A Good Friend Arrives

Finally, after several months, one of my very good friends—and my current roommate—has arrived in Beijing. One of my friends, in what I think to be an apt description, stated that his arrival was like the guy running towards the castle in Monty Python’s “Search for the Holy Grail”—that is to say, it seemed like my friend had been “almost here” forever. Nonetheless, he’s here, we’re living in a new place, and all is well in Beijing.
And I have a student named “Quarter.” A name he gave himself because, well, he thinks that an American quarter is “a lot of money,” or “cool,” or something. In class yesterday, he sat next to Angel, another one of my students who took the liberty of naming herself.