Every once in a while, I’d visit Treasure Hill Village, an “artist village” just south of the NTNU branch campus. It fascinates me; it has this magical, almost mystical quality that somehow draws me to it, not just for the vintage architecture or the modern art installations but what had and could transpire in its labyrinth of alleys.
It’s a place of remembrance. Although I’ve spent significantly more time at school than there, so many of my defining moments of college memories are set in Treasure Hill Village that they pretty much sum up most of my major changes in the last three years. One time, it’s the drifty lightness of getting drunk for the first time; another time, it’s the heated argument between friends about our different worldviews; and another time, it’s the evening stroll after the first date with someone special. Many nights did I spent sitting at the top of the hill with people, in front of an abandoned shack, watching the streams of car light swirling before me on the highway. As if those lights are campfire, we’d drink together and sing together. I love the view, but I was never there for the view.
Treasure Hill Village is also a place of self-discovery and contemplation. The adventures I had there account for my journey through college so far. Sometimes, I think back to the time that I first came upon it and compare what’s new and what’s gone in my life. Looking at those snapshots of life, I realize who I really am. Most of everyday life is mundane, giving no insights. But by examining those unusually emotional moments, I can see how the tears and laughters join together to tell the story. They’re also indicators for what direction I am going. Pondering on them is like sitting at Sylvia Plath’s fig tree, peering through time, trying to get a sense ahead of time of what’s coming and the possibilities.
I can never put my finger on what makes Treasure Hill so alluring - why is it that I have so many important and impactful memories about it. Maybe it doesn’t matter. What counts is those things did happen there, and I shall remember Treasure Hill forever.