I was not close to Phillip or Ram until we went to the math camp together. Before that summer, I always felt I was an outsider in school. I was probably the only one not born in America, so I couldn’t relate to my classmates in certain ways and didn’t make friends with any of them.

The math camp brought me closer to Phillip and Ram while introducing me to two Caucasian boys from other schools. We formed a group of five, going everywhere together. At night, we stayed up to chat in our dorm room. We talked about our childhoods, our parents, girls we found attractive, and everything else that interested teenage boys. Sometimes we forgot time until the resident fellow knocked on our door and said, “Time to go to bed, kids! It’s almost dawn!”

We had so much energy that the lack of sleep didn’t bother us. We jumped out of bed early to get breakfast in the cafeteria, where the gray-haired lady cook often shouted at us, “How many eggs would you like? Make up your mind now! Don’t change your mind after the eggs are done!”

No one liked dealing with her, so I decided to be the bravest. I told all my classmates that I would get their eggs for them. I gathered all their vouchers and went to the cook, asking for 83 eggs.

“What? 83? Are you crazy?” She screamed.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied calmly.

“You are intentionally giving me a hard time,” she said. “I’ll report to my supervisor.”

When the supervisor came, I explained I was buying eggs for all my classmates. Then he told the cook to accept my order.

I felt triumphant. Although I was already about an adult’s size, I still kept my childhood dream of being a hero.

My classmates followed an idea I came up with to sell their remaining cafeteria vouchers after purchase to University of Chicago students at discounted prices. We made a little money, with which we went out to downtown Chicago, ate Chicago’s famous pan pizza, and played video games.

We also played bridge. We often hid ourselves in the closed library to play the game until the security guard found out and forced us to leave. During the summer at the University of Chicago, I truly mingled with mainstream Americans and adapted to American culture.

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【法奶日報www.lulijen.com  2012.11.6.出刊，第9772號】