At the end of a three-month stint in Beijing, China, I said goodbye to my colleagues. A Chinese colleague named Yue gave me this shoulder bag. I was very surprised; by "German" standards, we would have been acquaintances at best. We didn't work together, or even on the same project, but we met regularly in larger groups (usually for dinner). I know little about her personally. "You're a special person," she told me, "because you're friendly and open and you're making an effort to learn our language. I was very happy to meet you!" In fact, during my time in China, I had made a great effort to learn as much everyday Chinese as possible and often amused my colleagues with my language attempts, sometimes overwhelmed them, and occasionally impressed them. We always had a reliable topic of conversation. She further explained to me that fish in China are a symbol of prosperity, but also of perseverance and tenacity. The bag was meant to remind me of my time in China and that it takes time to master something. The bag also reminds me of Yue and my joy at her joy in my efforts. Of the closeness that was suddenly palpable as a result. Of the fact that human closeness is always based on openness to new things. That the beginning and nourishment of every friendship is the attempt to understand the other person, regardless of whether that means overcoming language barriers, cultural differences, or "just" different perspectives.
