A Different Perspective

My friend wore a suit underneath his leather jacket. He even wore a tie, which I had never seen him wear before. It seemed strange – usually when I saw him he preferred to wear casual clothes to class. I knew that in his country, formal attire was normal for university students, but he had been in China for two years, and had, in his own words, “let himself go”. Recent events, however, made him decide that he should go back to acting the way his countrymen should.

He explained to me that someone important to him had died, and he had been in mourning since last Monday. He had even missed classes on Tuesday due to grief. Even now, he said, he often had to fight the urge to cry. He explained to me that the one who had died had helped him a lot: it was only by the grace of this person that he was able to study in a foreign country. Even talking to me in private, he still called this person “great”.