Firoozeh Dumas Short Story

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-Firoozeh Dumas, born in Abadan, Iran, came to the United States with her family in 1972 when she was seven years old. It was to be a temporary move. Her father, an engineer for the National Iranian Oil Co., had been given a two-year assignment in the U.S., presumably because he had attended graduate school in America and thus, was assumed to speak fluent English and have a degree of familiarity with American culture. They settled in Whittier, California.The father had spoken about America "with the eloquence and wonder normally reserved for a first love." Thus, the family had high expectations of this country full of "clean bathrooms and very, very kind people."But apparently the father's English left much to be desired. The family's journey into Americanization is strewn with quirky…show more content…
But learning French so fluently just from the classroom is suspect not only to the Alliance Francaise but also to the French police who interrogate her, a seventeen-year-old girl, upon her arrival in Paris. Eventually Firoozeh goes to U.C., Berkeley where she meets her husband, a Frenchman. The story of their courtship and marriage is also fraught with disagreements and compromises to appease their families and blend the two different cultures and religions."My mother's approach to learning English consisted of daily lessons with Monty Hall and Bob Barker. Her devotion to Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right was evident in her newfound ability to recite useless information. After a few months of television viewing, she could correctly tell us whether a coffeemaker cost more or less than $19.99. How many boxes of Hamburger Helper, Swanson's TV dinners, or Turtle Wax could one buy without spending a penny more than twenty dollars? She knew that, too. Strolling down the grocery aisle, she rejoiced in her celebrity sightings—Lipton's Tea! Campbell's tomato soup!

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