MTL - Mixed In the United States As a Local Tyrant-Chapter 8 good value tutor
Chapter 8 Value-for-money tutors
It was already afternoon when we returned to SLO, An Feng took the time to go to the DMV (Department of Vehicles) to get a license plate. It's very simple. You can get a license plate with the invoice from the 4S store where the car is sold and the vehicle's household registration certificate. There is no need for so-called exhaust gas detection or looking at the car. The only downside is the processing speed.
Overcrowding is a major feature of DMV. I heard about it before I came here. Queuing for one or two hours is fast, and three or four hours is normal. A group of Americans are holding back their patience and waiting, and the speed of civil servants is comparable to that in China. It is no wonder that when it comes to DMV, Americans will have a headache.
Fortunately, SLO is not like a big city like Los Angeles, and the speed is not bad. California can choose personalized license plates, freely patchwork letter combinations, Snoopy and other cartoon patterns, and it can be processed after delivery of dozens or hundreds of dollars, but it needs to wait for production. An Feng is holding a common card, which wins quickly.
Then have a full meal at a rare local Chinese restaurant. The taste of Chinese food is a bit wrong, maybe it is to cater to the taste of Americans, the Chinese food here is full of American style.
During the period, there were a few calls from applicants, but none of them were suitable. Not to mention how many men called him, there were also women, but when the other party talked to An Feng in Cantonese, he realized that he had posted The information in the website is not clear enough, and I have to change it to Mandarin later.
So the next day, there was still no news in the morning. It stands to reason that 8,000 a month's salary is a proper middle class in the United States. Isn't it high enough? Or are the conditions too harsh? An Feng struggled, yesterday there was indeed a teacher who could speak Mandarin with a pure accent, the only thing wrong was the gender.
Do you want to change it? An Feng decided that he would rather raise his salary than change it.
I haven't changed my salary yet, and I called again at noon. Fortunately, this time it's finally a woman who can speak Mandarin. After a short chat, she decided to come over right away, because she lived very close, only about fifteen minutes by car. An Feng waited for a cup of tea before the doorbell rang.
He walked through the long cobblestone path in the front garden and came to the gate. He saw a Chevrolet Cruze parked by the gate, and a tall blonde woman walked over, carrying a handbag and a long-sleeved plaid shirt. In jeans and high heels, his height was almost as tall as An Feng's.
"Hello, Mr. An?" The other party stretched out his hand, and his voice was better than that on the phone.
"Hello!" An Feng shook hands with her lightly, "I am An Feng."
She said generously: "My name is Joanna. Joanna Circe Stanwell. Nice to meet you."
"Please come inside!" An Feng led her in.
An Feng sat down and said, "Miss Stanwell, I'm glad you're on time, but for the convenience of studying, I have to ask you some questions."
"Excuse me." Joanna said confidently.
An Feng asked the questions he had prepared in advance, the most important thing was Chinese communication and English translation. Joanna answered the questions fluently. She speaks Chinese very well, but she is not very good at reading. But the English is the Oxford accent of British TV, which is very different from the lazy American English.
"Last question, have you lived in China?" An Feng asked curiously.
Joanna nodded: "I have been to Hong Kong several times, because of my mother, she has Chinese ancestry. At home, she taught me Chinese."
An Feng understands it, no wonder she speaks Chinese with a Hong Kong accent, "The assessment is passed, the relevant contract documents, you should handle it, I am not familiar with these."
Joanna smiled and said, "No problem."
With the help of the machine brain, An Feng basically learned English in one go. If he didn't have the information in his mind, he wouldn't bother to hire a teacher. But now it’s good. The communication with Joanna is very smooth. We are both young people with many topics. She also understands Chinese, so in the afternoon, An Feng understood the meaning of abbreviations such as “LOL” and “OMG”, and also learned How to see the addresses of Americans from small to large.
Talking dry, An Feng wanted to find some mineral water but couldn't find it. Joanna smiled and said: "It seems that you, a rich man, don't have a good life!"
An Feng shrugged: "I just moved here, and I heard that you Americans drink water directly from the tap."
Joanna said solemnly: "Correct me, I'm from England, not an American. Then, the tap water in the United States is well filtered, but I'm not used to drinking it like this."
She came over to look at An Feng's refrigerator, and couldn't laugh or cry: "Oh, boss, what do I see? It's the first time I've seen such a clean refrigerator when I grow up! If you don't replenish food, I’m afraid it’s too late to send me this week’s salary.”
An Feng curled his lips, it's so exaggerated.
He set off in Joanna's car.
Living here, he found that many things had to be relearned. For example, when Joanna was driving, her speed was comparable to that of the surrounding cars, and she did not slow down when crossing a green light. She knew that An Feng had a poor foundation, so she explained while driving: "Driving in California is like this. Both high speed and low speed are limited, but it is more humane. For example, if you saw a sign with a speed limit of 65 miles just now, don't worry, it's okay to drive directly to 70. If you drive very slowly, and The surrounding cars are all kept at around 75, be careful, the police are arresting you!"
(60 miles = 96.56 kilometers, generally 100 kilometers is easy to remember)
An Feng was puzzled: "Why? The police don't catch speeders?"
"You drive too slowly and become a hidden danger in a large group of fast cars, understand?" Joanna said.
"Oh." An Feng half understood.
The car parked in the parking lot of a supermarket chain, and Joanna took An Feng to a supermarket in the United States. A shopping cart is a must, and Americans usually buy a large pass, regardless of whether they will be used in the end. The prices of some vegetables and fruits in supermarkets are similar to those in first-tier cities in China, some are cheaper and some are more expensive. It's just that the wages paid by others are in US dollars, while in China it is in RMB.
Strolling to the meat section, there are all kinds of meat items. What interests Anfeng is that the price of beef is uneven. The United States is a big beef consumer, and many families cannot do without beef. The price of ordinary beef is about 5 dollars a pound. , but there are also some forty or fifty dollars a pound.
An Feng looked at Joanna: "Why is there such a big difference?"
Joanna picked up the most expensive vacuum-packed beef: "This is premium grade beef. American beef is graded, the first grade accounts for 3%, and it is only provided to high-end restaurants, and this kind of beef in my hand It is the second-grade beef, the best quality that can be bought in the supermarket. The average family also eats the fourth-grade beef, intensively breeds it, and feeds it corn flour containing hormones. "
"Hormones?" An Feng is particularly sensitive to this word, even though this is in the United States, "I'd better choose the best, at least eat with confidence."
Joanna naturally had no objection. When she saw that An Feng swept away dozens of pounds of special-grade beef without hesitation, she thought of a popular saying on the Internet: The Chinese are coming!
At the end of the shopping, the original one trolley became two, which were full. It took five or six minutes just to scan the price, and finally the tax was calculated. An Feng is a little unaccustomed to the price and tax, and the tax is included in domestic purchases. Load up the car and go home.
With the help of Joanna, she sorted the ingredients and stuffed them into the refrigerator. She was busy and asked, "Boss, what do you cook?"
An Feng looked at the kitchen and muttered in a low voice, "Does braised beef noodles count?"
"What?" Joanna looked up at him.
"Nothing." An Feng scratched his head, naturally he would not explain his special skill of instant noodles, "Joanna, what do you cook?"
Joanna stared at him for three seconds, then gave up and said, "OK, I'll make you dinner."
"Thank you so much." An Feng smiled and came to the small bar in the kitchen to sit down, opened a can of beer for himself, and took a sip.
"British food?" Joanna asked without looking back.
"NO Dark Cuisine!" An Feng spoke mixed Chinese and English, and shook his head resolutely. British food, like the rigid British, is definitely not delicious in his mind.
Joanna giggled, "I'll make you goulash, American style."
An Feng felt that he shouldn't be idle, so he ran to the wine cellar to get a bottle of red wine and came back. After waiting for forty minutes, the chef Joanna made the beef stew, poured the sauce on it, and put the two dishes on the table. On the table, An Feng opened the red wine and started eating with the sound of clinking glasses.
When he ate until his stomach was round and bulging, and he was unwilling to get up while sitting on the sofa, he found that the expensive tutor he hired was worth the money.
(end of this chapter)
