A New Friend

This is "Carrie"; a new young Chinese friend. Carrie has been a student at the English Language Institute, although she's not one of "my" students. Her English is very good and she really doesn't need a tutor. She will travel to Orlando soon (just prior to her flight back to Shanghai) and will be alone for 2 days. She is going because she "wants to see Universal Studios." When I told her that I thought she was too young to be roaming around the U.S. alone she said, "Oh no, I am almost 20 years old....in two years!" Right. She's not quite 18 years old yet. Carrie is the most bubbly, vivacious young woman I've been around in a while. Her personality makes you laugh out loud. A lunchtime trip to Wal-Mart today became a complete adventure and was actually fun! She was amazed that it was okay to go ahead and eat the corn dog I got for us at the deli before we paid for it at the check-out counter. She tried on (and purchased) her first pair of low-riser jeans. In the photo above, I had taken Carrie to several shops in the Old City where vintage and pseudo-vintage clothing is sold. She wanted to buy an authentic, old American dress. She ended up with 5 dresses and a vintage housecoat. One of the dresses was actually a Martha Washington costume from a play and I think she loved it the best. The red dress above was also a purchase (one that I will keep here in the States for her and mail it to her when she begins her University studies in Philadelphia next year).
If I could just play matchmaker with Carrie and my son, I could have beautiful Chinese American grandchildren. (Lucy Blue is smiling).