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What does this mean in the context; we are back where we began?
Back in her kitchen, our first batch of spring rolls is done. “Count them,” my mother commands, “so I know how many more to make.”
I shake my head. “Can you do it?” I ask. “In Vietnamese?”
She smiles and complies. “Một, hai, ba, bốn…” With that, [we are back where we began.]
--- I don't understand exactly what the last sentence means in this context; "we are back where we began."
Could you please explain it to me?
Jun 4, 2015 3:19 PM
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Answers · 7
In the context, it appears that the question/request for counting spring rolls went back to the original requestor (mom)....with the requestor end up doing what she had request. Hence, "we are back where we began". The mom was initially going to count them and instead asked the daughter, then the daughter asked the mom. It's like drawing a circle...started and ended the same place. We often say this expression as "Coming full circle".
June 4, 2015
I think it is an allusion to the author's desire to go back to her Vietnamese roots. So when her mother starts counting in Vietnamese, she feels as if they have gone back to their roots – where they, as Vietnamese people, began – the cultural roots from which they originated, by speaking the language.
June 4, 2015
Thank you, Ruthi.
June 4, 2015
I think it means she is counting and she gets back to the first spring roll again?
June 4, 2015
Source; http://thisibelieve.org/essay/150489/
June 4, 2015
