Today I met up with Zhao Xing at a nearby teahouse and when I got there I found he was with Thomas, maybe my worst student ever. Thomas, a law professor at my school, was supposed to be part of the night class that I've been teaching with Durf. He came to two classes, the first and the last. The only reason I recognized him as my student is because we shared a very long bus ride together a few weeks ago, where he drilled me with such hard hitting questions like: do you like Chinese food? Can you use chopsticks? How long have you been in China?

Today's conversation was strange. Zhao Xing's English is so good that it's like talking to a Native speaker, and Thomas' English is about as bad as my Chinese. So, one minute I was struggling to talk to Thomas, and the next joking around with ZX. Sometimes, Zhao Xing would translate, but mostly he just laughed and made fun of both of us. Maybe that's why I hate him, but it is also why he is one of my closest friends.