A lovely gift from the best friends in Berkeley

A package arrived at me. I opened it. It was filled with lots of things such as San Francisco chocolate, American snacks, a message card, and my favorite character Snoopy's doll! This heartwarming gift was from two of the best friends I met in Berkeley, Michael Marnell and Theia Cortes.

I met Michael at the very beginning of my stay there. It was on August 21. We were in the same group of a week long orientation called Golden Bear Orientation, or GBO. It was for freshmen, transfer students, and exchange students. I joined it as an exchange, and he was a transfer. 

Since it was literally the first time for me to engage with other students of UC Berkeley, half of me was excited, but the rest felt very nervous. When I arrived at Sproul Plaza at a specified time and found a group number matching my name tag’s one, two tall guys were already sitting on the bench: Michael and Chase.

I spoke to them and they friendlily answered me. They had already known each other because they were living in the same apartment northside of the campus. Both were transfers as of that fall semester. Michael majors in Applied Math, Chase’s major is Philosophy. Surprisingly, Chase could speak Japanese. As I believe learning other languages is not just getting a tool but understanding their cultures, he’s truly familiar with my country. That made me feel a sense of closeness to him at once; he was actually a nice guy.

Compared to him, Michael had a sort of distinctive aura, having brunet long hair. That distorted impression was partially from my bias toward math guys. Even he claimed “I’ve decided to skip most parts of this orientation and come back on the last day because I’m busy and it sounds worthless.” It made me feel he was a tricky guy because in my culture keeping discipline in a group is regarded as an absolute virtue; he seemed selfish to me as the first impression.

But it turned out I was totally wrong. On that day we talked a lot around campus before he left, about our backgrounds, goals, and motivation coming here in Berkeley. Just a half-day conversation clearly revealed that he is filled with kindness, affection, and diligence. I felt very comfortable talking with a person like him. And the best personality I realized in him was his thoughtfulness for his family and friends. He soon treated me as a close friend and taught me cultures, systems, etc in America, which helped me adapt smoothly to the country. Moreover I later noticed the actual reason why he skipped GBO was to prepare well for the semester by reading the textbook ahead, which I guess is because he wanted to live up to his hometown family’s expectations. 

On the other day, he introduced his girlfriend Theia to us. She was also a nice person like him. We had burritos together and walked around. Michael, Chase, Theia, and I became good friends. As I hadn’t met my roommate yet at that time, they were literally the first friends I made in Berkeley. 

They invited me to their house before the semester started. We had a fun time playing UNO and other games, which relieved my stress very much. In return, I invited and treated them to a dinner in my dorm a few times during the semester. I remember Michael was eating ice cream with a big smile. After dinner, we always played pool. Chase was really good at it and I was the worst. I need practice. We share the same music taste. Michael started playing some songs with the audio in front of me. They were the types of music I liked. Actually I don’t like rap music or EDM so much. Neither does he. On the way back to their house, he allowed us to ride on his new electric skateboard. We dropped by the campus and took turns riding on it. After that, we had a chat on the bench until it got very late.

I sometimes saw Michael on campus as well. Then we had a little talk asking how each of us was doing. We were both busy. I had a hard time getting used to the new environment. I guess he did too to some extent. He came from a community college and I guess he was trying hard in this school both for himself and for the family in his hometown. Anyway, I loved these moments because they reminded me that I do have a good friend; we’re both working hard and cheering up each other. A semester had passed by. And we were doing better in the next one.

All of sudden, the pandemic came to Berkeley in March. I was forced to go back to Japan. I needed to leave quickly without having time to meet them and say goodbye in person. I wish I could. Instead, I sent a message in our group chat and left Berkeley.

Just after arriving in Japan, I stayed in a hotel as quarantine. It was a small and dim room, and because of the jet lag I couldn’t sleep well for a couple of days and often had dreams. In dreaming, I was still in Berkeley and had a fun time surrounded by my lovely friends. When I woke up from it, the white ceiling and Japanese characters on the wall reminded me where I was, which made me really sad.

Two weeks passed more quickly than I expected through doing online lectures, homeworks, and midterms, all Berkeley stuff. When I got free and allowed to return home, I was rather thinking about how my friends were doing at their own places. At that moment, I noticed a message on my phone. It was from Michael.

Hey Keitaro! I saw in your post that you were staying in a hotel until 4/11, does that mean you are home now? Theia and I would love to send you a letter if you have an address we can send one to!

Wow, what a warm message it is! I actually posted on my facebook about my quarantine, but I wrote it in Japanese. Did he guess from the number “4/11”, or he used translation? Anyway, I was really moved and realized that I did get a wonderful friend. In fact, we were just in the same group of a week long orientation. Not in the same major. Not meeting in the classroom everyday. Not living in the same apartment. But we are literally good friends. I felt I was very lucky that I met him on the first day. And I'm proud of ourselves for this lasting friendship.

Now the gift is in my arms. He and Theia are living closely so they packed and sent it to me. 

In today’s world, almost every information can be transferred online. We can say hello to each other with chat tools no matter how far away we are. Even gifts can be sent using various services with one thumb click. But now I’m holding the real one. The fact that my friends themselves packed it for me proves their kindness and affection. So I do the same thing. I’m enjoying thinking of what I should pack for them. I hope they love it.

You are the best. We stay friends for good.