Yeah…" I was lost.

"James." The young man yelled to the older guy, "come over here."

"Okay. Tom."

"This guy looks too poor. He does not know where he is going. If he goes to San Barbara that will be too far for us…"

I overheard that conversation. What? I could not believe this.

"I just… …"

"I know," Tom interrupted me," I am sorry, he is the boss."

Hell. What could I do?<o:p></o:p>

"What about a bus, huh? It costs you $10. Just over there at the yellow bar…" he walked away.

<o:p></o:p>

I turn to see a yellow bar about a hundred meters away. A blue color bus with a couple of red strips was parking there. I shook my head, dragged my luggage behind, and walked as fast as I could to the bus station.

About half the way through, the bus started moving. I quickly dropped my luggage and waved the bus to stop.

"BOOM-BOOM!" Replied the horn.

"Oh, My God! What can I do? Nobody I know, nowhere I know." I reached into my pocket; there was a $20 note in there. "What can I do at such a strange city, speaking a strange language, and nobody seems care." It was an awful and sad feeling.

I waited, and waited, and waited. My watch, a gift from my mom just before I took off, told me I had waited more than 20 minutes. I stared at the watch; a familiar face appeared with tears running like two creeks on a plain, kind, and pink land. That was my mom. Every time I left home, she cries.

I felt so painful. My nose started sour. I had to turn my face away from public. Just at the same moment, a bus pulled in and the driver saw my head turned away, so he closed the door and pulled the bus into the traffic.

"Wait for me." I cried out aloud. But the engine ate my voice.

“Oh No! Oh No.” Cars passed me by as I stood helplessly on the street. Some yelled at me, some threw gestures that I didn't understand; some just mouthed some silent words of disgust behind the tinted windows. Three cars almost ran me over, barely missing my legs, but my mind wasn't on the fact that I was a Chinese guy standing in the middle of an American street: some land of opportunity.

A car pulled by and stopped right in front of me. "Young man, it is dangerous standing in the middle of the road. You may get killed."

"Uh, sorry." I tried hard to hold back my tears and walked to the station slowly and calmly.

"Are you all right?" The driver seemed caring.

"Yeah, I am fine..."

"Can I help? I can give you a lift." He stooped the car on the side and talked to me kindly.

“Thank God! I thank you.” I thought. "Thank you, sir. I do not know what I can do."

"A new visitor, right?" He smiled at me.

"Yeah. First time to America."

He helped me get my luggage into his trunk and opened the passenger side door to let me in.

"Are you a student?"

"Yes."

"UCSF or Stanford?"

"Stanford."

"Great school, you know. My son was graduated from there a couple of years back."

"Yeah?" I didn't know what to say.

"Well, where are you going to go?"

"I do not know."

"I see. It’s getting late now. I think you should find a motel for a night and figure out what to do tomorrow."

"Yeah. I think you are right. Can you get me to Stanford?"

"My home is in San Francisco. Stanford is at the opposite direction." He thought for a while. "How much money do you have?"

"$20."

"Only $20?" he was surprised.

"My family is not rich, I …" I did not know how to explain.

"For $15, I can send you to a nearby motel. You can use the telephone there to call the University and let them to pick you up."

"$15?" I thought it was too much.

"Yeah. They usually charge you $20 to $40 bucks here. Even the bus costs you $10 to $15."

"Thank you. You are nice." America was indeed a high salary, high expense country, I now believed.

<o:p></o:p>

A few minutes later, we arrived at a two-floor apartment building.

“Here you are. A moderate motel. The office is over there” He leaned over me and opened the door from inside.

I gave him the $20 bill. He handed me five $1 bills. As soon as I walked out of the car, he turned and disappeared into the heavy traffic.

"My luggage..!" My cry was buried again in the highway noise.

Here I was. A bookrack and $5. Oh My GOD!!!

I walked to the motel office. A middle-age woman was sitting behind a window in a small room. A bookrack with all kinds of brochures at one side occupied nearly one third of the space. It was so small that it was designed for only one person to check in at a time.

"Can I help you?" The voice sounded crack with an electronic buzz in my ears.

"Yeah. Can I use your telephone?"

"There is a public phone at the parking lot, by the far side of the road."

I had to walk out of the office. There it was. At far end of the apartment complex, there was a green box with a telephone sign. I walked there and picked up the phone.

"This is operator. How can I help you?"

"I want to call Stanford University."

"Okay, that will be 95 cents."

"I have a $1 note…"

"Sorry, sir, we only take coins."

"I do not have coins..."

"Sorry…" She hung up on me.

“Oh My God! What can I do?” I walked back to the office. The same lady was still sitting there.

"Can I get four quarters, please." I sliced a dollar bill underneath a small opening at the bottom of the window.

"Do you have a dame?"

"No."

"Give me another $1."

I couldn’t understand why but did give her another one-dollar bill.

"Here are your seven quarters, a dime, and one nickel."

"Thank you!" I did not know if I should thank her. I needed coins!

"Operator, I need to talk to some people in Stanford."

"Please deposit 95 cents."

I dropped three quarters and one dime.

"Who are you going to speak to?"

"Anybody at the international student office."

It rang about two minutes. “Thank God, my ordeal is about to end now.”

"International student office. This is a touch-tone phone. Our office opens from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. If you need information on registration, press one, now. If you need information on tax, press two, now. If you need housing information, press three, now. If you need information on student activities, press four, now. If you have a health problem and you wish to speak to an insurance agent, press five, now. If you have other problems and wish to speak to one of our secretaries, please remain on the line. One of our secretaries will speak to you shortly. If you wish to hear the menu again, press the star and the pound key."

“Whom was I speaking to? Well, let's see who’s next. Once I got somebody at the university, I maybe able to figure out what to do from there.”

There was a very nice music in the phone. Some lunatic was crying for understanding. I felt deep sympathy for the female singer. Even the musicians in USA have problem in understanding things. “I was not the only one.”

"Click-click-click." Finally. "Hollow, hello? My name is..."

"Sorry, sir. Your time is up. To continue, you must deposit 95 cents."

What? I could not believe my ears. I paid $15 for a few minutes ride, 10 cents for an exchange, and 95 cents for a perspiring song. Now, I had to pay another 95 cents to continue?

"Calm down, just one more minute, it will all be over." I was comforting myself. “Bloody American.”

I deposited another 95 cents. That’s all the coins I got left.

"International student office. This is a touch-tone phone. Our office opens from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. If you need information on registration, press one, now. If you need information on tax, press two, now. If you need housing information, press three, now. If you need information on student activities, press four, now. If you have a health problem and you wish to speak to an insurance agent, press five, now. If you have other problems and wish to speak to one of our secretaries, please remain on the line. One of our secretaries will speak to you shortly…"

Great! I had to start all over again and possibly had to deposit another 95 cents. “Oh, this is great! This is just great!”

At the next click, I hung up the phone, and dialed the operator. After a careful explanation, the operator showed me some sympathy. "What can I do?"

"Do you know who you are supposed to get? Who is your professor?"

<o:p></o:p>

"My professor’s name is Dr. Johnston."

"I can try a collect call for you, if Dr. Johnston is willing to pay for it."

"I am sure he will." I was not so sure myself, but I was desperate.

After two more minutes, a female voice came on the other end. "Hello? This is Tammy speaking."

"This is operator. There is a young man who wants to speak to Dr. Johnston. Is he there?"

"There is no Dr. Johnston in this office."

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’ve been working here for twenty years.”

"Uh, I am sorry." Operator hung up.

“What? Oh, yeah, Dr. Johnston does not work in the International Student Office. He is my professor whom I am going to work under.”

"Operator?"

"Uh, it is you again. There is no Dr. Johnston over Stanford. This is a public phone. If you want to talk to somebody, please call for yourself. I have work to do. I cannot talk to you all day."

Yeah, she was right. I was guilty!

"I am sorry, it is all my fault."

"Okay. I understand. Bye now."

"Please wait!" I started begging. Never before in my life did I ever beg anybody for anything! "It was my fault. Dr. Johnston does not work in the International Student Office."

"What? Is this some kind of joke? It is not funny..." She was angry.

"No-no-no. I am sorry. But would you please call Dr. Johnston in the Department of Economy?"

"You better be serious this time."

"Thank you very much! It won't be a joke. I promise."

"Hello, Department of Economy, this is Jenny, how may I help you?"

"Hey, Jenny, there is a young man who wants to speak to Dr. Johnston. Would you pick up the tab, please?"

"I am sorry. But Dr. Johnston just walked out of the office."

"Can you take the call? He sure needs help.”

"I am sorry; it is against our department policy to receive a collect call at work. I cannot be responsible for it. You do understand it, don't you?"

"Yeah, I understand." Operator did agree.

They hung up on me again. "Oh my dear God! It is four thirty right now. If I <o:p></o:p>

Cannot find Dr. Johnston, what will I do?" I thought it out loud.

I dialed the operator again. This time, the conversation seemed shorter and nicer.

"I am sorry. Coo-cough." Jenny cleared her throat.

"Caught cold?" asked the operator.

"Yeah. I guess I caught cold last night when I wait in line for a ticket to the Spring Fashion Show."

"Wow. I have to work the night shift; otherwise, I’d like to do the same thing. They said the show is really neat. I mean, those French brats really have some sense of fashion."

Great! While I was waiting anxiously, the two ladies started chatting on a new fashion show. Did I have to listen to this nonsense that distanced me thousand miles away? "Calm down. It soon will be over." I warned myself.

"I am sorry; operator," Jenny suddenly sounded in a hurry, "but my boss, Dr. Johnston, just walks in and I have to hang up now."

"Whoops, what a boss!"

"He is okay, you know. We get along well. But he is in a bad mood today. He missed one of his students at the airport today. He is hopping that student is smart enough to call him. Nice chatting with you. Talk to you later."

"Gator."

"Wait that was Dr. Johnston. That was the person I needed to talk to..." My voice disappeared in the phone that had already been disconnected.

"Oh my lord! What is happening here?" I dialed the operator again.

"It is you again. Did I try several times for you? Do you ever give up?"

"I cannot. I am sorry. Please try it one more time."

"Department of Economy, this is Jenny, how can I help you?" Weary voice again.

"Hey, Jenny, it is me again."

"Hey, what is up?"

"Oh, it is not for me. The young man, who wants to speak to Dr. Johnston, is

Still waiting."

"Oh, right, right! I thought I forgot something. Hold on for a second."

“She forgot it? How could she? Well, forget it. After talking with Dr. <o:p></o:p>

Johnston, I will let Dr. Johnston know what a secretary he had.”

"I am sorry. Dr. Johnston went home just a minute ago."

"Can you stop him?" I could not help yelling.

"Quite yelling. Coo-cough, you are hurting my ears."

"But I am..."

"Sorry."

"Sorry!"

“Great! This is marvelous! This is just unbelievable.”

"Operator, can you help me to reach Dr. Johnston at home, please?"

"You never quit, do you?"

“How do you know my situation? If I cannot speak to Dr. Johnston, what else could I do? Do you really think I like to talk to you? Dreaming…” That was my thought, but I had to beg, "Please?"

"Okay-Okay!" Very reluctant voice.

"Whoops! There are more than twenty Johnston’s in the white page, sir. Do you know his first name?"

"I think his first name is Larry, L-A-R-R-Y."

"There are three Larry Johnston, five L Johnston."

"Uh-oh. Oh my God, what can I do?”

“Can you call them one by one for me?"

"Err-uh! Cannot do that! That is a solicitation. It is a miscellaneous felony in the State of California. You may go to jail for it."

"Sorry! Is there any other way?"

"Let me think…" pause!

"Wait a minute, I remember he has another name, Duncan."

"You mean he has a middle name?"

"I guess so…" I was not so sure.

"Okay, here it is. Johnston, Larry D."

The phone rung for about three minutes, it seemed forever.

"No body home, sir. You have to try it later."

Great! I did not know how long would it take for Dr. Johnston to get home. I guess thirty minutes? I’d better call him every thirty minutes.

After numerous phone calls, my nose started burning. I was sure it would look dark brown if I looked it in the mirror.

It was seven thirty when I finally reached Dr. Johnston at home.

"Hey, my dear, I am waiting for you all day. I got to airport about ten minutes late, damned the traffic. Some asshole was in the middle of the street holding up traffic, almost hit him. I don't know why there are so many people living here! Anyway, I could not find you at the terminal. So I went straight back to my office. I checked my secretary so many times if you called. But you did not call. Where are you and what took you so long to call me?"

I wanted to cry! What a bloody day! I can hardly utter a single word now.

"Are you all right? Talk to me, dear, talk to me!"

I took a long breath, then clear my throat. "It is a long story. Please pick me up at a motel on highway 101."

"What? You’ve checked in a motel? I have already arranged..."

"Sorry, I wish I could. I am outside of a motel. I cannot afford a motel."

"Which motel?"

"I do not know, let me see."

I looked for any sign or name, "I cannot find a name. But there is a plate about ten meters high, it reads a big number six."

"Uha! That is Motel six. You just wait for me there. I will be right there. Just hung in there tight."

Thank God. Finally, everything seemed calm now.

I looked at the highway. It was getting dark. The traffic seemed not bothered, though. The lights on the highway were great, as if two huge long snakes dancing in a dark fog. I turn around, the motel in front of me looked huge too.

I walked towards the light pole with a number six on top. Partly because that was the only place had light here, I did not like to be missed one more time. I walked to the light as fast as I can, as I feared Dr. Johnston would miss me again if I could not get there on time. It seemed so far away. I doubt I could ever reach it.

Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, two men jumped out from a dark side of a car. One guy walked to me slowly while the other one stood back in the dark.

"Hey, man." He kept looking around, not looking at me.

I could not see his face clearly. His cloth was dirty and smelled bad.

"What do you want?" I was going to puke.

"Some change, man."

“What?” I stood there frightened. I put my hands on my hip to unhook my belt. If anything happens, my belt was all the weapon I had.

My brother gave this steel-belt to me. He used to practice martial art with it. It looked and functioned as an ordinary belt, but it was a light weapon like a steel rope. “I’ll miss you, my brother. America is a messy and strange world.” I still remembered the warning words when my brother gave me this belt as both a gift and a self-defense weapon. "You be careful in the strange land. This belt is a toy when I practice martial arts. Take it. You may find it useful someday …”

Two, four, six of the buttons were open. Two more left in front. I didn't want to take any chances. After all, I was all alone here.

"Man, give me some change. Come on, man!"

"I don't have any."

"Nice suit you have on you. Guy dresses like you don’t have any money?"

"Calm down. Wait for a few more seconds. You don't want any trouble.” I tried to calm down.

"Man, come on, man."

My hands started shaking as I was nervous.

"Wham-lah!" My belt fell into my right hand naturally. I bent down my knee a little and put up my left arm to block my chest just in case.

"Holy shit!" The guy stood in the dark jumped up and ran away.

"Oh My God. Take it easy, man. Take it easy.” The man in front of me ran away cursing “Blast Oriental Shit!".

A chill feeling shook my body. My spin felt so cold. “God, what is this!”

I sat down on the curb and held my arms around my shoulders trying to get warm. It was a long night!

A car pulled in and a man jumped out. "Hello, are you …?"

"Yeah…" I was still in the shock mood. It did not seem real.

"I'm Larry Johnston. So nice to meet you. I am so sorry I get here so late. Damned traffic. Are you okay?"

"I am fine, Dr. Johnston." I didn't know what to say. My eyes were watery, my legs were shaking, and my body was cold.

"Hey, my name is Jenny. Nice meet you. Dr. Johnston is worrying sick about you." A tiny hand wearing a pink leather grove was in my face.

"I am sorry." I barely touched the grove.

"Gets in and let's go home." Dr. Johnston placed one hand on my shoulder.

"Where is your luggage, dear?" Jenny asked.

"Somebody took it."

"What?" Dr. Johnston felt shocked. "I can’t believe it. What happened?"

"I am so tired. Let's talk about it later."

"I am so sorry." A very pitiful female voice.

"Okay…"

Thirty minutes later, we were at Dr. Johnston’s house, a two-floor condo with one car garage at the bottom and two bedrooms at the top. It was decent, I guess.

"Such a renown professor living in such a moderate place, American is as populated as Asia." I thought. "Are you living here?" I asked Dr. Johnston.

"Sort of." Answered Dr. Johnston in a lazy voice. "My wife and kids are living in down town San Francisco. Jenny and I are living here for convenience.”

He turned left, pop-opened a door, “here, this is your room. The bathroom is at the other side. Hope you don't mind we share the same bathroom."

How could I care! I was so tired. I just wanted to go to bed.

"There are some sandwiches in the refrigerator if you want." Jenny was trying to be nice.

"Thank you, I am too tired. I just want to take a shower and go to bed."

"I understand. Fine. Go do as you please."

I walked into the bathroom. It was clean but small. A bathtub took half the space on the right. A toilet sat right in front. On the left side, a tiny sink with an oral mirror on top. Far left, there was a glass door. I opened the grass door, it was a small shower stall suitable for a single person only.

As I turned on the light, I notice there is another door ahead. A small running water noise came out of the other side. Out of curiosity, I opened that glass door, there sat Jenny on a toilet.

"I am sorry." I quickly closed the door.

"It is okay." A weary voice.

I couldn’t take a shower in there like this. I walked back to the bedroom, took off my cloth, and got into the soft, sensed bed. I was beat.

As soon as closed my eyes, I heard the water running in the shower room. It was loud. I cannot image how technologically advanced America had such poor insulations.

"Shih-shih…" Came a giggling female voice.

"Moo." A man's mumble.

"Yeah, that feels good!"

"Yeah, uh, uh, I, uh, like it."

"Moo, hum, huh …"

"Uh, hum, uh."

What were they doing in that small shower room? That small cell could barely …

“Oh my God. Don't!” I could not believe this. “Jenny and Dr. Johnston? What? Am I dreaming?” I took a bit of my finger, it hurt. "American are open and liberal in everything, you know!" I warned myself. "So don't be surprised. Just close your eyes and ears. It is you who has a problem. Purify yourself and sleep."

The noise, however, refused to go away. No matter how hard I tried, the noise persisted. Soon, it became a sound in rhyme, like a song a young mom rocking her baby to sleep; like a song the ocean gently slapping the coastal rocks; like a wind breeding through a half opened window...

I could not remember how long it lasted, but it sure sounded like forever.

Original:http://hi.baidu.com/%B0%D9%B6%BE%D3%CE%BF%CD/blog/item/0870a4cbaf3a4080c817680d.html


As fall’s moon shines an icy flow
...in a troubled mind, worries grow
.....With heart pouring out of a bamboo flute
.......a forgotten grass weeps for the sun’s flu

Leaving wilted plants geese escape south
...while frogs hide and fish drown in a freeze
.....With cold-hearten autumn rages dances of the leaves
.......the mesmerizing flute traps the souls of the ghosts


With a nature tea and a flavored wine
...path home messed up its original plan
....."Why do I behave as a drunken fool
.......because of you I've lost my cool"

Since nature has been so beautiful
...and picturesque view is so colorful
....."Why do you have to be so miserable
.......known sadden thoughts are so wasteful"