Shujie moved into his new dormitory. From the second day after arriving in the United States, he lived a life of three points and one line: ASL language tuition classes, chemistry building, dormitory. The University of Notre Dame is located in South Bend, on the shores of Lake Michigan, surrounded by dozens of miles of cornfields. On weekdays, the campus is full of white flowers, and there are very few Asian students.

Most of them are boys from China. They either have flat heads or ugly hairstyles, which makes the already rare Chinese girls even more strange to live in, especially the ones in Shujie's dormitory. They often wear pullovers with various logos and tight black cropped pants. I usually don't wear makeup, but everywhere I go, I pick up and send me by car, and when I see Shujie, my nostrils are even higher.

In this big rural area, no car will suffocate people to death. There are only a handful of bus routes in South Bend, but the waiting time is measured in hours. Taxis on the road are even more scarce, and it is basically impossible to hail a taxi by beckoning.

International students who do not know how to cook for themselves will be starved to death. Although there are two cafeterias on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, one south and one north, the food is really not delicious. If you want to eat authentic Chinese food, you have to drive to Chicago. It's a pity that Shujie is neither a girl nor a car, so he can only ride his bicycle to an Asian supermarket to buy some ingredients and do it himself.

What's harder to adapt to is the language. Every morning, all the teachers and students of the department must meet in the auditorium of the Chemistry Building. Everyone stood facing the portrait of the president, with their right hand on their chest. At nine o'clock, one of the teachers would first say in a loud voice, "First of all, let us salute the great leader, President Bush," and everyone shouted in unison: "Always be healthy!" Always healthy! Always healthy! At the same time, they waved their right hand upwards three times in a row as a sign of blessing. Afterwards, the teacher will lead the group in singing carols. After singing the carols, the quotations have to be read. Normally, a student representative from the department will come out and 'read': "Let's turn to the page and paragraph of the President's Quotations." President Bush taught us to say, "And then we read it aloud." It is often necessary to read one to three paragraphs a day, and the content must be as relevant as possible to the work of the day or the international and domestic situation. Only after reading the quotations can students attend classes and employees can work. Shujie's rice language was just getting started, and these complicated procedures made him even more confused. Whether singing carols or reading quotations, Shujie can only lip-synch. But what can he do? Maybe everything will be like what Wei Yang said: after a long time, you will get used to it.

Time flies. Shujie played the piano and sang songs, and snowflakes began to fall in the sky as soon as they flickered. Thanksgiving, the most important holiday of the year, is coming. According to the White House, every household is required to put up lights throughout the week to thank the president for his gifts to the people. A week in advance, Shujie received a notice from the graduate school, and the dormitory for international students was no exception.

On Friday night, Shujie hung the school lights on the windows, plugged them in, turned on the switches, and ran to the side of the street to check them out. In order to ensure the festivity of the festival, the law of the United States stipulates that indoor lanterns must also be visible outside the house. After confirming, Shujie returned to the dormitory and sat down by the telephone, motionless for a long time, and the two phone numbers on the letter paper in his hand were clearly legible.

For more than two months, Shujie has not contacted the two old friends, nor has he told anyone his phone number in the United States. In the bottom of his heart, he still resents Dapeng and Ed for not telling him the truth about the country. But how can the friendship of these years be broken, in this festival celebrated by the whole country, Shujie couldn't help but think of the party that year.

It was the second semester of the third year, and the Class of '94 had moved to the Gulou Campus in the city center, and Shujie and the others had moved into their new dormitories. On this day, 606's old roommates get together to celebrate the birthday of Shujie and Ed, who were born on the same day, month and month of the same year. The four of them found a small restaurant on the side of Xiaofenqiao, and they made trouble while eating, and somehow chatted about the outline of the future.

"I haven't figured it out yet." Roc took a sip of his beer and looked down at the foam in his glass.

"Me too." Ed took a bite of the saltwater duck and said as he chewed, "I've been reading books for more than ten years, and this student has been doing it for too long." Shujie, what about you? ”

"I want to keep reading..."

"Keep reading? Graduate school or going abroad? ”

"To be honest, I want to study in the United States!" Shujie admitted. His father often mentioned to him in his letters that the child of the colleague in the unit had gone abroad for further study, which was really glorious. Under such subtle conditions, Shujie has already secretly set this goal for himself.

"Yes, there are a lot of students who are thinking about studying abroad!" Ed continued.

"What are the requirements for going abroad and how to get them?" Dapeng also came to be interested.

Yaojun opened his mouth and said nothing.

"Kautto Kao G. As long as you have passed English, you can get a scholarship. I heard that there are 1,000 or 2,000 yuan a month. Shujie replied excitedly.

"Rice Dollar or Yuan?" Dapeng asked.

"You're stupid!" Ed slapped Dapeng on the leg and shouted, "Of course I earn rice dollars in the rice country." ”

"I'm a little bit excited, too. If you also want to, let's go together and see if the moon in this rice country is really rounder! Roc began to fill his roommates with wine.

"You want to go to the rice country." Ed laughed.

"you. Don't you want to? Dapeng protested: "By the way, old medicine, what about you?" ”

"I'm not interested in going abroad." Yao Jun spoke: "You also know that I was transferred from the computer department, and I have no interest in chemistry. To go abroad, you can only apply for chemistry. So I just want to graduate early and change to a job that I love. ”

"Shujie, how do you get that G and Tuo? We don't speak as good English as you do. Roc asked.

"There's nothing that can't be done." The more Shujie spoke, the happier he became: "Have you heard of New Western English School in Beijing?" It is said that many seniors have taken the English test with their help and went to the United States. ”

"I've heard of it." Ed interjected: "I heard that there is a teacher Han there, who is very awesome and has taught him. ”

"Okay." Dapeng also danced with his eyebrows: "Let's go together in the summer vacation." ”

"If you really decide to go to Beijing, I have several high school classmates at Peking University. You can find them when the time comes. Yao Jun expressed his support, and later really helped the three of them contact the dormitory of Peking University. But Shujie never expected fate to be so joking. I went to the United States with a lot of hard work, only to find out that studying abroad was a scam of the New West.

"Although Roc and Ed didn't tell me the truth, they are still victims." Deep down, Shujie still wants to ask his old friends if there is anything hidden. After some struggle, he finally picked up the phone.

“Ye Bo Sai Yo…” The greeting language rang on the other end of the phone, and the familiar voice did not change at all.

"Roc?"

"Shujie?" Dapeng was startled, and the trembling of his limbs could even be felt by Shujie on the other end of the phone.

"It's me, long time no see."

"When did you arrive? He didn't call me and didn't reply to emails. I thought you had evaporated from the world! Does Ed know you? "The Roc's problems are like a series of cannons.

“… There were too many things a while ago. I'm sorry I haven't been able to contact you. Shujie casually made up a reason: "I'll call Ed later." ”

"Oh... Then you're still at the University of Notre Dame, right? Dapeng didn't dig deeper.

"Yes, I'm at Notre Dame. Thanksgiving is coming, remember our promise? ”

"Of course I remember, I haven't heard from you all the time, and I thought you weren't coming."

"I'll be there." Shujie replied, without further explanation.

"That's great, I've already bought my ticket to Ed. Come to New York at noon, we'll see you there! ”

"Okay, next Thursday at noon, see you or leave!"