These
are the continuing adventures of a Swedish immigrant during her first
year as an American. She boldly went where she'd never gone
before...please come along on Adventures
in America.
School
got better after that first horrific day. I learned the routine, I
learned the rules, I got more confident in my English, no longer
rehearsing each sentence in my head fourteen times before daring to
say it.
I
guess I should have told you earlier in the series, but both my
sister and I were bilingual when we moved. DataBoy didn't talk. He
was two. Growing up, we learned both languages at once. I've asked
my parents how they did that, and I think
I remember the answer. They both spoke Swedish to us. They spoke
English to each other. Regardless, I've always known two languages,
though at the time that we moved, Swedish was stronger.
Grandma
Vivian had come on many visits, and we'd been to America when I was
6, so I'd had plenty of time to converse with those with whom I
couldn't just switch to Swedish if I got stuck. I just had to move that
file to the front of the line and open it. It didn't take long.
Making
friends at school meant that I had more than the Camponellas to play
with. There was one friend who lived on that big street beside our
house (as opposed to the only slightly smaller, two lanes each way
street that we lived on) and she was quite the bossy one. I know
you're laughing – bossier than Tina? Yes, such a person exists,
though her name is lost. She wasn't very kind.
I
remember one afternoon I was done playing with her and said I had to
go home. She couldn't leave it there.
“Why
do you have to go?”
“I
promised I'd watch a TV show with my sister.”
“You're
leaving me to watch TV?”
“Yes,
in Sweden they don't have kids TV and here they have cartoons and my
sister and I want to watch it.”
“What
show are you watching?”
“Scooby-Doo.”
“You
like Scooby-Doo better than me?”
(free images from picgifs.com)
Apparently
I did. I didn't know how to deal with someone so persistent and
unlistening. So I just said, “See you tomorrow!” To which she
answered, “I'll think about it.” Fine.
Swissie
and I enjoyed our Scooby-Doo. After all, we had to look at the TV
guide when it arrived and mark out our chosen two hours of TV. If
you missed what you marked, it took quite a bit of persuading to
substitute something else.
