Some new friends

Last week, a young man approached me (David) at a large university campus, and I was impressed by his assertiveness in asking if he could “make friends with me.” A few days later, I had lunch with him and his close circle of buddies. They took me to a pretty nice restaurant and insisted on buying my lunch. I was so humbled, because out of the nine, only one had a job, and it was part-time at that! Twice they toasted my presence with Coke and orange juice, and I felt very honored.
I learned quite a bit about the life of a young adult here. Not only must you excel academically so as to distinguish yourself from the pack, but you must also cultivate a solid network of relationships to help you get where you want to be. Not being relatively well-connected (most coming from poor farming families in the countryside), these friends will really depend on each other in the coming years. The success of one means good things for the whole group. In fact, my new friend said that at times, concern for the welfare of his friends motivates him to persevere in his own studies.
The warmth and friendship within the group was inspiring. Though we as Americans might view reciprocity and interdependence as chains that can choke a friendship, for Asians, the lack of giving and receiving prevents a friendship from ever even beginning.