Hot dogs and Wild Geese

(pg. 8) Asking my father to ask the waitress the definition of "sloppy Joe" or "Tater Tots" was no problem.
          In my opinion this quote is important because it shows how strange American food is to them. I think that it would be hard to go to a new place and find something that you'd like to eat, especially with all the crazy names we have for our food. Also, it would be even more difficult if you didn't speak that language. This could connect to Children of the River because Sundara's grandmother doesn't like American food, she only eats at her home when she can have a good meal. I can connect this to my own life because when I go to different restaurants and they have weird names for their food, I never know what to order and I speak English. So I can only imagine how hard it would be to try and order food if I didn't speak the language.

(pg. 11) I always encouraged my mother to learn English, but her talents lay elsewhere.
          I feel that this quote is important because it shows that the mother doesn't want to learn English, even though it is the language when she lives. I am confused by this because I feel that she should want to learn English, because I know that if I was in a new place I would want to learn the language. I think that if she doesn't learn the language it would be hard for her to live there. This is different from Children of the River because Soka wants to learn English, and she is trying to.