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A period had arrived in which we organized our lives in such a way that everybody was satisfied, Barbara, her mother and me. This was the beginning of a long steady happy period. Therefore I am afraid that the stories of 1979 are going to be a bit boring. But that is not going to stop me from publishing them.

When Barbara and I were together we preferred to do things without others, we didn't want to join up with a group. Quite a difference from our live in Cambridge. Only twice we went to visit other friends while we were in London. One time we went out for dinner with some of the English friends of the CCAT who had moved to London. And the other time a former school friend of Barbara, when she lived in Ilford, contacted Barbara and asked her if she would join her to a disco because otherwise she was not allowed to go.

We didn't have a television and the personal computers didn't exist. As we didn't want to stay at home in our small rooms, we went out a lot. London was a nice place to go out in. Also the student life on the campus in Norwich was busy enough. Looking back now we must have had an enormous energy and also a tremendous drive to see each other to keep up this way of living for such a long time.


A normal week would be like this. On Sunday I be in Cambridge staying at Steve and Di's house. Barbara would come early afternoon. That whole afternoon we be alone together and near diner time we joined the others with the traditional Sunday roast diner that was organized. After this Barbara went home to Histon and take the evening train to London. I drove on my bike to Norwich.

On Monday evening I phoned Barbara, mostly when she came back from her work at the Burger King. Barbara enjoyed working there, she liked the apple pies, she squeezed them so the inside came out , she threw the pastry away. Barbara was always allowed to stand at the front desk, taking the orders, it was the nicest job. The manager gave those jobs to the pretty girls, it was better for business he said. Barbara could work whenever she wanted. Often her mother and uncle would come to London on Monday evening, they take her out for a meal then.

On Tuesday straight after my colleges I drove to the train station and take the train from Norwich to London. I met Barbara at her college. On Tuesday afternoon she had knitting and weaving lessons. This was not in the main building at Southhampton Row but in a smaller adjacent one. She be still working there when I came. I enjoyed watching her, this little girl behind these large machines, having everything under control, not being afraid to get her hands dirty. When Barbara finished we go into central London to eat, often Chinese and sometimes we went to the cinema or the disco or we just wondered about around Leicester square.

On Wednesday I went with Barbara to her college. While she followed lessons I tried to do some study in the library. We meet at the tea breaks and at lunchtime. I thought that she had very boring lessons on Wednesday. It was live drawing day. The whole class had to draw life objects like fruits or a nude model. Then they had to find a repeating pattern in it so it could be printed. Barbara could sit there working very concentrated for hours working on a small detail of a drawing. She preferred to work with colour pencils and charcoal. I remember that she was working on some fantasy drawing based on real animals. It surprised me when I saw this drawing on internet. Strange to think that I witnessed how she made this and often sat next to her while she was drawing it.

1979 opus002

 

After college on Wednesday we get something to eat and go to Barbara's room. From there I took the last train from London to Norwich. I be arriving in my room at Norwich in the early hours of Thursday.

Thursday evening I phoned Barbara. Again later in the evening as she worked at Burger King. She would go straight to work after school.

On Friday Barbara came to Norwich or I went to London. Depending on what we were planning to do. If we wanted to do some shopping I went to London. We enjoyed shopping in London especially the shops at Oxford street and Tottenham court road.

Saturday afternoon Barbara went to Histon. I normally went to Cambridge to stay at Steve and Di's place. The way we organized our life meant that we could see each other nearly every day. It was a very busy life but we were happy with it and we had the energy to do it.

During this time Barbara became very dependent on me for her social life. She had no friends of her own and was very satisfied with this. She made no attempt to build up an own social life. She didn't do any sport or join in with the student activities that were organized. She rather went working at Burger King. I was the opposite. When I wasn't with Barbara I was always with other people. Living on a student campus and beeing active in sport made it easy for me to make contact.

 

 1979 steady times 1

 

 

 

1979 steady times 3

The entrance of Barbara's college at Southhampton Row. Only the name has changed but the appearance is the same. Also inside little seems to have changed (see below). (both pictures taken by Barfan in june 2010).

1979 steady times 2

 

1979 steady times 4

A view of the underground station Belsize park where Barbara came nearly every day. Times haven't changed here (photo taken by Barfan in june 2010)

 

平稳的生活

这个时期我们开始能够把生活安排得让三方都满意,Barbara, 她母亲和我。这也是一长段平稳快乐时光的开始。我想1979年的故事会有点乏味,但是我还是会继续发表这些记忆。

Barbara和我两个在一起的时候我们更喜欢单独行动,不太和一群人一起。这和我们在剑桥(Cambridge)的时候很不一样。我们在伦敦(London)的这段时间仅仅有两次去拜访了朋友们。一次我们和一些CCAT搬来伦敦的英国朋友们一起晚餐。 还有一次,Barbara住在埃斯灵顿(Ilford)时一个老校友联络她,问她可不可以陪她去disco,因为只有有人陪着,她才能被允许去。

那时候我们没有电视,个人电脑还不存在。我们不想呆在家里的时候,我们经常出去走走。伦敦是一个很值得出去逛逛的好地方。 而且,诺日科(Norwich)的校园生活也是相当忙碌的。现在回头看看,我们一定是有超强大的精力,同时也有超强大的动力想见到对方,才能让这样的生活继续了这么长时间。

通常一周的行程如下:周日我在剑桥(Cambridge)住在Steve和Di家里。Barbara午后过来。我们整个下午就单独待着。近晚餐时间我们会加入大家,吃一顿周日烤肉晚餐, 这是那时大家的传统活动了。晚餐后Barbara回到Histon的家里,再坐晚火车去伦敦。

周一晚上我给Barbara打电话,通常那时她刚从汉堡王(Burger King)打工回来。 Barbara很喜欢那里的工作。她喜欢苹果派,她用力把馅挤出来吃掉,但把外皮扔掉。Barbara通常被安排在前台接点单,那是店里最好的活了。经理常把这工作安排给漂亮女孩子,他说这对生意有好处。Barbara在那里可以在她希望的时间段工作。她妈妈和舅舅周一晚上常来伦敦,会带她出去吃饭。

周二我一放学就开车到火车站,搭从诺日科(Norwich)到伦敦的火车,我到Barbara的学校去接她放学。每周二下午她有编织纺织课,不是在南汉普敦路(Southhampton Row)的主楼上课,而是在一个小一点的附楼上课。我到的时候她通常还在工作中。我喜欢看着她,这个小巧的女孩有条不紊地操纵着这些大机器,一点也不介意把手弄脏。Barbara下课后我们去伦敦市中心吃饭,通常是中餐。有时我们会去看电影或disco. 有时我们只是在莱斯特广场(Leicester square)周围闲逛。

周三我和Barbara一起去她的大学。 她去上课, 我就在图书馆里尽量学点习。 我们在茶歇和午餐时间碰头。我认为她周三的课程非常没意思。周三是写生课。全班都在画实物写生,画水果或裸体模特。然后他们得从中找到一个重复的图案,可用做印花图案。Barbara能聚精会神地坐在那里几个小时,完成一幅画内的某一个小细节。她更喜欢用彩色铅笔和木炭。我记得她用真实的动物为基础画过一组奇妙的图案。后来我在网络上看到这幅画的时候我很吃惊。想到她在画这幅画时,我常常坐在她身边,目睹她完成了这幅画,感觉奇异。

周三下课后我们吃些东西,再去Barbara的住所。从那里我坐末班火车返回诺日科(Norwich). 周四清晨我到达自己在Norwich的公寓。周四晚上我打电话给Barbara. 因为她晚上在汉堡王打工,会晚一点打。她下课后直接去那里工作。

每周五,根据我们的周末安排,要么Barbara到诺日科(Norwich)来,要么我去伦敦。如果我们想买东西逛街我会去伦敦。 我们很喜欢在伦敦购物,尤其喜欢牛津街(Oxford street)和托特汉姆路(Tottenham court road)上的商店。

周六下午Barbara回西斯顿(Histon)家里, 而我通常去剑桥住在Steve和Di那里。如此安排生活保证了我们几乎每天都可以看到对方。这样的生活很忙碌,但是我们都很快乐,也有足够的精力这样做。

这段时间Barbara在社交生活上变得很依赖我。她没有自己的朋友,但她很满足这样的状况。她也并没有尝试去开始自己的社交圈子。她没有参加任何运动和学生活动。她宁可在汉堡王打工。而我正好相反。我不和Barbara在一起的时候,总是和其他的朋友在一起。我住在校园里又喜欢运动,这也易于让我能交到朋友。

1979 opus002

 

(Thanks to Natalie for the translation)

 

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BHK
4 years ago
can't believe this, she went to the same college as I do.
really miss the Southhampton Row.
they moved to bloody king's cross now.
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你好!
11 years ago
看到你们的爱情故事我很感动!我不会英语,希望能和你作一个好朋友!能否和我联系下,这是我的邮箱!
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1
kelly
13 years ago
Sweet memories,,, huh,,if only time can bring her back,,, i'm sure she would not want to die...
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lois li
13 years ago
we look forward to your new stories
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Lucy
13 years ago
Rob, you are the BEST fiancee in the world!
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2
Hannah
13 years ago
How cute was that?? She would squeeze the fruit out and throw away the pastry, hehe. Love the story. Thanks again Rob! :D
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lois li
13 years ago
I WAS BORN IN 1974,AND I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL FAN OF BARBARA SINCE I WAS A LITTLE GIRL.DURING ALL THESE YEARS, SO MANY NEW FACES HAVE APPEARED IN THE ENTERTAINMENT CIRCLE.BUT STILL, I KNOW FOR SURE THAT BARBARA IS MY FAVORITE.NO OTHER ACTRESS COULD TAKE HER PLACE.I THINK HER MOTHER WAS PART OF HER TRAGEDY.FROM YOUR STORY ,I CAN SEE THAT YOU ARE VERY EASY-GOING AND VERY NICE TO BARBARA,AND YOU WERE BORN INTO A PRETTY RICH FAMILY.WHY WAS HER MOTHER AGAINST YOUR GETTING MARRIED? WHY CAN'T SHE ACCEPT YOU? DO YOU HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA OF WHY SHE DOES NOT LIKE YOU. IS IT BECAUSE YOU ARE A FOREIGNER? BARBARA'S MOTHER ONLY ALLOW HER DAUGHTER TO MARRY A CHINESE? WHAT WAS HER MOTHER LIKE ? SHE SEEMED SO STRICT WITH BARBARA.
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3
ANN HEE
13 years ago
Yes! I agree to Barfan's comments. We dont feel boring at all. We are happy to know every single things about u and barbara. :P
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6
Barfan
13 years ago
nothing about Barbara will be boring to us. We used to think we could never know anything new about her any more. you revived her. what a bless to be able to read those 'new' stories every week!

and what a busy but happy pair you were! tv and internet are for bored people of today. I miss those quiet and good days without them.
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2
julia
13 years ago
i don't know. maybe Barara thought too good to be true.
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barbfan
13 years ago
Very artsy. Rob, how did you like Barb's drawings and creativity? What was the one drawing that impressed you the most? Do you have a copy to show?
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