By Katharine Wang
Good morning! Thank you for flying with TED1 airlines today. Our trip to Denver, Colorado will be one hour and forty minutes..." the flight attendant said chirpily2; her voice sounded through the compartment.
Overcome with nausea and a headache that could make Godzilla groan in pain,3 I was praying that I wouldn't pass out4 during the flight. Our flight, UA1442, to Denver was scheduled to be at 2pm. I had just taken a three-hour exam in the morning. Plus, I didn't eat lunch, rushed back home, packed all my belongings, and then raced to the airport where we waited for almost two hours until boarding time. To top the iceberg5, I was trying to recover from a cold that lasted through my week of AP6 (Advanced Placement) exams.
It wasn't as if I enjoyed the chaos. Believe me, I'm far from a masochist7. The objective of this trip was to attend my cousin's graduation ?a very big occasion for my relatives. I, for one, thought Colorado was like a foreign country. I guess that's because my life revolved around the atmosphere of LA ?tall buildings, busy traffic, pollution. Colorado is all land ?miles and miles of plains until reaching the great Rocky Mountains protruding from the flat grounds.8
As the plane lifted off the runway at the Ontario9 Airport in LA, I peered over at the small capsule-like window. Blue. All I could see was blue. It had been so long since I flew. I forgot how it felt to be truly "light" in the air. The ground was far away and the sky was the limit.
And then we hit turbulence10. The little Hispanic girl behind my row squealed in delight as the plane dipped and leveled and dipped again.11 Contrary to her joy, I thought I was about to hurl.
With festivities in mind after the graduation, my uncle proposed a celebratory dinner at the only Chinese restaurant in the area: China Buffet. The name says it all: it had been brutally Americanized.12 Sweet and sour pork. Sweet and sour chicken. Fried rice. But that wasn't the highlight of the dinner. The entrance of my nineteen people group hit the spotlight ?fifteen Chinese and three Caucasians speaking loudly to each other in strangled communication.13
Everything went quiet in the restaurant. All of the diners turned around and stared at us with surprise and amusement. I felt like a circus clown on a tight rope.
Despite the awkwardness, I had many stimulating conversations with a German lady at my table. Sitting right across from me, my attention was directed all towards her ?her genuine kind-heartedness; her mischievous smile; her raspy voice; her unabashed laughter;14 her love for her students and family. She kept repeating: Kid, I understand what you're going through. I'm not quite sure what she meant at that time. Maybe it was the stale cream puff that was somehow lodged in our throats.15 Or maybe, she could relate because she emigrated from Germany as a teen.
A graduation in Colorado isn't a graduation if it's without a party. My relatives were invited to a "Turkey Fest" at my cousin and his roommates' rented dwelling next to the college. Apparently, my cousin's two roommates, his friends, and his roommate's girlfriend all read my book, Been There, Done That16. As I talked to them about my book, my little cousin was busy playing Nintendo 6417 with another kid of his own age; my grandmother and uncle were snoring in Nathan's room; other parents were frying two whole turkeys in oil; and three dogs were racing around in the backyard. It was beautiful ?the sounds of chattering and laughter, the tantalizing smells18 of country food, the barking of dogs and giggling of kids, and the quiet comfort of companionship with complete strangers.
From room to backyard, I met so many amazing characters ?professors, parents, students. A group of graduates had been fixing up a bus into a living quarter for a three-month road trip across the US.19 I watched in awe as they showed me how they built handmade tables that could be stacked20 and attached for efficiency and space, their own shower, a running water system, beds, and a kitchen. It was a fusion21 of creativity, talent, hard work and determination
But who I remember most was a little girl named Lana. In my life, I met few who could suddenly touch my heart and snuggle22 in my memories.
A little ball of energy, Lana was a free-spirited and curious 14-month-old Chinese girl. With dark, brown eyes that looked like two oval buttons, short black hair flying wildly, and a blue and white cheongsam23 with jeans underneath, she was Lana ?not just another girl. She refused to be held or led ?an individual by birth. Without a second thought, she had stumbled confidently up to a dog quadruple her size and started to pat him. It's doubtless that she was an attention-grabber. Her two Caucasian parents, both professors at the college, could only trail behind her. I quote her father: "Lana is proof that all Asian women are intelligent." If you haven't already realized, Lana was adopted.
Her parents showed us pictures of the moment they received Lana, pictures of the adoption center24 in China, and the pictures in front of the Forbidden City25 in Beijing. There was love in the eyes of all three.
Lana and her parents gave me a gift. They showed me that although we are so different in color, we're the same in spirit.
Sure, I felt different at moments in time during the trip. As an Asian American, it's always bizarre26 to bump into situations that remind me of how apart but how included I am in the American culture. But watching as Lana blew me a kiss as a goodbye, I felt there was no difference at all. No difference whatsoever. -
1. TED: “泰德”。2003年年底，美國(guó)聯(lián)合航空公司為順應(yīng)市場(chǎng)需求，推出低票價(jià)航班服務(wù)，并將其命名為“泰德”，從2004年2月開始提供飛行服務(wù)。
2. chirpily: 快活地，活潑地。
3. nausea/#n0:z!2/: 暈機(jī)；Godzilla: 哥斯拉，是同名美國(guó)系列影片中的怪獸。
4. pass out: <俚>昏倒，失去知覺。
5. to top the iceberg: 糟糕的是。
6. AP: Advanced Placement的縮寫，指美國(guó)高中的大學(xué)選修課。如果學(xué)生在AP考試中獲得滿分(五分)或四分的好成績(jī)，很多大學(xué)將予以承認(rèn)，這樣學(xué)生進(jìn)入大學(xué)后就可以免修相關(guān)課程。但另外有些大學(xué)，如加州理工學(xué)院就不承認(rèn)任何AP成績(jī)。
7. masochist/#m*s2%k!st/: 受虐狂者。
8. Rocky Mountains: 落基山脈，位于北美洲西部，北起阿拉斯加北部，縱貫加拿大和美國(guó)西部，南至墨西哥邊境；protrude: 伸出，突出。
9. Ontario/=n#te2r!2%/: 安大略，美國(guó)加州西南部一城市。
10. turbulence/#t^:bj%l2ns/: [氣]湍流。
11. 當(dāng)飛機(jī)在突然的沉降和恢復(fù)平衡間變換時(shí)，我后排那個(gè)西班牙小女孩興奮地尖叫起來(lái)。Hispanic: 西班牙的；squeal: 發(fā)出長(zhǎng)而尖的叫聲；dip: 下沉，下降。
12. 這個(gè)名字說(shuō)明了一切：它已經(jīng)徹底美國(guó)化了。
13. Caucasian/k0:#ke!z!2n/: 白種人，高加索種人；strangled: 讓人窒息的。
14. mischievous: 惡作劇的，頑皮的；raspy: 聲音粗嘎的；unabashed: 毫不掩飾的。
15. 可能是不新鮮的奶油泡芙粘在了我們的喉嚨里。stale: (食品等)不新鮮的；cream puff: 奶油泡芙，一種小甜點(diǎn)。
16. Been There, Done That: 《此時(shí)，彼地》。作者以自己的四年高中生活為藍(lán)本寫就的第一本英文小說(shuō)，目前已在國(guó)內(nèi)由外語(yǔ)教學(xué)與研究出版社出版。
17. Nintendo 64: 任天堂64位游戲機(jī)?！叭翁焯谩睘橐挥螒驒C(jī)生產(chǎn)商。
18. tantalizing: 挑逗性的，逗引性的。tantalizing smell在此意為“令人垂涎欲滴的香味”。
19. fix up: 改裝；living quarter: 宿舍，住宅。
20. stack: 折疊。
21. fusion: 融合。
22. snuggle: 舒服地蜷伏，偎依。此處snuggle in my memories指“留在我的記憶里”。
23. cheongsam/#t10:9#s*m/: 旗袍。
24. adoption center: (兒童)收養(yǎng)中心。
25. Forbidden City: 紫禁城。
26. bizarre/b!#z4:(r)/: 怪異的，怪誕的。