"My husband, the doctor, usually does not take drop-in patients" (148).

Wonderful--not only has Moon Orchid's husband run abandoned her for thirty years, he has also married his receptionist.  Classic.

The whole "boss cheating on wife with secretary" cliché is crazy enough as it is, but to actually secretly marry the secretary?  Absurd.

"The other Chinese girls did not talk either, so I knew the silence had to do with being a Chinese girl" (166).

It makes me sad that Chinese women are expected to be quiet and submissive.  Even by the time they're in first grade, girls know not to speak up in class.  This tradition is equally nonsensical as it is depressing.

Then again, it seems as if women everywhere are expected to be submissive... It's sad to think that many girls don't feel comfortable enough to be themselves because of all the societal norms that dominate the world today.

"It isn't just the loudness.  It is the way Chinese sounds, chingchong ugly, to American ears, not beautiful like Japanese sayonara words with the consonants and vowels as regular as Italian.  We make guttural peasant noise and have Ton Duc Thang names you can't remember" (172).

It's unfortunate to look at it all spelled out, but I definitely believe that many Americans share this exact opinion of the Chinese language.