Retracing past footsteps

The last stop of my vacation in Europe this time is the United Kingdom (UK). After that, I will return to Hong Kong.

Yesterday (August 3), I specially made a two-hour train journey from London to Bristol, the place where I studied from 1974 to 1977. I have lots of memories of this place and its people - the house I lived in; the little community called Fishponds; Mrs Houlden, my neighbour; and Mr Lee, the owner of the Chinese food and fish and chips takeaway (commonly called a "potato shop" by the Chinese community in the UK) where I worked part-time. And of course the old building in which I took my classes and the 55-minute walk to school every day, and so on and so forth.

Since graduation 38 years ago, I have visited Bristol several times. Yesterday, I took a stroll down memory lane there, following my footprints more closely than before.

Bristol stays largely the same after 40 years. But Mrs Houlden has passed away because of illness. And Mr Lee, after bringing up his four children, has sold his shop and now lives alternately in Hong Kong and the Mainland of China while his children stay in the UK.

I did not notify anyone of my visit in advance. But I bumped into the Yugoslavian owner of a second-hand electrical appliances shop next to Mr Lee's "potato shop". It had been four decades since we last met, and we talked about changes in the neighbourhood over the years. It's four decades. Time flies!

August 4, 2015