Does It Feel Strange?

This article was extracted from my early NetEase blog. NetEase Blog is no longer operating, but looking back, these words are still quite interesting, so I decided to move them over as intact as possible. Mainly as a record; after all, it was a long time ago, so the quality of the writing, images, and links may all be affected.

This article was originally published on July 31, 2009. I was about 20 years old then and was in university.

This morning's class had the fewest people attending of these past few days, but it was also the one everyone listened to most seriously. We were originally supposed to finish class at 10:30, but we actually made the teacher keep talking until 11:00 before ending… Maybe it was because there would be no class this afternoon or over the next two days. Originally, there was some kind of job fair or something planned for this afternoon, but because other majors had to do vocational skills assessment, it was temporarily canceled.

In the afternoon, I went online for a while at an internet cafe. I had originally planned to relax properly, but unexpectedly I ran into several things that simply kept me from relaxing. First I met a friend I had not seen for four months, and suddenly discovered that she had changed, changed in such a strange way. Although she still kept her friendliness and enthusiasm, her personality was almost like that of a different person. I even wondered whether the person in front of me was the same her I used to know. Suddenly there was a feeling in my heart that I could not describe… Later, I read a friend's blog post. It was about returning to the city where they had grown up for more than 20 years and feeling that it had become strange. Only then did I suddenly realize that this feeling was strangeness… So much so that I spent a long time sighing over the word "strange." Yes, after returning to a hometown long separated from you, does it really feel strange? After thinking for half a day, I suddenly discovered: it does not feel strange to me!! Those few childhood partners who grew up together and got into trouble together still gather together now. Those big trees downstairs still stand there. The stray dog in the neighborhood is still carelessly sleeping under the bench. Everything is still so familiar… (so dizzy, I thought for half a day for nothing).

At night, I called several classmates from other places. Although a few calls did not go through, I was still very happy, especially that guy Maomao, who actually recognized my voice immediately, hehe. Wow! It is already 23:53:23. Seems like I should sleep…