This post is the latest in the series Dreams of the World, which profiles interesting people Kike meets during his travels.
Sunday morning in Central Park, New York. © KIKE CALVO
Lei and Ming just got married. They both love traveling. Ming, 27, dreams of traveling around the world to see different scenery and meet different people. ¨ I want to become someone who can have the influence one day to help others live a better life and make the world a little bit different. ¨I would love to have my very own photography studio someday,¨Lei explains to me. ¨I wish I could keep traveling and record fun moments and meet interesting people along the way.
They newly wed couple originally come from China. ¨We went to school in Michigan,¨ describes Lei. ¨But then we moved to start work in New York. We love central park, that is why we chose this location for our wedding photographs. The park is one of the most well-known places in Manhattan, it has beautiful views and joyful people.¨
In the midst of their happiness and excitement, during the moment I was capturing them together, they both referred to childhood moments. ¨I learned to play the piano and electronic piano for around nine years,¨explains Ming, beautifully fitted in her white bright wedding dress. ¨One of my best memories is that I won a National electronic piano competition and got a brand new electronic piano as the prize¨. Lei refers to how she hated going to the dentist. ¨I remember when I was six and I had a bad tooth that needed to be pulled out. I literally ran away from home and hid from my parents for a whole day. My mother finally caught me in the late afternoon and dragged me into the dentist’s office, but I kept struggling and tore apart the dentist’s watchband! All the efforts failed to save my tooth in the end, but the dentist was kind enough not to ask me to pay him back for the watch.¨
“I still remember having a small TV set and a bicycle as the only two valuable things in the whole family,¨ Lei mentions. Now a days many of our relatives have already bought their own cars. I will never forget the astonishing moment in the 90′s when my father brought back home a cell phone as big as a brick. Now a lot of kids in China have their own smart phones. China is growing together with the rest of the world, while pressing the fast forward button to play catch up. China has changed a lot in every aspect. Ming interrupts. ¨It’s always sad to say goodbye to your family and know that you won’t be able to come back home in a long time.¨
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