Inspiration Words: Red and Well
“I’m just so lonely, Grandma.” Ellie tried to find a comfortable position on the hard, wooden sofa with her feet propped up on the coffee table. She balanced her phone between her knees so her arms wouldn’t get tired holding it and turned up the volume for the video call.
Grandma smiled at her across the miles. “That’s normal, honey. How often do you see that American family?”
“I only get to see them on the weekends because they are really busy with their kids and homeschooling and everything. They suggested I invite my students to lunch and ask them to show me around the city. I tried to invite some of them to lunch, but most of them are really nervous. I think they’re afraid of me.”
“I think they’re probably more worried about their own English ability than anything else.”
“Yeah! Almost every conversation I have starts with, ‘I’m sorry my English is so poor . . .’ Yesterday, I told my students that it’s okay if their English is poor; I still want to talk with them, but I’m not sure how many of them understood.”
“Just think about how you felt when you went to Mexico with your Spanish class in high school. You struggled to talk to the locals down there, even though you had been studying for a few years.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I just wish I had some friends to talk to. I’ve been here for a month, and I haven’t even been to see the Terracotta Soldiers yet!” Ellie glanced at the clock. “Oh no, Grandma, I just saw the time. I have to go to class; I have one at 10:10.” Ellie’s free period on Tuesdays was in the morning, and she was glad she didn’t have office hours with her university teaching job, so she could easily talk to her family and friends back home. But she always hated saying goodbye.
“Ok, have a great day!”
“Thanks, bye!”
After class, Ellie headed to the cafeteria by herself. Her students smiled at her, but they were still a little hesitant to talk to her—especially in this class, so she hadn’t even tried to invite anyone to lunch.
At the cafeteria, she ordered some noodles—consulting a notebook (where she kept notes about Chinese words or foods she wanted to remember) so she could get some that were not too spicy. On her way to her usual corner table near the window, she grabbed chopsticks and a spoon, balancing them carefully on the rim of her bowl.
At the table, she began the complicated process of using two sticks to transfer slippery noodles from her bowl into her mouth. The process was messy and a little humiliating. I should have ordered rice, Ellie thought as another noodle slipped from her chopsticks back into the bowl. But she hadn’t ordered rice because she didn’t know how to order from the rice restaurants. She came here because her American friends had taught her the name of this dish, and it just seemed the safest.
Halfway through the meal, she started crying. She convinced herself it was because the noodles were so spicy, but she knew the shop owner only put a little of the red powder on top of the noodles. Seeing the groups of friends around her, Ellie wished she also had someone to talk to. As she ate, she tried to pray, but it took so much concentration to eat the noodles, she had a hard time focusing. Most of her prayers started with, “God, please provide a friend I can talk to. . .” and ended with “. . . please help me to get these noodles into my mouth.”
Her stomach was still growling after twenty minutes, and her bowl was still mostly full. One day, I will conquer this. Who knew that noodles could be your archnemesis? she thought.
“Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?”
Ellie’s head shot up in surprise, and another noodle slipped back into her bowl. “No, please join me.” She smiled at the petite girl who slid onto the bench across from her. “My name’s Ellie.”
“It’s nice to meet you, my name is Carina.”
“Wow, that’s a beautiful name!”
“Thanks, I chose it because I wanted something special and different.”
“Your English is great! What’s your major?” When the girl paused, Ellie hurried to explain the word major, “What do you study?”
“Ahh, I study business, but I also learn English so I can do international trade.”
Ellie almost forgot about her noodles as she talked with Carina about her major and her classes.
“Where are you from?” Carina asked while Ellie began another battle with a clump of noodles.
“I’m from the United States. What about you?”
“I’m a native of Xi’an (ssee-ahn).”
“That’s so cool! I can’t wait to go visit the Terracotta Warriors.”
Carina paused in confusion, and Ellie jumped in with one of the only Chinese words her grandma had taught her, “In Chinese, they’re called the Bing Ma Yong (beeng mah yohng)!”
“Ahh, yes! Well, actually, I’ve never been to see them either.”
“What?” Ellie looked at her in astonishment. “But they’re so famous, and they’re right here in this city!”
“Yes, I guess I just never got around to it. They’re always there, so I always meant to go, but I never have.”
“What if we go together? I’ve been so excited to see them, but I heard they are far away, and I don’t know how to get there. Don’t you have to take several different buses to get there?”
“That’s a great idea! I think there are a couple of buses; I can check the route. How about this weekend?”
“Definitely!” Ellie set aside her chopsticks and pulled out her phone. “Can I have your WeChat, and we can talk about the plan more later?”
Ellie walked back to her apartment with a full heart, although her stomach was still a bit empty. Her dream of seeing those Terracotta Warriors was coming true, and even better than that, she had made a friend.