Music
This song was his first glimpse into alternative culture.
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
Hua’s father left Taiwan for the United States in this year.
1965
Hua’s mother left Taiwan in this year.
1971
Hua skipped two years in this subject
Math
Hua felt this way towards Ken when he first met him
He hated him
Ken enjoys this type of music which Hsu initially thought was too mainstream.
Pop music
Hua's father's name
Hsu Chung-Shih
Hua questioned if she was on drugs when his mother did this activity.
Painting
Hua's father does this when he is unable to respond to Hua's faxed homework questions
Hires tutors that don't help much
This made Hua revert to being the type of student who avoided putting himself out there and seldom said a word.
Shared an observation about Ernest Hemingway’s use of naming in English class, and a student and professor shut him down
Hua considers this band to be concretely better than Pearl Jam but wonders if his friends agree.
What is Pavement?
Hua’s father moved back to Taiwan for this reason.
The corporate ladder, in which people advanced because of arbitrary factors such as the color of one’s skin and the subtle quivers in one’s voice
The mother’s top choice college at which she also met her husband.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Hua focuses on the school newspaper and debate club instead of math or science for this reason.
He felt he could improve at those things/He wanted to be good at those things to compensate for his bad math and science grades
The difference between Southern California and Northern California is this.
Southern California is superficial and unserious, known for Disneyland and Hollywood, whereas Northern California is political and known for counterculture
Hua’s father agrees with his son’s opinion that this band made him a Betterman, in my mind.
What is Pearl Jam?
Hua’s father and his friends’ ritual whenever a new grad student arrived in America was this.
Pile in the car to pick them up from the airport
Hua’s mother advertised this in the ad that Hua found.
Chinese cooking lessons
Kurt Cobain’s death was anticlimactic for Hua for this reason.
He had already mourned his passing a month before because of a rumor that spread through his high school, and his health had already been declining for years prior
Hua was required to do this for the Peace and Conflict program.
Resist the impulse to blame anyone else for anything for a week
Hua’s father viewed these two “reinterpreted songs” as marvelous.
Mariah Carey’s I’ll Be There and Michael Bolton’s To Love Somebody
Hua’s father asked about this sports team in a fax.
Nicks (Knicks)
The mother complains about this bad habit of the newer Chinese immigrants.
Leaving their shopping carts in the parking lot.
Hua gets the software to make his zine by doing this
This was the one uniting factor between Northern/Bay Area Californians and Southern Californians.
They all wore Adidas Slides