(Sent by email from a friend in Shanghai)

          Super typhoon Saomai has caused great damage in Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces, but we didn’t even get rain in Shanghai.  I had been hoping that rain would cool us off.  It’s still hot with the temperature hovering around 37 degrees (98.6).  There will be many people with sunstroke if this weather continues.

          My friends and I had a happy time in Gongqing Park yesterday.  We used barbecue pits there to prepare meat and some vegetables like mushrooms, potatoes and cabbage. Though it’s probably not good to eat too much roasted food, everything was delicious.

          Our original plan was to go boating after the barbecue, but the sun was shining so brightly that we all felt we’d get too hot and a friend suggested that we ride horses.  He’s a good rider, but all the rest of us were novices. 

          Though it was not my first time on a horse, I was still very nervous.  The horse didn’t obey any of my orders and promptly started to run very quickly.  I felt that I would fall off, and shouted at it to slow down, but it didn’t understand a thing I said.  Apparently it didn’t know Chinese.

          What a relief it was when it finally came to a halt and I was able to get off.  My friend, the expert horseman, told me that my horse hadn’t been excited and had run too slowly.

          “What?”

          “Too slowly?”

         “I would much preferred that it had walked rather than doing all that running.”

My friends heard what I’d said and they all laughed.  Maybe he was right.  By his standards, the horse probably wasn’t running all that fast.

After that experience, we found a shady spot to play cards, and I won almost every time.

It was a nice day, but today I’ve so many aches and pains from riding that horse that the next time my friends suggest that we do it again, I’ll find a good book and wait for them to return.  

(Written by John, a high school student in Beijing)

          When people see the title of this article, they will be confused.  How can one have a third grandmother?  Doubts will arise so I’ll begin by telling you that she wasn’t really my grandmother.   She was a very special mathematics teacher. I call her grandma, as that’s how I think of her. 

          When I was a junior school student, I did not understand the importance of study. I spent my time playing, and before I knew it, two years had passed and the time to take the high school entrance exam was fast approaching.  If I didn’t do well, I would miss the opportunity of going to high school.  How could I pass the difficult exam?  I became scared – was especially worried about mathematics.  It would not be easy to learn in one year all that I had neglected during the previous two years.  I was very depressed until a woman whom I now regard as my third grandma came into my life.           

          Teacher Chen was a mathematics teacher. She was over 70 years, a small woman with a good reputation who had taught for 50 years.  After talking with me for a while, she sensed that I had potential and decided to tutor me in math.  It was not easy at the beginning, as I was far behind.  She began with the lessons from Junior One and we worked together once a week.  At each visit, we reviewed the work I’d done, and she’d assign more for the coming week.  I was amazed that she was never angry with me.  She encouraged me every time we met.  As time passed, I found myself changing.  My confidence grew bit by bit.

          Sometimes I’d be asked to her home for our lessons.  She lived in a bungalow in the old Drum-Tower district of Beijing.  While I did exercises, her grandson would eat hamburger and jump up and down in the living room.  Each time I rode my bike down the old alleyway to get there, an indescribable feeling of gratitude would rise from my heart.  It was then that I began telling myself that she was my third grandma, but I was careful not to tell anyone else. 

          Teacher Chen was always conscientious as well as forgiving of any innocent mischief.  I remember well a Saturday morning when I was obsessed with something on the computer and forgot my lesson.  When she called and asked my mother to remind me, I was very uncomfortable and rode my bike as fast as I could to get there.  I expected that she would scold me and was ready to receive harsh words as soon as I entered her office.  Inconceivably, she merely smiled and told me not to be late next time.  Then we promptly started on the lesson.

          A year later, it was finally time to take the exam.  I was so nervous that I was certain I’d forgotten all I’d learned.  Her face then suddenly floated into my mind, and I remembered that she’d told me to start with the easiest questions.  Somehow all the knowledge she had given me would then return.  I reviewed the test paper and when I found many easy questions, my confidence came back little by little.  That helped me pick up my pen and start to work.

          I passed the entrance easily and felt lucky that I had a high score in math.  My new grandma was very happy but calm when she heard the result.  I still think of her often. 

          If I were asked to choose the most unforgettable person I’ve known in my life at this point (outside of my family), I’d choose Teacher Chen without a second thought.  There is no one else that even comes close.