When I first moved to New Orleans, Louisiana in the fourth grade, I realized that I was stepping into a completely different world. What impressed me deeply was the friendliness of the people there.

“What can I get for you, honey?” a(n)   (1)   asked me on my first day in Louisiana. I was   (2)  . This woman did not even know me, and yet she   (3)   me like family. She smiled down at me as I   (4)  the food on the menu.

“Is the pasta(意大利面) good?” I asked her.

“Baby, it’s not my   (5)  ,” she answered with a wide smile, “  (6)   I’m more of a sushi (寿司)girl, you know!”

I looked at my family in great surprise. What should I   (7)   to that? I had no idea what sushi was, nor could I believe that this woman had just stopped me from ordering something. She had given me her   (8)   opinion, as if we were best friends.

I recently went to the DMV to update my driver’s license. As I was   (9)   in the silent room with at least twenty other people, a woman walked in.

“Good morning!” She announced to the room.

“Good morning,” the whole room said back at once.

The woman took her seat, and waited with everyone else for her number to be   (10)   as I looked around the room, surprised. Suddenly, everyone was comfortable with each other. We were all friends and neighbours.

Even after eight years of living in Louisiana, it   (11)   makes me smile to know that I am not   (12)   here. Someone in this place is always   (13)   to say hello or to lend a hand when it is   (14)  . It is a sense of family and   (15)   that I have never been able to find anywhere else.