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My 35th high school reunion started on an ominous note when I was about to leave. It was a joke I received that asked this question: Have you ever been guilty of looking at others your own age and thinking, “surely I cannot look that old?” Then it continued to tell a tale of a woman who met an old, balding, wrinkled man who had the same name as a boy she had a crush on in high school. Surely he was much older to have been her classmate, she thought. So she quickly discarded any notion connecting the two. After she and the man struck up a conversation and found that they graduated from the same high school, she asked, “so when did you graduate?” He answered, “In 1968. Why did you ask?” “You were in my class!” she exclaimed. The man carefully looked her over, and then this old, fat, gray, balding, wrinkled man asked "So what did you teach?” This was enough to sober anyone up. And on this note I set out for DC, the long planned and much anticipated my 35th high school reunion. Beinu students have a group identity because we had shared the formative years together, in the same environment, on the same schedule, shuttling between home and school, on the only path offered and the only we knew, a rite of passage from young girls to young adults. It is a common bond that somehow makes us at ease with each other, no matter how long we have been absent, regardless if we were in the same class. The trust and kinship come naturally. It is like the ability to ride a bicycle. You just know that once you get on, the old familiar feeling will be back, and you will be in your element among friends. The DC reunion committee had spent more than a year planning for the events. Groups were sent scouting on different venues, and had worked out any contingencies in advance. Their consideration was evident from registration to closing. As mothers we were used to fend for our families so we knew how much effort the hosts had put into making things flow smoothly. We sometimes neglected taking care of ourselves so we could feel the seamless comfort we enjoyed had come at the expense of someone’s hard work. We appreciate our DC friends for giving us a chance to reconnect. It had been a wonderful experience in tradition of every Beinu1972 reunions, the 30th by Southern CA, the 50th Birthday Cruise by Northern CA, the 2005 Fall Foliage Tour by Boston, and the many gatherings hosted by local classmates. And here’s the journey. Friday, October 12, 2007 DC roads are set up with a purpose to confuse outsiders. From the British, the Confederates, to the Talibans, it makes the enemies that much harder to navigate if they wish to go anywhere. I think many of its innocent-looking residents were CIA-trained to confound outsiders too. We were there early Friday, circling around DC downtown, within miles of the hotel according to my old, wrinkled, Mapquest map. We ran into countless dead-end streets, asked too many people, and took us 2 hours to find the hotel. With 3 Beinu1972s on board it was just too humiliating. I who had never gotten lost in Manhattan and, well, let’s not name names. The consolation was the hope that if we got the jinx out early we could enjoy the rest of the trip. Which we sure did. After the registration we went to China Garden for dinner. As I walked into the room, a table of women who looked vaguely familiar turned to me. They looked a good 10 years older. The before-mentioned story came to my mind immediately and I thought, “Do I look like that old too?” I was horrified. But I squared my shoulders, put up a big grin, and pounced on one of them gushing, “Oh, I am XX, I-03, and you are…” before I finished, at the confused look of these women, someone grabbed my arm hissing that this was not our group and herded me to the back room where the reunion held. Whew.
Although I had met most of the classmates over the years there were plenty first-timers. Strangely we could still recognize each other. The voice, a gesture, reminded us of the girl who at the time was younger than our children now. I met people that I had not met after Beinu. Could time have flown so fast? Could we have been so young? Saturday, October 13, 2007 Bonnie led an exercise class at 7am on both Saturday and Sunday. No wonder she could fit into her wedding Chipao after 30 years. Promptly at 845am we piled onto 2 buses for the trip to Loray Cavern in the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains. Each bus carried over 2500 years of wisdom. People joked that Beinu was the most organized network in Taiwan. A “six degrees of separation” phenomenon that, for generations, Beinu was never more than six steps away from anyone in Taiwan. And on this day a good portion of its 1972 network was right here on board.
My Class-I had won the Cleanliness Award for an unprecedented 3 years in Beinu. No applause please. Do sit down. The story went thus: Somehow we won the first year; then it became a collective obsession with spotless windows and streakless blackboards. It then infected even our interim classmates throughout the 3-year class shuffling. Our Class Captain Li-mei was crucial in holding the class identity together. I remember one day when we came in there were marks on the floor marking the 4 legs of the tables so they could be just so perfectly aligned for any unannounced inspection! Wish I could now visit those who snuck in late that night, paint in hand, to mark the tables. I want to turn their sofas over and peek under their furniture. Li-mei called us “advanced teenagers”, a compliment that brightened the day. We sang and partied and passed snacks up and down the bus. When we got to the cavern we had a sumptuous Japanese lunchbox arranged by the hosts. Not sure if it was from the excitement or the bumpy ride, I ended up feeling sick. Well, it was a test for the emergency preparedness of the group because within minutes vapor rub and Dramamine appeared before me. Karen, our NJ Physician of the Year 2007, came to apply acupressure to my wrists. There were so many solicitous friends bringing me this and that I was thoroughly enjoying myself. Karen said she left the acupuncture needles at the hotel. If I did not recover she would see to it when we got back. Now, Karen was my elementary classmate so perhaps she knew this would cure me. And I snapped out of it right away. Karen and Lingmei then continued holding onto the pressure points on my wrists for part of the tour. I should have a picture taken of the two bounty hunters holding onto a criminal. Joking aside, many friends shepherded me along the path until I felt well enough to be on my own. I really appreciated the help. Luray cavern has several types of deposits with various colors and formations. It attracts half a million visitors each year and in 1974 was designated as a National Natural Landmark, said Wikipedia. But as with previous reunions, scenery fell second to chatting frenzy around us. We had duly taken pictures of the spectacular cavern to let its beauty speak for itself so we felt we were allowed to speak for ourselves as well. After the cavern we drove along Blue Ridge Mountains to see the early fall foliage. The layers of mountain were blue from a distance thus its name. Chao reminded us of the John Denver song Country Roads. It started with “Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River”. The song came out in 1971-72 amidst the daily grind of preparing for the college exam. Its lyrics did not relate, its jaunty tune incongruent with the stress, the countless tests, and the sleep deprivation we felt. In those days we managed the pressure because everyone around us did. Now, after 35 years, we came to see the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Shenandoah River …Life is old there….Blowing like a breeze…The radio reminds me of my home far a-way…That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday… The banquet had a full program with reflections on past and future and many song-and-dance numbers. On the bus Li-mei and Chao mentioned that the DC group had practiced together for 8 weekends to bring us 2 line dances at the show. Li-mei of course would have memorized the steps going backwards. Chao said although this was her first performance experience, she too had no fear because she would stand right behind Ing-Ing who led the dance. If she forgot she would simply follow others a half-beat behind.
Sunday, October 14, 2007 Today we went to visit the historical Twin Oaks Estate, the official residence of ambassadors from China to Taiwan, and the DC zoo to see panda Tai Shan, Twin Oaks located in the historic Cleveland Park Historic District. It is the only remaining example of a New England-Styled summer home in the DC historic district. The mansion had gone through extensive repair in the 1980’s. Li-mei had arranged to have it opened to us on a Sunday with guided tours. It was indeed an exceptional opportunity.
After lunch many of us who had driven to DC were ready to leave. The rest of the group continued sightseeing. Heard they then visited the White House Garden which was another unexpected opportunity. We certainly picked the best time for the reunion. The weather was gorgeous. The temperature ideal. Not a cloud in the sky. Remember the 1973 Carpenter song that started with “Such a feeling’s coming over me, There is wonder in most everything I see, Not a cloud in the sky, Got the sun in my eyes…”? Let’s hope that we stay connected, see you all very soon, and “That tomorrow will be just the same for you and me”. Thank you, dear friends, for a great time. Jan Tien, 田之琰, I-03 October 18, 2007
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The 11-course banquet was delicious, I am sure. No need to fuss over the calories because we were all busy chatting and laughing. The noise gradually rose to a crescendo over a drone. Thank God for creating human with one mouth so a woman must choose between eating and talking, her top 2 preoccupations. At dinner we heard that the DC committee had published a news clip at a local Chinese newspaper. There were classmates who had lost contact for many years, read the news, called, reconnected, and would come join the event! 
Li-mei, my Beinu Class-I Captain, and Chao, my middle school buddy, were the two DC hosts that led the bus I was on. I had spent 3 years with each of them in the two schools. I could truthfully say that they had remained the same just as I had remembered. The impish grin, the laughter, the holler. The lilting inflection, the little gestures, the offbeat quirkiness. And that little crease between the brows while in concentration. Imagine 30-some years had gone by, the faces might have changed but the traits remained so visible, so recognizable, and so endearing. Was I unchanged as well? So young I felt when I was with them.
With this said, I watched them perform the first one with Ing-Ing, Jenny and Lily. Sure enough the dance was intricate but beautifully done. I imagined little clips of the routine cranking forward behind Li-mei’s eyes as she concentrated. And Chao, who had executed the steps well, had a smile plastered on her face, and somehow I sensed that there was a deer-in-the-headlight stare in her eyes. As I complimented Chao when she came back, she said that on stage with the spotlight in her eyes, she could not see where Ing-Ing stood let alone following her steps. So it was a free fall from memory based on her often goofed-off practices with the group, thus the smile and the stare on her face. This had me falling down the chair howling. It was just so like the Chao and Li-mei I knew when they were girls from so long ago. Girls I met nearly everyday when I was young. So I watched them performed the second dance, Li-mei and Chao in line in my vision. I saw them in my mind from years ago. I felt a kinship even without connecting to them for many, many years.
That night there was too many performances to mention. I too acted in a skit with my NJ cronies. Few lines involved, I ran out in an o-ba-san outfit shouting to Lingmei, “Oh no; Oh no! Come quickly, You Old Fart! Our sons had killed someone! Do something!”, then Tina, Pinwhei and Karen performed a little ditty. It was short but very, very well received. But perhaps because it was so short.
Seeing panda cub Tai Shan in person was another rare occurrence. People had said that they would visit him several times without a glimpse of his face or romping around doing all these cute panda things that we watched on films. On this day Tai Shan was utterly corporative. He came out like a fur ball. Rolling, climbing, stretching, scratching, licking himself, chomping on bamboo sticks. He even took a dump not far from us that Tracy said she could smell it. Now, how many people could say that they knew what a panda doo would smell like? Was that a rare treat or what? After taking many cutesy panda pictures we waved goodbye to Tai Shan and resumed chatting. Afterall, the reunion was winding down to the end.