Nic-TP9

This morning, I slogged out of bed and splashed through the rain to the Northeast Branch of Leon Co.’s Public Library to meet AR. Today’s adventure was to talk about American spices. And what better place to do this than at the U.S. of A’s glamorous big-box store, Wal-Mart. I particularly dislike Wallyworld, but shopping it with a Chinese Medical Doctor bordered on fun. I learned about what food products they have (and don’t have) in China, the negative health effects of hydrogenated oil and aspartame, and the role star anise played in deterring SARS. I taught him about American’s love affair with the trifecta of things-not-good-for-you: salt, fat, and sugar. I also shared with him my love of Smucker’s natural peanut butter so much that I convinced him to buy a jar (for the win!).

AR is a good storyteller and we would stop every so often so he could share a story about something. His pronunciation is good, but he still has problems with R’s and V’s (Virus is Wirus, almost sounds like Wireless).

From conversation and observation, I noticed that AR still relies on Chinese and Chinese culture a lot. He uses Chinese in his word search on his phone, and he spends a lot of time with his family here. I think if he found some sort of community group with native English-speakers that may help him.