Unit 01 A Bus Ride

We make gains or incur losses almost on a daily basis. One morning after I got on a bus, I happened to sit next to a foreigner. I was still wondering what country he might come from when he began to talk to me in English. All of a sudden, I became the center of attention on the bus. At first, I felt very uneasy because I had never talked with any foreigners before. Then, I decided to pluck up my courage and try out my English on him. It was difficult because I knew my English was quite poor. We had a nice chat, though. Besides, I found I was gaining in confidence because of his encouraging smile. However, I was so occupied with talking to him that I forgot to get off at the bus stop near my school. In the end, I had to hail a taxi to school since I was running late. It cost me an extra NT$100 and I was 20 minutes late! I could only tell myself, ”You win some, you lose some.”