Feb 24th - The Kids Are Alright

Tonight I went out to a restaurant with my Mother-In-Law's boss and his family. And of course my wife, mother-in-law, cousin, auntie and uncle came along too. I was immediately greeted at the door by the boss' daughter, who said "Hello! What is your name?" I said Hello back, and told her my name, and then she told me her English name is Becky. I asked how old she was, and she was 10. "Alright!" I thought. Someone at my intellectual level! Finally I can talk about boogers with somebody! But boy was I in for a surprise. Not only did this little girl speak English almost fluently, but her grammer was better than mine! Boy did I feel like a dirtbag.

Becky had conveniently just come from a 1-hour English lesson and was ready to talk. She told me about her hobbies, as well as things she hates (apparently she doesn't like soccer or singing) and educated me on the capital city of China. "Beijing is known for it's natural beauty and many historical sites," she said. I said, "Cool. I like lookin' at stuff." She looked at me a little odd, and I said "Thank you. I look forward to visiting Beijing." Looks like I can only get through to her if I use the Queen's English, and not Ricky & Bubbles' of the Trailer Park Boys. Dangit, there goes all my toilet humour down the uhh... toilet. See, even my puns were thrown off tonight!

Her teacher, she tells me, is an Australian man who is very intellegent. Oh boy. They have a 1-hour conversation, and Becky's parents pay him handsomely for it. I can see her mom & dad egging her on to test her English on me. Becky proudly tells me that she wants to be a writer or a teacher, and apparently she's read quite a bit. Her favourite subjects are English and Chinese. Now, most kids pick on a bookworm, but myself once being a rather chubby, literate child, I actually liked her. I could relate. She was a little on the large side, but unlike young Nathan, it didn't seem to bother her. I said jokingly after dinner that I needed a nap. She said she was going for a walk tonight to burn off some of the fat. Jeez, this kid is makin' me look bad.

After the adults chit-chatted for a bit, Becky's father gave her the bill. She asked me to come downstairs with her. Uh oh. That time I nodded, was I agreeing to pick up the bill? What I didn't see was that the father slipped out and already pai, he just wanted Becky to go down and get the change. I followed her to the elevator and we went down to the cashier. She grabbed the change, counted it, looked the bill over and nodded to the cashier. Apparently she's her father's accountant as well. Then she asked me a funny question. "When will I see you again?" I had to think about this one. I said "What are you doing tomorrow?" She said she had another English lesson tomorrow. Maybe we can have dinner again and she can practise her English some more with me? It was kinda cute, but i said "Sorry, I'm busy tomorrow evening. Perhaps another time." She said "Okay. It was very nice meeting you. Good-bye"

So, I made a new friend today. I just hope my wife doesn't get the wrong idea... She's just my English teacher.