It was during my last year at HKU, B.J. came into my life.
That fall , there was a tall, fair-haired, good-looking young Welshman (from Wales), a bachelor, who joined the English Faculty. He had a nice smile, but there was a hint of sadness about him.
At the time, most of our lecturers had been in the Colony for sometime. B.J. was a newcomer.
He was possibly fresh-out-of the University, Oxford or Cambridge. He had no Welsh accent. I suspected that he might have come from some Wales mining family and went to school on scholarship. (In those days, people didn't ask too many personal questions. It was not polite.) He had never been to the Far East. The Expats were a different breed. B.J., the newcomer, did not quite fit in. He was taken aback by the sounds and sights of the Far East and the opulence at HKU. He was a bit bewildered.
However, he soon got our attention as a caring, intelligent, and good lecturer. I was in his class.
As time went by, he adapted. He became more at ease with himself and the faculty, and with us students.
As I said before, at HKU, we students mingled with the faculty. We saw one another inside the classroom as well as outside, at all those Cocktail Parties! The lecturers got to know us a bit better, and we got to know them a little better.
B.J. was easy to talk to and interesting to listen to. Soon, we became friends.
The next half of my Fourth Year found us more than Lecturer and Student. I can't remember exactly how and when it happened. We started dating.
We attended Dances and Parties together, We went to shows and dinners together, We had a lot of coffee together. Sometimes, we would go for long walks around the campus or around town. We talked and we enjoyed each others company. He was truly fond of me and I was crazy about him. I requested Late Passes often.
However, we were both mature and realistic enough to know that the relationship would not get anywhere. (Remember, we were in the 1950s?) After much heartfelt discussions, we decided not to "see" each other again. I was heartbroken.
My father had commented to me that he would rather see me marry a Chinese beggar than to see me marry a Welch Professor. He wanted to send me away somewhere so I could forget B.J.
I didn't really know how I managed to get through the last few weeks of my Fourth Year and managed to pass the Finals. With a heavy heart, I immersed myself into Studying before the Finals and I still attended his lecturers.
In the meantime, Dum, my friend in the Hall, had sent a picture of our little Circle to her brother, S.C., in Houston, TX. S.C. asked who I was, because he thought I was good-looking and sexy. Dum told him that if he was interested in me, may be he should contact me then, because I had just "broken-up with my boy-friend."
I was starting to apply to some universities for post-graduate studies. I just wanted to get away. My then history Prof. (an Oxonian) said that he could get me into Oxford if I would Read History. History? No, I told him, I did not think so.
S.C. sent me a lot of info on Rice University, Houston, and urged me to apply. He wanted me to go to Houston.
In the end, I was accepted at Edinburgh University, Scotland, into Post Graduate Studies in English in the Fall.
The last time I saw B.J., we were at another one of those social functions. He asked me how I was. "All right," I said.
"It's for the best," he said.
"I am going away, to Edinburgh."
"I think you will like it there."
"Do you?"
"I will always remember you, dear," with much sadness in his eyes, he said. Then, he leaned over and kissed me on my check. Our eyes met for the last time, we parted.
I managed to survive that year.
In the fall, I set sail for England.
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