David is my new acquaintance in Southern California, a skinny boy with dark complexion and a master of hoo-la-hoop manipulation. He lives across the tiny courtyard from us in Apartment 8. Last month he turned 5 and has gone to kindergarten class at Emperor Elementary School for 4 days. Paul has been carpooling with him. Today was my turn to pick him up while dropping off Paul.
¡°How¡¯s school?¡± I greeted the little guy as I buckled him down before taking off for home.
¡°ÀÏʦºÜÐ× (Teacher is mean),¡± he replied with a slight Fu-zhou accent.
¡°How come?¡± I questioned.
¡°ÎÒ±»·£Õ¾ºÜ¶à´Î (I was punished many times by standing).¡±
¡°Ã¿¸öÈ˶¼±»·£Õ¾ (Everyone was punished by standing).¡±
¡°ËÄÄ꼶ÀÏʦ×îÐ× (The fourth grade teacher is the meanest,¡± he added. I wonder how he knows about this.
Last Friday when David¡¯s dad and I picked him up from school, his first comment was:
¡°ÎÒ½ñÌì±»·£×ø (I had a time-out today).¡±
¡°ÄãÊDz»ÊDz»¹Ô (Was it because you weren¡¯t behaving)?¡± Dad asked.
¡°Ã¿¸öÈ˶¼±»·£Õ¾ (Everyone was punished by standing).¡±
I wonder what he¡¯s definition of ·£Õ¾ (¡®fa-zhan¡¯) is.
In the midst of recalling today¡¯s experience at school, David suddenly commented,
¡°ÎÒÊÇÈ«°à×î¸ßµÄͬѧ (I¡¯m the tallest student in my class).¡±
¡°ÎÒ±ÈÎ÷°àÑÀͬѧ»¹¸ß (I¡¯m tall vis-a-vis the Hispanics.)¡±
¡°That¡¯s great!¡± I exclaimed out of release and jubilation. | 
for 4 wks.