By: Jake Yan

Fourth grade has been a unique year for me. Not only did COVID get bad, but most importantly I met a good friend.

His name is Kelvin. He just moved to the U.S., and he is Chinese, just like me. I was excited, because I finally have someone I can talk to in Chinese. When Kelvin first got here, he didn’t know any English, so the teachers told me to translate words for him.

At first, we weren’t really friends, because we didn’t talk much. But after a few days I got to know him more and we started to make jokes about English words. I also asked him about stuff in China. For example, I would ask him what the most popular songs and video games in China are.

The best part is the teachers don’t know what we are talking about, and sometimes we make jokes or say bad stuff about a teacher or friend in front of them. The teachers started to separate us because we talked too much in class, but that didn’t change anything. We still talk and play together in class. Finally, teachers put Kelvin in a different class. That still didn’t stop us, as we would write letters to each other that we exchanged while walking past each other or eating. No matter how hard the teachers try, we will come up with something to allow us to chat together.

A few weeks before COVID got bad, Kelvin invited me to his house. He lives on a street with many big houses. Each house has one room, each room is an apartment The street is like a hotel, and there are people who take care of the streets. It’s more like an apartment for rent. Kelvin told me he is going back to China in September, so there is no point in buying a big house. There are a lot of kids from our school on that street, and when the us kids are home the street is like a market crowded with people.

Kelvin invited me to go inside his house and told me to bring my computer with me, because he was going to help me download a game we used to play in China. For a moment, it almost felt like being back in China again. When it was time for dinner, his mom made us a noodle that is common in China. I had not eaten that for about two years, and it’s probably one of the best meals I will ever have in the U.S.

For the rest of the school year, we played at each other’s houses a lot, but we stopped when COVID strikes. For a very long time, the only way we could talk and play video games together was through video call on Discord. The last time we play together in person will be in September, a few weeks before he must leave. I am excited because I haven’t played in-person for a long time, but I am also sad because I don’t know when I will be able to meet Kelvin again in person.

Kelvin is one of my good friends in U.S. It’s hard for me to become really good friends with an American, because the way we think is totally different. Americans like to follow rules, but Kelvin and I like to do sneaky stuff.