Prompt 166 - fic

[gillo]

Chao-Ahn's Letter

Title: Chao-Ahn's Letter
Author: gillo
Rating: G
Word Count: 461
Prompt 166 – Chao-Ahn
Author's note: A potential sends a letter home.

Honoured and respected sister,

I am now in Sunnydale, in California, and write, as you requested me, to tell you about my new life.

I confess that you were right – I should have studied English instead of Arabic. I understand almost no words here, and have to guess much of what is happening.

Americans live in very crowded accommodation; there are many girls here, and we sleep on the floor as we do at home. It seems our leaders were right when they told us that stories of all Westerners having rooms and beds to themselves were merely propaganda.

The same can be said of the diet here; there are few fresh fruits or vegetables and rarely is there sufficient rice. They do not seem to know how to make congee to spread the nourishment more widely. Instead they eat many flat, round breads, with garish vegetables on them, usually covered in cheese, which makes them inedible. Much of their food is poisonous to me; they consume tubs of a sugary, high-lactose substance. The younger girls in particular seem to see it as a delicacy. Meanwhile they throw away many true delicacies – can you believe it – their chickens come with feet and gizzards removed! I assume this is because they cost less without these specialities and this is of importance. Much of their meat is ground up finely and squashed into lumps between roundels of bread. These people are not civilised as we are. They eat in a disgusting manner, and I have found no chopsticks in the house at all.

The people here smile at me a great deal, but I am not deceived by this. The man in a jacket who brought me here cleans his spectacles a lot and has shown me terrifying pictures of what may happen to me if I let down my guard. For that reason I have locked myself into a small room while I write to you. Everywhere else there are young women, some of whom are very threatening. One shouts at the rest of us a great deal while we do simple exercises. Another talks to us for very long periods. Few seem to enjoy this, but she seems to feel it is important, so I listen with respect as I was taught.

Americans keep strange monsters in their cellars. This house has a vampire chained to the wall. Sometimes he is released for training purposes but most of the time he sits with few clothes on. For that reason I have done little laundry since my arrival. Please, if you can, send me more underclothes.

Give my well wishes to our revered parents. I miss you all very much and long to return to our beloved country.

Your sister,

Chao Ahn

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Funny and sad at the same time, such a wide cultural gap.

[gillo]

Thank you - that's just what I was trying for. She was played for comedy, but the gap was almost uncrossable.

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

Chao-Ahn's view of this strange place is spot on. Of course there would be little fresh fruit or vegetables in these teenagers' diet. Back in the day, the original Scoobies fueled themselves with pizza and donuts when they were building up to an apocalypse. Why would now be any different?

This made me laugh out loud: Sometimes he is released for training purposes but most of the time he sits with few clothes on. For that reason I have done little laundry since my arrival. Please, if you can, send me more underclothes.

Thanks for this fun, funny read.

[gillo]

Thank you! A vampire in the cellar would put most girls off doing laundry, and a half-naked, hot vampire would embarrass many young girls. (Not me, however. *ahem*)

In canon she is offered something milky and points out that she is lactose-intolerant. I suspect most of the food would be way too weird for her.

Thank you for reading and commenting!

[cmk418]

I liked this. It's fun and insightful and you manage to draw a vivid picture of this young girl very far away from everything familiar to her. Well done!

[gillo]

Thank you for reading and for such a nice comment.

[gillo]

Yes, that little detail really pointed up how alien Sunnydale was to her. Thanks for reading and commenting.

[angelus2hot]

funny, sad and beautifully written! great insight on a character that we barely knew

[gillo]

Thank you - I'm glad it worked for you.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Funny, and yet very insightful.

[gillo]

Thank you very much.

[desert-tamar.livejournal.com]

Brilliant!

[gillo]

Thank you!

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

ROTFLMAO!

It seems our leaders were right when they told us that stories of all Westerners having rooms and beds to themselves were merely propaganda.

Heeee! Priceless! :))))

[gillo]

Thank you! Propaganda has its uses. ;-)

[seapealsh.livejournal.com]

Thank you for giving Chao-Ahn a personality. I imagine she was a fish out of water her whole stay. Poor thing. Great insight into what she may have been feeling.

[gillo]

Thank you for such a kind comment.

[mierke.livejournal.com]

Great look inside her mind. She must have felt very, very lonely. The whole country was strange for her, and the situation she was in was insane to say the least.

Americans live in very crowded accommodation; there are many girls here, and we sleep on the floor as we do at home. It seems our leaders were right when they told us that stories of all Westerners having rooms and beds to themselves were merely propaganda.
I loved this part!

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Hee! Propaganda! Inedible! Send underwear! It's like a Buffyverse version of "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah". (Is that just an American thing? These cultural exchanges can be so tricky. Heh.)

Well done.

[racheltng.livejournal.com]

Hi. I found this through buffyversetop5, and it's hilarious! Grilled cheese sandwiches and hamburgers seem very alien after congee.

[gillo]

Thank you! I didn't realise there had been any recs for any of my stories. Thank you for going to the trouble of commenting!