As if high school wasn't bad enough, I had the added pressure of explaining to my parents the social structure of cliques. Not only did I have to introduce them to my friends, but had to explain why I wasn't friends with all the others!
"That's not nice. You should be friends with everyone," my dad would tell me. Yeah right, like it's up to me.
Explaining to my parents the significance of the attending events with a certain clique was also a difficult task. For some reason, they just couldn't understand why I spent so much time picking out the perfect gift for my friends (or those I wanted to be my friends).
Having survived an embarrassing childhood, I was more than pleased to make my way into the wonderful world of adulthood--meaning college. That is, until I realized that I would have to do all of the "adult" things on my own. You see, when you live in a Russian community, learning the English language becomes unnecessary. So, it was I who had the pleasure of filling out all of my college applications and then trying to figure out how financial aid worked. Then came the internships. Try explaining to two people who escaped communism that you are working for free--it isn't fun.
"You're working for free? I think they are taking advantage of you. It's not right," my dad said when I told him my good news. |
