By Wenlan Xu

Jing Hu, a 24-year-old, first-year doctoral student in USU computer science department is looking forward to go back to China during this summer vacation, but he has to cancel his air-ticket because of the SARS panic in his country .

Hu used to have another name, Jun, given by his grandparents, which means "good horse" in Chinese. But when he was a little boy, he cried a lot, especially during the night, which caused a lot of complaints from the neighborhood. So his parents changed his name to "Jing," which means "being very quiet."

"It's a girl's name," said Hu, laughing. "But it has been with me for more than 20 years and I got used to it."

And also, Hu said he doesn't have an English name, "because it's not loyal to my parents who give me my name."

Hu will be 25 in the coming October. He was born in 1978 in Wuhu, Anhui province in China, the single child of the family.

"My parents love each other very much and have a lot of passion for each other," Hu said, smiling. "They are bee-you-tiful parents and I love them very much."

When Hu was little, his parent were not living together for many years, which was not a rare thing for Chinese of their generation. They have to work in different places and have difficulty to move together. He was raised by his mother most of the time, he said.

When he was 10, his parent finally managed to move together, and the reunited family has offered him a sweet home ever since, said Hu.

Hu went to school earlier than most of other kids of his generation.

"When I was 5 years old, my parents decided I should go to school 'cause I was good enough," he said. "I was a very smart kid, heh, heh. Kind of."

Hu said he appeared to have good memory and before he went to school, he could memorize 200 poems of the Tang Dynasty, and in primary school, he could almost memorize every single article in the Chinese text books.

"When I was 16 years old, I left my hometown and went to Xi Dian University (Xi'an Electronic Science and Technology University), 1,000 miles away from home," Hu said.

Xi Dian is one of the top 15 universities in China, and Xi'an is a very famous city, which has been the capital of six dynasties in ancient China.

"I enjoyed my life there, and I love my major, computer science," said Hu.

Most of Hu's colleagues are 18 or 19 years old. Not surprisingly, he was the youngest in his class. But his age didn't cause him any problem, said Hu.

"Basically I was a very ordinary student. I didn't look especially younger and I didn't behave especially dumber," Hu said and laughed. "No body would notice my age if was not told."

Hu did well in college and had won a couple of scholarships. His special talent at math also won him fame among girls, said Hu, laughing.

"I am a math person and I usually had the highest grade in math test. I beat up other 230 classmates," said Hu. "Those were my best days."

"I was not industrious at all and I have no clue how it happened. I guess I was just born like this," Hu said, and smiled. "I was good."

After Hu graduated from the university, he went to Shanghai. "It's a big city in China and I worked there for three years in a joint venture company called 'Alcatl Shanghai Bell'," Hu said.

"It's a good company and I made good money," He said.

He made more than $10,000 a year. It's a lot of money for a Chinese, especially as young as he was, said Hu.

Also the job brought him chances to go to Europe for professional trainings. If he chose to sign the working contract for five more years with the company, he got "free tours" to Europe, he said.

But he gave all of them up and chose to be a Ph. D student in the Utah State University. He said the reason is he got bored of his work.

"I am tired of it (his work). I did the same thing every day for continuously three years, can you imagine that?" said Hu. "It's a good company with very comfortable working environment and I made good money there but those shouldn't have been the reason of what I should do next, right?"

"I am young. I believe for a man, when he was between 20 and 30, it's time to learn knowledge and gain experience." Hu said. "And also, Shanghai is an expensive city, $10,000 are actually not as good as it sounds. I need more to feel happy and a Ph. D degree could get me there."

Hu said he is not a materialist though he believes money is very important for his life. "For me, family is more important thing and I can give up everything for it. I can have no money, but I can't have no family."

While loving the family given by his parents, the 24-year-old is also looking forward to having a family of his own.

"I can say that, before 22, I was very shy in front of girls. I never had a relationship and I had no courage to start one when I was allowed," Hu said.

In China, students are usually not allowed to date during high school, and in many universities, rules such as "no dating allowed" are still on the books.

At 22, he finally started a relationship, but it ended up to bring him a lot of pain, he said. "She cheated on me and I was wounded badly."

"After that painful relationship, I don't know the reasons but I became very good at girls," Hu said and laughed. "I think many boys have this kind of transformation."

"I am not a player, but I know how to please girls, I know what they like and what they don't like," Hu said, "I played a little bit."

"But last year before I came to U. S, things changed. I met this girl in Shanghai and I love her very much, and incredibly she loves me the same way," Hu said.

"Before, I didn't believe in love at first sight, but it really happened to me."
They got married when Hu went back to China during the winter break, he said.

"I must marry her last winter 'cause I want to get her here to be with me as soon as possible. Long distance won't do us any good," said Hu. "True love seldom happens and I must do something. You know what I mean?"

But the early-launched marriage got a little problem.

"My parents haven't known that I've got married," Hu said. "Because if they know, they wouldn't allow me."

"The thing is, my family is a very traditional Chinese family. My parents are very controlling. They are very strict parents and they decided everything for me, even now I am an adult," said Hu. "I guess they still took me as an immature kid. And I suspect it would take too long to convince them that I am not."

Hu's mother didn't like his wife. She didn't even allow them to date, he said.

"I don't know why she doesn't' like her. My wife is such a wonderful girl. She is so pretty and so smart. She is an instructor in a good university and most important of all she truly loves me," He said. "My mom has no reason not to accept her."

"In China, a son is supposed to obey everything from his parents, the filial piety stuff, you know," Hu said. "But this time, I decided to follow my heart."

"I've said family is very important to me and I'd give up anything for it. This is still true to me even though I got married without letting my parents know," said Hu. "My parents and my wife will get alone. They just didn't have enough chances to know each other better."

Hu's wife applied for F-2 visa (student spouse visa) this spring but the first application was denied. Both Hu and his wife were very upset. They had planned to apply the visa again together when Hu got back to China this summer.

But because of the threat of the SARS disease, his home trip has to be canceled, which means his plan to get his wife here this fall possibly wont work.

"I really don't worry about the disease, but both my mom and my wife wouldn't allow me," Hu said. "I guess I just have to wait."

Cai Lin is Hu's colleague. The two worked in the same lab. He came to U.S with Hu at the same year.

"Jing is such a smart guy, probably the smartest guy I've seen," Lin said. "He could achieve almost everything he wants. Sometimes, It takes more than good luck to be that good."

"But what an ass!" said Lin. "Getting married without telling your parents? What are you doing, man?"

"I can't imagine the pains his parents would suffer when they found out his marriage," Lin said. "Seriously, I can't think of anything else that would hurt Chinese parents worse."

"But sometimes, you just wish you could be him," Lin said, laughing.

Hu said life in Logan is so lonely. A Ph. D study seems too long and too boring for him, that if his wife couldn't come, he would think of transferring to master track and go back to China sooner.

"I can't wait to see my wife and can't wait to get my marriage blessed by my parents," said Hu, "But it seems God is testing my patience this time."

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