For me, English began in middle school in the 80s.

Ms. Liu hailed from Beijing,

  the city of majestic grandeur in our puerile imagination.

She was kind, young, and chic

  with shoulder-length lush wavy dark hair.

She collected stamps.

We aspired to be philatelists.

She listened to western pop music.

About which we knew zilch and yet it was the coolest thing on earth.

She had a sweet voice and perfect pronounciation.

How lucky we were!

Her boyfriend visited, not very often.

We hated his guts!

She herself was learning and sometimes blundered.

Who cares!

Her bosom and the way she walked were all very distracting.

I never complained.

I worked my butt off to stand out, to be praised, and to be chosen.