I was totally devastated in the Prosem class, being unable to say a word about articles in the reading assignments. Gee, I was misled into thinking I understood what those articles were about. In reality, I didn't understand them. Or at least I couldn't paraphrase arguments in the articles, well, this is a paraphrase of that I didn't understand.
Anyhow, I was completely lost ... hmm, not lost but speechless. And I felt almost like rushing back home, grabbing my passport, rushing to the airport and going back to Japan, screaming "I'm going home!"
I can't do this. Otherwise, I'm gonna be a loser.
Then, there was a grad student get-together thing at a pub near campus. Well, I'm not sure if they call it "pub." Maybe it's a "bar" for them.
Getting back to what I was talking about, I needed to have beer! No one could blame me after such a miserable experience in class. So, I went to the counter and ordered beer. Then, a bartender asked me my ID. Damn, I didn't have my passport. Who carries his or her passport all the time?! What if you drop and lose it? Disaster.
Getting back to what I was talking about again, I couldn't buy beer! The good thing was, the bartender told me that I looked under 30. Oh, what a sweet person she is. But I was disappointed ... then, here came J! He said to her, pointing at me, "She's a Ph.D. student!" Such a cute boy. He is as cute as Evan, so I call him Evan when I talk with DF (Evan's mother).
But the bartender still didn't allow me to buy beer. Then Evan the sweet whispered, "I will buy a pitcher and we will share." He's really, really cute. And suddenly he became a savior to me. Of course I paid because I'm far older than him.
Over a glass of beer, I met and observed a bunch of academic people. I was so glad that they were speaking plain English! Especially it was after I had felt dumb,kicked and punched by academic jargon and other unfamiliar expressions in class, I was about to scream, "I can understand what you guys are talking about!"
Good grief, the first week ended.
