Little Piece Of China

           It was my fist day of college where I met my roommate Jiang. I remember nervously walking into the dorm because it would be my first time away from my family and I just did not know what to expect. As I entered the room I am greeted by a slim, fair skinned, straight black short haired, five feet tall Chinese girl. She says in very proper English "Hi you must be Lucy". I reacted very slowly responding to her twenty seconds after. I was astonished by my surroundings as well as how good her English was for being an international student. She had already picked her bed and while I started unpacking and setting up my bed I see her pull out a small gray device. The device had a keyboard with a small screen that would translate English words into Mandarin. She explained to me that this was a translator and dictionary. I really did not know why she even needed that, when her English was better and more proper than mine. But as time went on I understood that she did not know what every word meant and how hard it was for her to adjust and understand the slang that New York City people have.

        Each day I would learn more about her life in China. She told me how much she wanted to have siblings but since of the overpopulation, China had to declare a law in the 1970's that enforces and limits the number of children per couple to one (China's One-Child Policy). China has such strict laws that she would be amazed at how much freedom we had in New York. My favorite part was when we decided we should make our cultures food to try. Every weekend we would take turns in cooking food. I was the first to cook and for breakfast I made her the most common Dominican breakfast Platano con Salami (Plaintain with Salami). For lunch she made Yue. I cannot fully describe all the ingredients that went in that, but I can say it was way more intricate than my breakfast. I was very happy that we both respected each other so much and how intrigued we were with how different our cultures were. This experience was one that I would never forget and that inspired me to travel the world and broaden my horizons.

Work Cited

"China's One-Child Policy." China's One-Child Policy: History. 2007. S. Henneberger. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.