provided me with a booklet of forms on which I was to record my daily dosage of the drug.
“We’ll be in touch.” She smiled. “You’ll receive the payment in the mail.”
I got up and bowed slightly. “Thank you and good-bye.”
“Wait, Miss Min, I need you to sign the contract here.”
“No need, no need,” I said quickly as I began to collect my stuff.
“I am afraid you have to, Miss Min.”
“What is it?”
“It’s the conditions and terms.”
“I’ll sign.”
“You must read it first.”
“I don’t read English. I’ll sign. I sign now.”
The lady withdrew the paper. She stared at me suspiciously. It was too late when I realized my mistake. Before I could get out the door, the lady jumped from her desk. She grabbed my arm and took away the package of bottles.
“Please,” I begged. “I need the money.”
The lady pointed at the door. “Leave, now.”
Kate was my next-door neighbor at the dorm. Her beauty reminded me of Esmeralda. With her makeup on, she looked like a cover girl out of a fashion magazine. When she spoke to Takisha in the hallway, I listened. Although I could understand very little, I enjoyed their conversation. I got busy with my dictionary as they talked.
Kate had the brightest eyes and a worry-free smile. Her manner was trusting and childlike. She didn’t look like she had suffered any hardship in life. Kate was a little taller than Takisha and me. She loved to say to me, “Let’s hang out, Anchee.”
My dictionary showed me the meaning of
hang
and
out
, but not “hang out.” So I asked Kate to explain what it meant. Like Takisha, Kate was not bothered that I was a language cripple. She didn’t mind explaining and repeating until I got the meaning.
“Where … are … you … going?” she would say to me, for example. When I failed to understand, she would pick up my dictionary, locate the page, and point out the word for me. She introduced me to other people in the dorm. Now I was fluent in “My name is Anchee, spelled ‘An-Qi,’ and I am from China.”
I noticed that Kate and others never said, “How do you do?”
Instead they greeted each other with “What’s up, dude?” I told Kate that I couldn’t find “What’s up, dude?” in my dictionary, or in
English 900 Sentences
.
She laughed. “It’s a silly expression, a fun way of saying the same thing.”
From then on I changed my greeting from “How do you do?” to “What’s up, dude?”
Takisha was unhappy about my visiting Kate. She tried to convince me that something was
wrong
with Kate. “She is rich,” Takisha said. “Her parents must have a lot of money, or she wouldn’t be able to afford a room all to herself.” The other evidence of Kate being rich, according to Takisha, was that she owned a TV.
I wanted to explain to Takisha that I hung out with Kate because it gave me a chance to practice English. I knew how boring I was to Kate. It was like trying to have a conversation with a baby. I wouldn’t want to spend time with anyone who spoke infant Chinese. I felt guilty about taking advantage of Kate. Takisha voiced her thoughts and views, but she was not interested in anything I had to say. My baby English didn’t help either. In a way, Kate had become my best friend in the dorm.
I asked Kate, “What does ‘goof around’ mean?” She laughed and told me that it meant to have a good time.
I asked, “What are you supposed to do when you goof around?”
Kate laughed again and said, “Nothing!”
I took notes and wrote down the phrases I learned from Kate.
“You are funny, Anchee Min, do you know that?” Kate said.
“What does ‘funny’ mean?”
The afternoon turned into evening. I sat in Kate’s room looking up words in my dictionary while she worked on her homework. I asked Kate what a real American classroom looked like and if she, by any chance, could show me.
“That’s easy,” Kate said. “Come with me to my business-marketing class tomorrow
“We’ll be in touch.” She smiled. “You’ll receive the payment in the mail.”
I got up and bowed slightly. “Thank you and good-bye.”
“Wait, Miss Min, I need you to sign the contract here.”
“No need, no need,” I said quickly as I began to collect my stuff.
“I am afraid you have to, Miss Min.”
“What is it?”
“It’s the conditions and terms.”
“I’ll sign.”
“You must read it first.”
“I don’t read English. I’ll sign. I sign now.”
The lady withdrew the paper. She stared at me suspiciously. It was too late when I realized my mistake. Before I could get out the door, the lady jumped from her desk. She grabbed my arm and took away the package of bottles.
“Please,” I begged. “I need the money.”
The lady pointed at the door. “Leave, now.”
Kate was my next-door neighbor at the dorm. Her beauty reminded me of Esmeralda. With her makeup on, she looked like a cover girl out of a fashion magazine. When she spoke to Takisha in the hallway, I listened. Although I could understand very little, I enjoyed their conversation. I got busy with my dictionary as they talked.
Kate had the brightest eyes and a worry-free smile. Her manner was trusting and childlike. She didn’t look like she had suffered any hardship in life. Kate was a little taller than Takisha and me. She loved to say to me, “Let’s hang out, Anchee.”
My dictionary showed me the meaning of
hang
and
out
, but not “hang out.” So I asked Kate to explain what it meant. Like Takisha, Kate was not bothered that I was a language cripple. She didn’t mind explaining and repeating until I got the meaning.
“Where … are … you … going?” she would say to me, for example. When I failed to understand, she would pick up my dictionary, locate the page, and point out the word for me. She introduced me to other people in the dorm. Now I was fluent in “My name is Anchee, spelled ‘An-Qi,’ and I am from China.”
I noticed that Kate and others never said, “How do you do?”
Instead they greeted each other with “What’s up, dude?” I told Kate that I couldn’t find “What’s up, dude?” in my dictionary, or in
English 900 Sentences
.
She laughed. “It’s a silly expression, a fun way of saying the same thing.”
From then on I changed my greeting from “How do you do?” to “What’s up, dude?”
Takisha was unhappy about my visiting Kate. She tried to convince me that something was
wrong
with Kate. “She is rich,” Takisha said. “Her parents must have a lot of money, or she wouldn’t be able to afford a room all to herself.” The other evidence of Kate being rich, according to Takisha, was that she owned a TV.
I wanted to explain to Takisha that I hung out with Kate because it gave me a chance to practice English. I knew how boring I was to Kate. It was like trying to have a conversation with a baby. I wouldn’t want to spend time with anyone who spoke infant Chinese. I felt guilty about taking advantage of Kate. Takisha voiced her thoughts and views, but she was not interested in anything I had to say. My baby English didn’t help either. In a way, Kate had become my best friend in the dorm.
I asked Kate, “What does ‘goof around’ mean?” She laughed and told me that it meant to have a good time.
I asked, “What are you supposed to do when you goof around?”
Kate laughed again and said, “Nothing!”
I took notes and wrote down the phrases I learned from Kate.
“You are funny, Anchee Min, do you know that?” Kate said.
“What does ‘funny’ mean?”
The afternoon turned into evening. I sat in Kate’s room looking up words in my dictionary while she worked on her homework. I asked Kate what a real American classroom looked like and if she, by any chance, could show me.
“That’s easy,” Kate said. “Come with me to my business-marketing class tomorrow
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