Lara

Almost three years ago, I met Lara during the orientation. By that time, my English was so crappy that I didn't even know what "crappy" means. :p But Lara was so patient in listening to me and tried to help me follow the conversations while I was the only international student sitting around the table.

Lara is tall and blond, with an amiable face and a charming laughter. I felt like I knew her already even though we just met for the first time.

That weekend right after the orientation, some guys lived in Rock went out to a bar and invited me to go with them. Lara was going too. When she saw me in the stairway, she said she has a tourist book about China in her room. Then I followed her upstairs to get the book. On our way to the bar, she told me that it was the book she took with her to China. That night the book helped me to have my first hard but enjoyable conversation in another language. Lara pointed the places she went to in China, and I told her where my hometown is, which I probably couldn't describe well without the map.

We didn't have many chances to talk after the new semester started. But everytime when we had a chance, either it was on our way to different classes or it was a bumping into in the library, we always had a good conversation.

Tonight when we were walking home together, we talked about my first experience in America. Our conversation ended with my first night and morning at HDS when we arrived her house. But my remembrance of knowing her as a friend had just begun. Suddenly I realized that, if there is anyone who can tell exactly how my spoken language has been improving for the last three years, it must be Lara.