Rolling Thunder, Memory Lane

2/21/09

LianYunGang

I went bowling last night. Prior to last night, I can't recall the last time I rolled. I've got some vague ideas as to where I might have bowled last, but the outcome of the game escapes me. Whatever the results may have been in bygone bowling matches, last night's results will serve as a pleasant benchmark for games to come. I managed—perhaps for the first time in my bowling career—to place first in two consecutive games. Given the international company assembled for last night's ceremonious rolling, I suppose I could call myself the reigning international champion at the HuaiHai Institute of Technology. Perhaps the next step is to survey all the Chinese teachers here and see if they can present a suitable challenge to the throne.
Needless to say, my bowling prospects here in China are shaping out much better than my basketball hopes, or hoop dreams.

Interestingly enough, I believe my last visit to a bowling alley was in Iowa City—the one and only Colonial Lanes. The indelible charms of Iowa have become much more than a memory now. With the start of a new term here at the university a new foreign teacher has arrived: direct from Dubuque, Iowa. And sure enough, she is a fellow Hawkeye. As if it isn't coincidence enough that a fellow alumnus has strolled in from the wintry fields of the Hawkeye state, can you guess what her major was? You might have guessed that she was an English major, much the same as I was. If this was in fact your guess, congratulations, you were right. How fortunate these Chinese students are! They now have two wordsmiths from the storied University of Iowa to dole out tasty nuggets from a collective braintrust and infuse their eager minds with a sample of world-class education. Because what are we Hawkeyes if not world-class? The proof is here in this city and many others across the globe.