The Bridge in My Memory

My name is Ming. Welcome to my blog.

In my first blog article, I want to write something for this special place in my memory--a cafe called "Bridge" near my undergraduate school.

Several days ago, many friends reposted an article named "The Broken Bridge" on their social media. Reading through the article, I realized this famous cafe in our neighborhood was going to shut down, just after our graduation in July, 2018. We all felt sad about the loss of this delicate place. We could not help but to recall the time we spent in this cafe, and the story about our own growth during those shiny days.

Four years ago, I was a freshman of English major at Tsinghua University in Beijing. I was confused and stressful about my life, study and future, because I think I do not have outstanding English ability comparing with my fellows. Then in our writing course, our instructor, Roger, told us that we could come to his office hour at the Bridge Cafe.

Therefore, in a cloudy and cold day, I rode my bike to Bridge with my friend Cathy. The cafe was about 1.5 kilometers away from our dormitory. It was located at a crossroad near the railway. We just rode along the railway, watching the road stretching far away and the trains passing by.

The cafe is on the second floor of a white building. We walked upstairs on the wooden stairs. Roger was sitting on a large table, with a pile of papers and books in front of him. We greeted with each other. And He recommended us to have a taste of the carrot cake there. Enjoying the hot tea and cakes, he began to review our papers. We talked a lot on my composition and my thinking about literature. With his instruction, I felt more confident than before and became more determined on the path I chose to go through--digging into English language and literature.

That's why this place is meaningful for me and to all of us. We all have the experience of spending almost the whole night sitting here to catch up with deadlines, papers and projects, because Bridge opened 24/7. And we often met Roger here to discuss and review our writing assignments. The cafe as well as the drinks and food there is like the madeleines cakes. Their taste always brings you back to the cherished time.

Nevertheless, nothing can last forever in this world. People and things change fast facing the obliteration of time. One year later, Roger retired and went back to his hometown. We no longer had English writing class. And three years later, even the cafe was going to perish.

In the article, "The Broken Bridge", the author interviewed the owner of Bridge. The owner said that they are facing drastic competition of the cafe market in the nearby area. If they continue running the business, they could not even afford the rent and the cost of the shop. I began to realize the realistic situation: Our memories and dreams related to Bridge Cafe are built on the great economic cost and pressure in reality. The neighborhood of our school is becoming more prosperous and the rent is more and more expensive. People rush into the buildings (which are mostly Internet companies) each morning and go back to the subway station at night. Stores have changed a lot during the four years. The pace of the city never stops.

And we are also no longer the first-year undergraduate students four years ago, worrying about our grades and future]and complaining about the new environment. We have similar concerns at present, but we have already become a different self. I realize we must learn one thing from our growth: Never be afraid of changes.

Everything will change and even get lost with time, but the most important thing is we are becoming a better self. Thanks to all the memories at Bridge Cafe, we are able to enrich our knowledge and life regardless of the ruthless changes in reality.