Diary of 2012 Summer Trip (2)

7-18-2012

We arrived at Prague this afternoon via train from Munich. It took about 6 hours. It’s a long yet pleasant trip.

Prague is no strange place to us, me especially, at all.  This visit is my fourth visiting here.

The first time I came to Prague was in the fall of 1985 for attending a UNESCO graduate course. I was very young and very shy then. My English was poor and I was buried deeply in homesick. That was a painful and lonely 10 months. 

In the fall of 1989 soon after TianAnMen Square event, I came to Prague to join Heping who had been there studying for two years. We were there in time to witness Czechoslovakia communist government dissolved and Berlin wall collapsed. Two months after I arrived, Heping got a chance to go to study at UMR of Missouri. We decided to take the opportunity even if it meant I had to be left behind alone in Prague. I couldn’t go back to China at the time because of the situation there and I was not allowed to company Heping to USA because US embassy said no. That one year in Prague alone was the lowest point in my life. But it was also during this lonely and hopeless period I started to think about God and sometimes out of desperation asked Him for help even though I didn’t believe anything back then.

Two years ago in May 2010, we (Heping, Mingway and I) came to Prague the third time after 20 years. We were very excited and came across two of our old friends in the street (talking about miracles). We visited our advisers (Heping and I had the same advisers while studying in Charles University) and all those familiar places: the dorm we stayed, the school we studied in, the castles we visited and even the secret path we walked. Nothing has changed, Prague never changes. However many years have elapsed, we could count on to come back and find old memories at the exact places and exact environment. 

Prague has been and will always be my favorite city, not only because of its ancient beauty, its fine architectures, and its well educated people, but more importantly because it is the portal to our worldwide exploration. It has witnessed our struggle with life at young age, our bewilderment about life’s meaning and purpose. Here we left part of our hearts and many valuable memories. I know I will keep coming back to Prague for as long as I am able to.