Geniuses and lunatics By Hongzhou Wu

Geniuses and lunatics By Hongzhou Wu  This is a MOSTLY true account of my time at CTY. CONTENTS  ※Chapter One: The coming  ※Chapter Two: The arriving  ※Chapter Three: The introduction  CHAPTER ONE    The day was a stormy one. Rain clouds quickly scurried over Shenzhen Baoan(宝安) Airport,  fleeing from the wind howling in the skies above. Rain pattered heavily on the oval windows of the airplane, washing the dust of 3,000 feet from them. Rain splashed onto the already sodden ground, forming little  flowers that blossomed in one instant and withered the next. However, none of this was noticeable to the  girl in aisle 46, seat A, completely absorbed in her book. She read on, totally captivated by the book.  Above her, a passenger announcement blared to life. “Ladies and gentlemen, this plane is  about to take off. Please check your seat belts … We are about to take off.”    This last sentence caught her attention. She put a bookmark in the book and closed it.  As she did so, the plane, an Air China Boeing-767 turned a wide curve into the runway, paused a moment,  and began to take off. She craned forward to see the runway disappear in her window as  the churning wheels of the Boeing ate up the ground. The plane thrummed as though it were alive, then engines roaring, ran straight  and true up the runway.  The pressure on her spine was increasing steadily, and suddenly they were airborne. She felt  the familiar thrill of seeing the ground drop away suddenly, the cars becoming tinier than ants in  a few seconds. The plane dipped suddenly, pounded down by the rain, and its passengers felt  a temporary weightlessness which made their stomachs lurch in a strange way. Then they  were going up again, flying into the dark clouds packed with raindrops.  There was a moment’s darkness, as they were engulfed by the cloud, but then they had burst free and was climbing still higher.    It felt as though they were suspended between the dark clouds and the clear sky, flying  towards the sun, a moment endless in time, seeing the dove gray carpet of clouds below  and the clear blue sky above, the sun to the direct East, a point so bright that she could not  even look at it.   She returned to her book. With it she did not need to eat, did not need to drink, and did not even need to rest. Anyone who disturbed her peace was likely to encounter her wrath.  She read for 14 hours straight, pausing only to take a little refreshment and to go to  the restroom.    Only the plane touching down in Newark Airport retrieved her from her coma, as some  medical personages would call it. The touchdown was exciting too, in a different way.  They had dived under spotlessly white clouds, and she had seen the airport, a large  building complex on the ground but so tiny from her vantage point that she could blot it out with her thumb. They had flown past it into the open ocean, and then circled back,  like a yoyo doing the jump. The airport was 2 or 3 times larger. Suddenly, they had  taken a nosedive, going almost straight down it seemed, and imperceptibly they had come almost to ground level, before the jolt had told her that she was officially on  American soil. The plane had glided for a while, and then the passengers had been  disgorged into the terminal building.  CHAPTER TWO   Escorted by a pretty and smiling airline stewardess, “They’re all pretty and smiling,"  she observed to herself dryly, she had gone through the checking in and everything. Now,  she was at the arranged spot with a few other students, ready to be picked up by somebody  from CTY. How she wished that she was back at home, and not about to face 3 weeks at  Lafayette College, somewhere in Easton, PA.    A large black van-like car pulled up in front of her. The driver stuck her head out and  asked: “Is everybody here going to attend a CTY course at Lafayette College?” She and  the others murmured their confirmation. Although she wasn’t exactly a car expert, she  could see that this van or car or whatever it was could not even be remotely considered  as a shuttle. The driver’s name was Tania. Tania helped them install their luggage in  the back and opened the door for them. The inside of the car was very hot, and the floor  was littered with grass. Still, she supposed that wasn’t too bad, considering the numerous  hiking and camping trips all Americans seem to have been on.  She settled in the right of the car, at the very back, just in front of the luggage. Tania climbed in, surveyed the  students, gave a nod, and shut the door. As the car drove away, Tania inquired politely  what their names were. Everybody started babbling at once. She felt that she should  make some contribution. Her sharp voice cut through the clamor instantly, and she  heard herself say: “My name is Hongzhou Wu. I’m Chinese.” The driver said hi to her.  Soon, everybody introduced themselves. Tania told them that she was one of the  nurses, and that she would probably see them again later. The stifling heat combined  with the buzz of voices quickly made her bored of making small talk, and she pressed  her head against the cool windowpane, watching the country side go by.    Sometime later, they passed a sign bearing in white letters on a dark green background,  the words Lafayette College, 1 mile. Hongzhou perked up immediately. She was near  her campus at last. By this time, most of the people in the car were drowsing. She  thought sarcastically, what a grand entrance to go to your new home-for-three-weeks  asleep!    As the bus rounded a last curve, she glimpsed a rounded lane with a flowerbed full of  blossoming flowers in the middle. Bright red, neon pink, a rich vibrant purple, made even  more colorful by the frame of green, oh so green leaves surrounding them. It was as  though a riot of color had exploded in the flowerbed, leaving everything brightly colored.  She wondered greatly, at this wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, wondered if they  had grown wild or was planted and cared for by a loving hand. The latter was more likely,  she decided, returning to her former state of unruffled calm, for it was already July and  would be too cold at night.   The buildings were of the 18th or 19th century by look, and they had a sort of stately  grandeur about them, with their stone walkways and high halls and a tower or two perched  on the very top like some eccentric nightcap, giving them a slight impression of jolly  bravado. Hongzhou liked them at first sight, and stared approvingly and unblinkingly  at the square white pillars and the green bronze roof of Farinon College center, as the  sign outside proclaimed proudly in foot-high gold letters. Then her steady gaze shifted  to a respectable 5-story rusty-red building on her left, coming with its own tall tower  outfitted with bell and clock.   The van stopped just outside Farinon College Center, and the heated van disgorged its  students and suitcases into the cool, shady interior of the grand hall, furnished with plain  but undoubtedly comfortable armchairs. From there, they went up a flight of stairs to  the Marlo Room, filled with people checking in their kids. They went around in a circuit,  from the right wall where students were given their purple lanyards stamped with 2017  JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER for TALENTED YOUTH, to the left wall where students  T-shirts and lunch tickets were handed out.    She found that she had to journey to South College where the main office was, since  she was an international student. She also had her medicines confiscated to the medical  office, a safety procedure, no doubt to prevent people from harming themselves and  others. She thought that this was hardly necessary, for death from an overdose would  likely be painful, while taking a high dive would be both cool and painless. (Most  medicines contain minute doses of allergy inducing substances and overdoses usually  are painful, resulting in rashes of the skin and swollen glands which disfigure the corpse.) The windows were unlikely to be barred, at any rate. She would remember that in case  she became desperate.    At South College she met the site director, who completed her check-in, gave her a  room key, and sent her up to room 426 on the 4th floor. Hongzhou raised her eyebrows  at the room&floor arrangement. How come the boys get 2 floors and the girls only 1?  And how come the more languid girls get the 4th floor and much climbing of stairs  while the robust boys get 2nd and 3rd. With this question perplexing her mind, she  lugged her overloaded suitcase to the staircase.    Surprise! There was actually an elevator here. She supposed that American schools  probably could afford this, but she doubted that she would be allowed to use it in the  future. Anyway, the future was distant and unpredictable, and she would use it now as  a faster and more convenient means of transportation between floors. She hit the up  button. The elevator came down. The suitcase was hauled into it with due effort, and  she looked around for the buttons. Another surprise! The elevators had two doors.  Taking a chance, Hongzhou hit the 4A button. Most of the time, A was better than B.  The door opened. She was in a wide hallway with whitewashed walls and all the usual  doors opening to the sides. Room 426 was the third on the left. There were two fishes  with fake plastic jewels for eyes. (Actually, they were mermaid tails, but how was she  to know then? Anna’s drawing skills are passable, but there isn’t that big a difference  between fish and mermaid tails, and others, namely Evelyn and Madison have made  the same mistake.) Her name was written on the one at the right in capitals with a  black Sharpie. The other was inscribed with the name UMA. Hongzhou raised her  eyebrows, what kind of name was that? She didn’t even know how to pronounce it.    Hongzhou unlocked her door and slipped in. he room was about the same size as her  bedroom, with bare uncarpeted floors and wooden furniture. The room was divided  with an invisible line across the middle, presumably as the border across two separate  people. There was a medium sized closet, a desk with drawers, a chest of drawers, and  a bed on each side. The only thing shared was the air conditioning. Her roommate  hadn’t arrived yet. She chose the right side and relieved her bulging purple suitcase by  unpacking her stuff. Hongzhou knew that she should go and eat lunch, but she wasn’t  really hungry. Her stomach seemed to have shrunk on the flight. Anyway, she could  go without a meal but she wasn’t going to walk back to Farinon. She turned on the  air conditioning to the lowest and settled down to some quiet reading in the closet,  which was dark and cozy and smelled nicely of wood.  CHAPTER THREE   While the honorable Hongzhou was thus occupied in her closet (I say honorable because  she had been top of her grade in Math and English since 2nd grade), the RA Anna Warner  made a routine inspection of the rooms. This was because it was her first time here, and  she was very anxious (if such a word could be used to describe such a sunny personality)  to make a good first impression.    In due course, Anna opened the door of room 426 and was met by a blast of frigid air  from inside. “Is anybody in here?” She didn’t expect an answer.   However, a seemingly disembodied voice came floating through the air. “Well, I,  Hongzhou Wu, am here. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, whoever you are.”   Anna started, but she remained calm and said: “Hi, I’m the RA Anna. Pleased to meet you.”   The voice stated calmly: “Unfortunately for you, this is not how to talk to a phantom  or ghost. However, as I am not dead yet, I think we can let that issue slide.”   It continued talking in that emotionless voice: “I suppose you are my Ra Anna Warner,  whose name has been so thoughtfully imprinted on my yellow folder. And I must tell  you that it is not impolite to meet another person while in a closet. Therefore, I’d better  get out of here. Just close the door, won’t you. It’s getting too hot. As soon as she had  done so, the closet door slammed open and Hongzhou emerged, kindle in hand. They  shook hands. Hongzhou was so surprised by Anna’s appearance that she couldn’t help  lifting her eyebrows a little. (Anna looks like the spitting image of her 4th grade English  teacher Ava, minus the fake pearly nails.) However, Hongzhou was spared the rather  embarrassing task of talking to someone who just found you in a closet by the entrance  of her new roommate Uma and her family. She then retired to her bed and leaned on it  while the others unpacked. Hongzhou and Uma’s dad managed to keep up a conversation.  He was delighted to know that she was Chinese, and told her that she should try to teach  Uma a bit of that useful language, just for future use. (To be continued, Hongzhou.wu@hotmail.com)