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| Cathrine Mountain |
Although we weren't in Xi'an for very long, I fell in love with the city and was especially fond of the campus that we lived on. There was something intangible about the spirit of the city that seemed so familiar and comfortable. One of my favorite places in the city was a cozy little coffee shop right outside of the campus gate. On one of our romps about the city, Paige and I stumbled upon the Standing in Time Cafe and found a beautiful scene of college students playing live music and sitting around chatting about things we couldn't decipher. This incredibly personal yet welcoming little scene could almost have been one of Jeri Katherine Howell's beautiful concerts at the Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe, a familiar scene in Frankfort, Kentucky.
The next morning, I was determined to finally start reading The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, so I roamed back to this little haven and made myself at home near an open window overlooking the alleyway below. It was here that I lost myself for a little while then slowly learned how to find myself again. After reading a passage in which two of the characters are talking about the poem "Cold Mountain" by Han Shan, I found myself delving into the poem and the history of the author. Han Shan is a legendary figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty, the most popular of which is "Cold Mountain", which seems to define his life. As one of the characters in the book explains, "Han Shan... was a Chinese Scholar who got sick of the big city and the world and took off to hide in the mountains."
I immediately felt like this quote defined every urge I've had to say goodbye to society for some time and take to the woods with my dogs and my backpack. As I got deeper and deeper into the poem, I began to think more and more about how incredible the life of Han Shan was. He lived on Cold Mountain for most of his adult life and was completely alone as he would write poetry on the edges of steep cliffs, witnessing the untouched and awe-inspiring beauty of nature. I sympathized with Han Shan so much and understood the importance of being alone and being one with the natural world. But, I soon realized that that's not what life means to me. Every mountain, river, forest, or even cafe that I love, I love because of the people that I have enjoyed them with. Whether it was Mount Kilimanjaro with my father, Mount Sanqingshan with Arsh, the Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe with my friends and family, or a small cafe in Xi'an with Paige, I have loved all of these places because I have been able to experience them with the people that I love. And because of these places and the people I have shared them with, I have been able to find my peace, just as Han Shan did on Cold Mountain. I am certainly going to miss Xi'an and the scenery that defined it for me, but I know that they will always stay with me because of the people that I enjoyed them with.
Cathrine Mountain, of Frankfort, Ky., is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is studying political science and anthropology.