Towers
In almost every respect, Cici speaks English like a native these days. She often uses expressions that surprise me. How did she learn that, I think? But learn she has, and it shows. There is at least one word, however, that she hasn't mastered. The word is towels, but she pronounces it more like towers. She confessed yesterday that the primary reason she needs such a large suitcase for a five day trip to Chicago is because of the "towers" that she will take with her.
My attempts to persuade her that the towels in a hotel or in someone's home will be clean have been unsuccessful. This is a lifelong habit that was formed in China where dishes in restaurants and towels in hotels might not be clean. The distrust runs deep. My most recent argument was by analogy. Cici, I said, think about water. The earth has only a limited amount of water and it recycles constantly. What we drink today was in someone's toilet in the past. It has just been cleaned up and purified so we can drink it. Papa! Don't say that, she said, but didn't budge on her desire to take her own towels with her to Chicago.
Speaking of Chicago, Ping and I are about to suffer empty nest syndrome for the next five days. Cici leaves for Chicago after class tomorrow. She has been packing for days. Her biggest worry is that it won't be cold in Chicago. She may be right. Chicago looks downright balmy right now, with highs in the 50's and lows in the 40's for the next several days. But there is supposed to be rain, and if the wind is blowing off the lake, it will feel quite cold when they are in downtown Chicago.
I guess I will get a break with no homework and no need to drive Cici to school each morning for the next week and a half. But it will be tough to have her gone. Tougher on me, I think, than on Ping, though we tease Cici about all the fun we will have while she is gone. I think she has tests tomorrow, though, so there is studying to be done tonight.
My attempts to persuade her that the towels in a hotel or in someone's home will be clean have been unsuccessful. This is a lifelong habit that was formed in China where dishes in restaurants and towels in hotels might not be clean. The distrust runs deep. My most recent argument was by analogy. Cici, I said, think about water. The earth has only a limited amount of water and it recycles constantly. What we drink today was in someone's toilet in the past. It has just been cleaned up and purified so we can drink it. Papa! Don't say that, she said, but didn't budge on her desire to take her own towels with her to Chicago.
Speaking of Chicago, Ping and I are about to suffer empty nest syndrome for the next five days. Cici leaves for Chicago after class tomorrow. She has been packing for days. Her biggest worry is that it won't be cold in Chicago. She may be right. Chicago looks downright balmy right now, with highs in the 50's and lows in the 40's for the next several days. But there is supposed to be rain, and if the wind is blowing off the lake, it will feel quite cold when they are in downtown Chicago.
I guess I will get a break with no homework and no need to drive Cici to school each morning for the next week and a half. But it will be tough to have her gone. Tougher on me, I think, than on Ping, though we tease Cici about all the fun we will have while she is gone. I think she has tests tomorrow, though, so there is studying to be done tonight.
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