Funny Story of My First Arrival in the USA (4): My Daughter Said “STOP” Really Works
In August 1994, my wife and daughter set off for the USA. At that time, many Chinese students would have their parents take care of their children in China until they were stable before bringing them over. However, my wife was unwilling to leave our daughter alone in China and insisted on coming to the USA together with her. Moreover, their passports were a joint mother-daughter passport.
At that time, the rent for our student apartment was particularly cheap. We lived in a two-bedroom and one-living room apartment, and the monthly rent and utilities only cost around $150, which was much cheaper than renting off-campus. At first, our apartment was empty, and all the furniture was thrown away by other students when they moved out. We only had a mattress, a sofa, a small table, and two chairs. On the day they arrived, I hung a horizontal banner on the wall that read “Welcome to the USA.”
On the day they arrived in Memphis, Austin helped me pick them up at airport. Around 6 o’clock in the afternoon, we arrived at the airport terminal to wait for them. In no time, my daughter came out carrying two tennis rackets with a smiling face. My wife followed behind, dragging a suitcase. It had been a few months since we last saw each other, and my daughter had grown much taller. Finally, we reunited in the United States, embracing tightly and feeling very happy.
After collecting our luggage, we went outside the airport to prepare to load it into the car. There were many people at the airport who were in a hurry to load their luggage into their cars. At this moment, we realized that one of our suitcases was missing, and only a minute had passed. It turned out that someone had mistakenly taken our suitcase and left their own bag behind. We had to return home first. When we got in the car, my wife whispered to me, “Is this your car?” I told her it was a very expensive car, Austin’s luxurious Lincoln, and that I only had a small old car. She laughed out loud when she heard this.
After we arrived at the school, Austin found a phone number in a bag that someone else had left behind. He called the number and located the person who had taken our suitcase by mistake. A few days later, I went back to the airport and retrieved the lost suitcase. Not long after, when one of Austin’s church friends moved, he specially took us there and gave us a set of very good dining table and chairs and many kitchen supplies, all for free. During our four years at the school, Austin gave us a lot of help, and we were very grateful for his kindness. Every time I thanked him, he would say to me, “Son, I love you guys. This is what God wants me to do.”
When my daughter arrived in the U.S., she was starting first grade. The first day we dropped her off at school, she was a little nervous to see her teacher and hid behind us to look at her quietly. We told the teacher that she didn’t speak English, and she kindly reassured us that we didn’t have to worry. So, we left our daughter at school and left by ourselves.
In the afternoon after school, she took the school bus home by herself. She looked very happy, so I asked her if she liked American schools. She said yes. When I asked her why, she thought for a moment and replied, “American schools have water to drink, so I don’t need to bring my own water bottle.” However, she told us that she was a little unhappy because the boy sitting next to her kept kicking her with his feet, and she didn’t know how to tell the teacher in English. I told her that if the boy kicked her again, she should say “STOP” and he wouldn’t kick her anymore.
My daughter came home the next day and told me, “STOP really works. Today in class, the little boy came to kick me again and I said STOP, but he still continued to kick me. So I shouted STOP, and this time he was startled, while many students turned around to look at us. At that moment, the teacher came over and took the little boy to the side to punish him, and then he never kicked me again and was very friendly to me.” My daughter’s story made us all laugh. Children learn English very quickly, and many words are learned as soon as they are learned, and they can start applying them in their lives right away.
In American elementary and middle schools, free meals are provided to students from low-income families. At that time, most of the children from the international student apartments would go to school to have breakfast every day. We had a neighbor who had a little girl the same age as my daughter, who had just arrived in the US. One day, the neighbor told us that her daughter had never had breakfast at school, even though she had been in school for over a month. She would go hungry until lunchtime. She asked my daughter if she was the same, and my daughter told her that she had breakfast at school every day. The neighbor asked, “Does someone take you to have breakfast?” My daughter said no, she went to the cafeteria with other kids every morning. From that day on, my daughter became the little girl’s guide. There were many children in the student apartments, and my daughter quickly made friends and had fun playing with them every day.
Shortly after the school year started, the student residence organized an event where a train and a police car were parked in front of the residence for everyone to see, and the children were very happy to climb the bouncy house, ride the train, play games and feed the animals. During the raffle, my daughter won a big pizza and she happily ran over to tell us “Wow, I won a big pizza!” After the event, we went to the pizzeria to get a free pizza together. It was our first time to taste pizza together. To this day, this experience is still engraved in my heart.
My daughter quickly adapted to school life, and her academic performance was also very good. Every time she received a small prize, she would happily tell us, “Guess what? This is a free small pizza, this is a bag of free french fries.” After coming to the United States, I deeply felt that it is a very practical place, where all rewards and games are linked to material things and money. I remember when I was a child, every time I received a three-good-student award, it was a certificate. In 1984, I won a gold medal in the provincial swimming competition, but when I returned to our area, there was no reward. The leaders even wanted to take back the swimming trunks used in the competition, and the athletes were very resentful. I disagreed with handing over my swimming trunks. Our coach and leaders took turns persuading me, telling me that the swimming trunks belonged to the state, but I still insisted on keeping them. In the end, the leaders deducted 3.4 yuan from my subsidy of more than ten yuan for the swimming trunks.
When we first arrived in America, we often went to Walmart together. My daughter loved to play with all kinds of toys and read storybooks there. She was very sensible and knew that our family was financially tight. Before each visit, she would tell me, “Daddy, I will only play with some toys and read some storybooks there. I won’t ask you to buy me anything.”
During the Christmas season, people would place the gifts they received under the Christmas tree. On Christmas Day, families would gather together and take turns opening their gifts, expressing thanks and congratulations to each other. Before coming to the United States, we did not know about the customs of Christmas, and we did not have a Christmas tree at home. Before Christmas, my daughter received some gifts from her friends. Every time she received a gift, she would be very happy, eagerly tearing open the wrapping paper to admire her gift.
On Christmas Day, we were at our relatives’ house. When everyone started opening their gifts, my daughter’s cousin had many gifts under the Christmas tree, while she only had a few small ones. This experience helped her understand that Christmas gifts must be opened on Christmas Day.
Easter egg hunting in the US is a favorite activity for children. The location of the egg hunt is filled with plastic eggs of various colors, each containing candy or other small toys. Children eagerly search for these eggs. On Easter day, the weather was very nice, and many children came to the park to hunt for eggs. A large grassy field was covered with various colored plastic eggs.
When the activity began, the whistle blew, and the children raced into the field carrying their blue baskets. My daughter ran behind the others. She picked up a few eggs and then squatted down to slowly crack them open and eat the candy inside. We shouted anxiously from outside the field, “Hurry up and find more eggs!” When she finally got up to search for more eggs, the eggs around her had already been taken by other children, which made her feel disappointed.
Later, every time she participated in an Easter egg hunt, she would run very fast and keep collecting eggs until there were none left around her. Then she would return to us and happily count how many eggs she had collected while sitting on the ground.
Whether it is for adults or children, coming to the US for the first time can bring various challenges. However, it is through these experiences that we constantly grow and learn, and become more aware of the importance of cherishing today and being grateful for what we have.
