[1] Myoko, Jin and May were three students in a very low-level English class in Chicago, and they became very good friends, although they could hardly speak to each other in English or any other language. Myoko wanted to study art, and as soon as her English was adequate, she transferred to an art institute and lost touch with her good friends. One January she returned to Chicago from Japan and found a message on her answering machine that Jin and May wanted to have lunch with her. She called Jin and they set up a lunch appointment for Friday. She decided to skip her afternoon art class. They met at a nice but inexpensive restaurant not far from downtown.

[2] When Myoko asked how classes were going at the English school, neither one knew. Jin had taken a semester off, had fallen in love, and now was considering getting married to an American guy named Frank. Frank was nice enough, but Jin's parents didn't approve; they wanted her to marry a certain man in her hometown. Jin had never met the guy in her hometown, and didn't want to. She talked about life in the U.S., and how it seemed that men were more respectful here; that Frank often cooked and washed dishes, and would allow her a lot of freedom. In addition, she could become an American citizen, which would be nice. On the other hand, there were many things she really missed about home, and she didn't know if she could spend a lifetime here in the U.S., or if Frank could tolerate her hometown and her extended family.

[3] May had married her boyfriend almost immediately after she finished her low-level class. He didn't want her to keep taking English classes, so she had stopped, and her English wasn't as good as Jin's or Myoko's. She was almost unable to order her lunch without pointing and making some mistakes; in fact, she wanted some hot sauce but was unable to get it without Jin's help. As she began talking she started crying. Her husband was very frustrated with his engineering program (he was a PhD student) and often shouted at her. She wanted to have a baby, but her husband felt that their future was uncertain and wanted to wait. But sometimes, she said, she just wanted someone nice to talk to. "You won't be able to talk to your baby for two years, almost three years after you get pregnant," said Jin. "What will you do in that time?" Jin liked her freedom, and was impatient with May's stories of her restrictive husband.

[4] Myoko thought about her own life. There was an interesting man in her art class, but she hadn't really thought about him, or even thought about marrying any guy here in the US, thousands of miles from home. What would her parents say? She looked around at the restaurant, at the afternoon sun and the people talking about their problems, casually and freely. Then she looked back at her two close friends. They were still very close, from having suffered during grammar tests, learning how to read basic things, struggling to understand the teacher. Now that they could communicate better, though, it seemed they were worlds apart. Finally, they worked together to figure out the tip, paid, and went their separate ways.