My name is Elsie. I am a Chinese woman. I am from Hong Kong. I have lived in Amherst, MA with my family for a long time. I immigrated to the U. S. twenty-six years ago.
I like living in the U. S. but I don’t speak English very well. I went back to school to learn English. I love to learn reading and writing. I have hope for the future.
I found the Literacy Project; it gave me a lot of support. I learn a lot of English, mathematics and computers. I enjoy the classes because I can meet all different nationalities. We make friends in our classes.
My goal is someday to go back to college to finish my education. I am very proud of myself because I have two daughters in college. My elder daughter’s name is Jenny, who studies in Smith College. Another daughter is Lisa, who studies in Wesley College at Boston, MA. They love school very much so I don’t worry about them. I am lucky to be their mother.

April 5, 2004
Elsie Ng

Amherst is a small town but it has four famous colleges. Many students walk downtown to shop. They like to shop for food, clothes and haircuts too. Sometimes the downtown is very crowded and all of the businesses are very good.
I would like to mention to you one of the businesses that is well known in Amherst. The Henion Bakery is a small bakery shop but they do good business in town. It sells many different kinds of pastries, birthday cakes, cookies, bread, and pies etc.
Henion Bakery is the only one to support our school. Every day they close the shop after five-thirty. They give away leftover pastries for charity.
We appreciate their kindness. It is very helpful to the students because they are hurrying when they come to school. They don’t have time to eat supper. We taste different kinds of pastries. We feel happy and full.

March 17, 2004
Elsie Ng

I have lived in Amherst for a long time. I got used to eat Chinese food and I still go to other restaurants. I like to taste different kinds of food and I like to taste American food, Italian food, and Japanese food. Although Amherst is a small town and it has many different kinds of restaurants in one street. People have an easy time to choose their own favorite restaurant.
Once in a while my daughters and I go out to have dinner. We would like to go to Bertucci’s restaurant to have dinner. It is a big restaurant and it is a medium class restaurant. We feel comfortable to enjoy a dinner there. My favorite food is a slices chicken with broccoli and cream sauces, with pasta; another one is chicken and vegetables with pizza. The pizza makes the dough very thin and puts a lot of cheese on top. It is very delicious.
If you come to Amherst, I recommend you to visit the Bertucci’s restaurant. I would like to introduce their website www.bertuccis.com.