Text-based memoir V2
Jin Cheng
Dr. Lauren Holt
ENG 221RW
October 31, 2014
Text-based Memoir V2
"Mom, why are those women wearing those colorful bed sheets? "
"It is not a bed sheet, Jin. It is a traditional Thai clothes. "
"Mom, mom! What is that? That black little thing! It has white pulp!"
"That is just an kind of tropical fruit, called mangosteen."
"Mom... what is that ...?"
When I was seven years old, I had my first experience of traveling abroad. It was Thailand. I went there with my parents during the winter break. Everything had been so exotic for me, so this kind of conversation went on every several minutes between my mother and me. I seemed to have a myriad of questions, and I could stopped asking. I never thought of answers by myself. I always believed that it was good to ask about the things that I did not know. My mom was a patient and gentile mother, so she always helped me get rid of my confusions. In Thailand I was fascinated by the language that people spoke around me, the traditional Thai clothing people wore in the street, and all kinds of fresh fruits in the morning market sold in really cheap prices.
Although the air had already been clammy and cold at that time in my hometown, the weather in Thailand was warm and gentle. Under this atmosphere, I had a really relaxed mood and looked at the unacquainted world with my immature eyes. I chatted with my Mom in a soft but excited voice. She patiently listened to all my confusions and carefully explained to me with all she knew. Several hours later, when we were walking through a hectic open market, she stopped her steps and kneeled down. She held my hand, looked into my eyes and said,
"Hey, Jin, do you want to play a game with me?"
A game? Yeah, I loved games. What kind of game?
"How about this, you are going to collect all your questions from now and try to find answers for them by yourself. And you tell me what do you find. I will give you present based on how many questions you solved by yourself"
I felt a little upset when I heard this. That was not a game. "Mommy was tired of answering my questions,", I thought, "I am going to just save my questions."
So I decided to save all my little concerns and questions for a while and let my mom have a rest. We walked into an open market and looked at those small stalls placed in the middle of the road selling all kinds of commodities. People brought out vegetables, fruits and home-made knit products. I walked to a grandfatherly looking person's stall. He had a lot of fresh fruits on the stall, including my favorite one-strawberry. He saw me walk toward him, and he waved to me, smilingly. He put forward a strawberry to me after cleaning it with a bottle of water. I took the strawberry and put it into my mouth. It was so sweet and juicy that I felt like it was the best strawberry that I had ever tasted. I asked him how much it was, the strawberry. He waved his hand and said, "You can have more if you want. It charges on me." I was shocked when my mother translated what he said to me. It was the first time for men to eat something in the market before I paid for it. In China, I was always told that I could not do that. I felt confused, but I thought it was cool. "There might be cultural difference among different places", I thought. I found the old man very talkative and witty. I talked to him for a long time with my limited English vocabulary by my mom's help until we were asked to depart for the zoo by the guide.
On the way to the zoo, my mom asked me, "Are you okay for the zoo, Jin? We can cancel this trip if you don't want to."
"Let me think, well, " I held a bag of mangosteens that we brought from the old man and said, "I think I can try."
The car rolled slowly into the zoo. I couldn't help feeling nervous because I was actually afraid of animals. I was bitten by a dog when I was only three years old. After that, I always felt unsafe when there were animals wandering around me. However, during the trip, I saw a lot of things that I had not seen before. I was getting used to and trying to accept and understand them. Maybe it was the time for me to eliminate my fear. I greeted lots of elephants drinking water near a river shortly after our car got into the zoo. However, for the first time, I was not trebling and trying to run away. Maybe it was the magic of mangosteens that let me forget the fear. After getting off the car, I was lifted by my dad to touch one of the elephants. I could feel its uneven skin and slow but heavy breathe. That was such a new experience for me and I was deeply fascinated. Finally, I climbed up to the back of an elephant and sat on the bamboo chair, which was set up on the back of the elephant. I remembered me warbling with the elephant as it moved forward. When I looked up, the sky was azure and there were melodious birdsongs continuously melting into the breeze.
When we got back to the hotel at night, my mom ask me what I got for our little game. Embarrassingly, I had already forgot about that. Knowing that I forgot our game, she was not upset, but she asked me "I believe everything here in Thailand must be quite unfamiliar for me, but I found you have a very happy day. How do think of all of this novel things.
I thought about it for a couple of seconds, and said,
"I haven't thought that I would see Thai clothes and eat something before paying for it before I came here. I had never heard of a fruit called mangosteen. It would be such a pity if I did not have a chance to try it. It tastes so good! If I did not come here, I would have been afraid of animals. And I wouldn't know that there was so much fun to ride an elephant!"
After hearing my words, My mom said a sentence that I did not understand at that time,
"I thought you already get your answer for this trip." and she smiled.
Dr. Lauren Holt
ENG 221RW
October 31, 2014
Text-based Memoir V2
"Mom, why are those women wearing those colorful bed sheets? "
"It is not a bed sheet, Jin. It is a traditional Thai clothes. "
"Mom, mom! What is that? That black little thing! It has white pulp!"
"That is just an kind of tropical fruit, called mangosteen."
"Mom... what is that ...?"
When I was seven years old, I had my first experience of traveling abroad. It was Thailand. I went there with my parents during the winter break. Everything had been so exotic for me, so this kind of conversation went on every several minutes between my mother and me. I seemed to have a myriad of questions, and I could stopped asking. I never thought of answers by myself. I always believed that it was good to ask about the things that I did not know. My mom was a patient and gentile mother, so she always helped me get rid of my confusions. In Thailand I was fascinated by the language that people spoke around me, the traditional Thai clothing people wore in the street, and all kinds of fresh fruits in the morning market sold in really cheap prices.
Although the air had already been clammy and cold at that time in my hometown, the weather in Thailand was warm and gentle. Under this atmosphere, I had a really relaxed mood and looked at the unacquainted world with my immature eyes. I chatted with my Mom in a soft but excited voice. She patiently listened to all my confusions and carefully explained to me with all she knew. Several hours later, when we were walking through a hectic open market, she stopped her steps and kneeled down. She held my hand, looked into my eyes and said,
"Hey, Jin, do you want to play a game with me?"
A game? Yeah, I loved games. What kind of game?
"How about this, you are going to collect all your questions from now and try to find answers for them by yourself. And you tell me what do you find. I will give you present based on how many questions you solved by yourself"
I felt a little upset when I heard this. That was not a game. "Mommy was tired of answering my questions,", I thought, "I am going to just save my questions."
So I decided to save all my little concerns and questions for a while and let my mom have a rest. We walked into an open market and looked at those small stalls placed in the middle of the road selling all kinds of commodities. People brought out vegetables, fruits and home-made knit products. I walked to a grandfatherly looking person's stall. He had a lot of fresh fruits on the stall, including my favorite one-strawberry. He saw me walk toward him, and he waved to me, smilingly. He put forward a strawberry to me after cleaning it with a bottle of water. I took the strawberry and put it into my mouth. It was so sweet and juicy that I felt like it was the best strawberry that I had ever tasted. I asked him how much it was, the strawberry. He waved his hand and said, "You can have more if you want. It charges on me." I was shocked when my mother translated what he said to me. It was the first time for men to eat something in the market before I paid for it. In China, I was always told that I could not do that. I felt confused, but I thought it was cool. "There might be cultural difference among different places", I thought. I found the old man very talkative and witty. I talked to him for a long time with my limited English vocabulary by my mom's help until we were asked to depart for the zoo by the guide.
On the way to the zoo, my mom asked me, "Are you okay for the zoo, Jin? We can cancel this trip if you don't want to."
"Let me think, well, " I held a bag of mangosteens that we brought from the old man and said, "I think I can try."
The car rolled slowly into the zoo. I couldn't help feeling nervous because I was actually afraid of animals. I was bitten by a dog when I was only three years old. After that, I always felt unsafe when there were animals wandering around me. However, during the trip, I saw a lot of things that I had not seen before. I was getting used to and trying to accept and understand them. Maybe it was the time for me to eliminate my fear. I greeted lots of elephants drinking water near a river shortly after our car got into the zoo. However, for the first time, I was not trebling and trying to run away. Maybe it was the magic of mangosteens that let me forget the fear. After getting off the car, I was lifted by my dad to touch one of the elephants. I could feel its uneven skin and slow but heavy breathe. That was such a new experience for me and I was deeply fascinated. Finally, I climbed up to the back of an elephant and sat on the bamboo chair, which was set up on the back of the elephant. I remembered me warbling with the elephant as it moved forward. When I looked up, the sky was azure and there were melodious birdsongs continuously melting into the breeze.
When we got back to the hotel at night, my mom ask me what I got for our little game. Embarrassingly, I had already forgot about that. Knowing that I forgot our game, she was not upset, but she asked me "I believe everything here in Thailand must be quite unfamiliar for me, but I found you have a very happy day. How do think of all of this novel things.
I thought about it for a couple of seconds, and said,
"I haven't thought that I would see Thai clothes and eat something before paying for it before I came here. I had never heard of a fruit called mangosteen. It would be such a pity if I did not have a chance to try it. It tastes so good! If I did not come here, I would have been afraid of animals. And I wouldn't know that there was so much fun to ride an elephant!"
After hearing my words, My mom said a sentence that I did not understand at that time,
"I thought you already get your answer for this trip." and she smiled.