So, farewell then, Crazy Chris.
He was only in China for 9 or 10 months (and only 'on the scene', or on my patch, for 7 or 8 months - having taken a while to start finding his way around), but he left a deep impression. The MP3 playlists at Room 101 and the Pool Bar are enormously improved through his input. And the Live Underwear conversation will inevitably live long in the memory of anyone who was exposed to it.
And yet, entertaining as he could sometimes be, I am not exactly bereft at his departure. He was around just a little too much for comfort: I found it was becoming slightly oppressive, the realisation that it was next to impossible to go to 101 or the Pool Bar without him being there (or, on those rare occasions when he wasn't, without immediately being asked if I knew where he was). Yes, dammit, he had usurped my position as the most loyal customer, the most permanent bar fixture in these places - and I was just a tad resentful of the fact. I'm now rather looking forward to being unchallenged in the position of Customer No. 1 once again (although I fear I'm going to have to endure at least 2 or 3 months of "Where's Chris?").
This is one of the drawbacks of any intimate relationship: the loss of autonomy, the erosion of self, becoming defined primarily as part of a joint entity. For most of this year - in the eyes of most of my bar comrades - I've no longer been just Froog but a part of the Chris & Froog double-act.
Now..... I am reborn. It's a little lonely and disorienting, but I think I'm going to enjoy it.....
2 comments:
I hope you gave him a fine send off! I guess this means he is not planning to come back unlike other pre Olympic leavers?
Yes, Saturday through Monday was pretty much solidly "Chris send-off".
No, I don't think he's likely to be back. Not any time soon, anyway.
He was talking about applying for a scholarship to study in Norway in a year's time (no fees, apparently!). I didn't know "bullshit conversations" was an available major, but they're very progressive in their education systems in the Scandinavian countries, aren't they?
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