3. Gradually we drew closer
Soon after meeting Carol, she entered a music competition organised by, and for all, the Chinese students at the University. The initial rounds took place in a very large lecture theatre on campus, however, the final round was scheduled to take place at the large Odeon cinema complex in the city, in a private function room. I think there were over 200 contestants, whittled down to a short list of ten by the final night. Carol composed the song she sang in the final round. She taught the duet to her friend, Vivian. It was in the style of Mandopop, pop music in the Mandarin Chinese language used in mainland China. The contestants were judged by both the audience and a group of three judges weighted more strongly in favour of the judges choice. The competition results were announced in Chinese so I didn’t always understand what they were talking about or what was said. With joy on her face, she came up to me, telling me she had been placed third, as I had guessed. Carol and her friends were amazed I could understand Chinese.
Later Carol visited Europe for a short holiday in Italy, where she lost her glasses. I laughed! She is shortsighted and cannot see far without them. She had to find her way around using her iPhone and the Google maps app. She didn’t want to replace them because “glasses don’t look good on me!” I thought, how vain can a girl be?
Carol’s professional interests lay primarily in composing music for films on the silver screen and TV. Unfortunately, we didn’t have this particular musical interest in common. I only watch films occasionally. I am not much aware of the music during the screening of films. In my head, everything merges into a single overall experience. I am repelled by screen violence, horror and other extremes of emotion, my choice has always been romance, romantic comedies and musicals like My Fair Lady as well as animated films, like the Shrek series produced by Dreamworks and the Pixar franchise of films. My all time favourite movie is Good Morning, Vietnam! It stars my hero Robin Williams a fellow sufferer of mental illness. He too suffered from Bi-Polar Disorder. He was such a gifted actor. I sadly miss him after he ended his life by committing suicide.
To help her become more fluent in English we started to read the first edition of my book. We made good headway until her studies had to take top priority. We each held the other in high regard, respecting each other with our own unique skills and talents. Gradually we drew closer as we became more reliant on each other’s help. I, for her advice on music theory and encouragement to practice, and she, for my advice on English grammar used in her assignments.
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