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I urge that we not be discouraged to continue the conversation.
I met a sweet, outgoing, and stylish Chinese classmate around my age, Yi at the summer improv course at the university. To be more specific, Carnegie Mellon University, where the best School of Computer Science and School of Drama coexists. Shortly after we got to know each other, she invited me to grab dinner with her husband at a Turkish place near campus.
That night, we talked about our experiences in the US as non-native speakers of English. The couple shared their concerns about their lack of mastery of the English language, especially in getting their points across in group conversations.
I also expressed my appreciation to Yi, mostly on how brave I thought she was in the improv class we took together, where she absolutely put herself out there, jumping into actives and just, having fun with us the whole time.
Her husband, Lao Yang, a reserved while witty one, decided to share with me something they odd encountered in Boston a few weeks ago, where he claimed that “my wife thought my response to the English native speaker was a little rude.”
“Tell me tell me tell me.” I urged.
“Okay, so we were hanging out near the Harvard campus,” Lao Yang said. “My wife had this CMU sweatshirt on. A middle-aged Caucasian man…
