Mia
Mia jumps into her mom's photo at the museum, and eats the majority of the cheeseburger her family buys there.
Selfish/impulsive
Embarrassed/Self conscious
Mr. Yao cuts the Tang family's pay without any notice or reason, claiming it was the deal they'd made the entire time.
Cruel/cold hearted
Jason gives Mia flowers.
Hopeful/kind/loving
Mia's dad comforts her after she gets into a huge fight with mom, by buying her a pencil and telling her she is a good storyteller in English.
Caring/sweet/supportive
Mia keeps thinking about the tip money she is hiding from her parents.
Guilty
Mom wants Mia to focus on math, instead of English
Love/anxiety
Mr. Yao forces the Tangs to pay for the new washing machine out of their pay checks.
Cheap/uncaring/mean
Sad/embarrassed/self conscious
The police take special interest in Hank after the car theft, but let the other weeklies go.
Racist/prejudiced/closed minded
Mia lies to Lupe about where she lives and what her parents do for a living. Also, about having a dog!
Self conscious/embarrassed
Mom hurts Mia's confidence after hearing about Mia's bad math performance at school.
Scared/irrational
Mr. Yao tells his son, Jason, that there is nothing in China but dirt and filth.
Embarrassment/hatred
Jason bullies Mia over her floral print pants after she rejects him.
Mean/immature/hurt
Lupe tells Mia that "you can't win if you don't play" about the essay contest.
Belief/support/kindness
Mia tells Mr. Yao that he is dangerous after Mr. Yao shares racist comments about motel guests.
Defiant/good hearted/just
Mom thinks that in order to be good at English you have to be "native to" (or born in) America.
Worried/defeated
Mr. Yao identifies black customers as "trouble" and tells the Tangs not to rent rooms to them.
Racist/closed minded
Jason walks into the meeting between Mr. Yao and the Tangs wearing a shirt that says "I don't give a" with a picture of a rat and a donkey.
Careless/unapologetic
Uncle Li tells Mia about how he wraps a burger and puts it in the trash so he can eat it later, but first he has to find it in the dumpster-- even if people are around. But he doesn't care!
Brave/desperate/bold
Mia very quickly responds to her Principal in english after her mom tells the school she just got here from China.
Annoyed/confident
Mom always cooks traditional Chinese food when immigrants stay at the motel.
Homesick/proud/kind
Mr. Yao emphasizes that his son, Jason, speaks NATIVE English.
Superior/better than other immigrants
Jason is bullied by the sixth graders for being Chinese and a know-it-all.
Fragile/insecure/self conscious
Hank gets a glimmer in his eye as he plays Monopoly with the other weeklies, looking down at how much money he's making by owning Park Place.
Hopeful/wistful