Every Friday night around 7:30, I would catch a taxi at the roundabout near my apartment and go to An Da Bei Men, or the south
gate of Anhui University. I would walk through the university until I found the selected place for English corner. I always had to search
around the crowds of people to find Jane, and I did it as discreetly as possible since people would jump on me as soon as I gave them
the opportunity. Jane never liked talking to me when I was surrounded by other people because it was hard for her to get a chance to
speak over all of the other people there. Chad came to English corner with me once or twice. It was easy for us to make friends at that
place since we were different and interesting to them. One of the friends I made there was Frank, a young student at Zhong Yi Xue
Yuan, the medical school for western medicine in Hefei. Immediately, I could tell that we were on a similar thinking level. He wasn’t just
another person who wanted to practice their English with a foreigner. Another friend I made there was named Daniel. He was a tall
businessman who liked to wear business suits even when he wasn’t working, and was in his late 20s and worked at an international trade
company. His speech was very polite and very fast, and his voice sounded slightly nasal. He was absolutely certain not to cause any
offense to anyone and would apologize whenever he thought he was being rude, even though he wasn’t. He was a little serious, though
he could laugh and smile sometimes. Chad also made some friends there, a group of girls from another school called San Lian College
far away in the south part of Hefei, Kingwater, Lucy, Bluestar, and several others. Chad impressed them with his ability to speak
Mandarin fluently, and he captivated their hearts easily.
    After 10:00 or so, I would return to Hu Po and go to an Internet bar so I could speak to Summer using an instant messaging program
called QQ. The Internet bar closest to my apartment closed down, so I had to find a new one. Close to the bus stop where I would take
the bus to the schools in the morning, there was a small side street off the main road where many people in Hu Po came to eat dinner. It
was a dead end street with many buildings on both sides, and the space in the middle was wide like a courtyard. There were at least 10
different restaurants and many small stands where people cooked their food and sold fruits and vegetables. In front of each restaurant,
there were several tables for customers aside from the indoor seating areas. There were also a couple of DVD shops where people could
buy pirated copies of DVDs for cheap prices. Hundreds of people would be walking through that area at once during busy times in the
day. At the end of the small street, there was a small ramp that led up to a sidewalk onto another street that was higher up. People had
to squeeze onto the ramp single-file, and sometimes had to stand aside when people drove their scooters and motorcycles up and down
the ramp because the ramp had been built between two long walls parting from the entrance. If I went up the ramp and turned left and
walked straight for several blocks, there was an internet bar that I could use. The shop keepers didn’t clean the place very well. There
was dirt and trash everywhere, and cigarette butts and chewed gum all over the floor. Also, people were allowed to spit on the floor. The
first thing I would do at the computer is find a music website so I could listen to some music from the United States. Since I couldn’t
understand what was on T.V. or understand the lyrics to Chinese music, I was in need of some inspiration from home to make my life
colorful like a music video. I usually had a strange feeling in the Internet bar, like I wasn’t completely safe, but I never saw anyone who I
thought was a serious threat to me. But wolves do travel in packs.
    Summer’s sister Amy set up a QQ account for me shortly after Summer left so we could stay in close contact. Summer always had
doubts about our relationship, but they were enhanced by our long-lasting separation. My natural distrust of other people led me to
believe Summer was getting too close to other guys. I just had a feeling about it even though she was far away in Korea, so I would
often voice my opinion to her about it. I believe my partner should be as loyal as I am, but I didn’t think she was returning the same
consideration because she was so fickle in behavior. After some time, Summer couldn’t live up to my high standards, and decided to
end our relationship because of the amount of pressure I put on her. Winter was coming to Hefei, and it was definitely getting colder.
China Dispatch/Andrew Gramling

When Summer ... and I ... said goodbye