There are some people who seem to always be surrounded by friends, and there are others who always seem to be standing on the outside, looking in at the crowds of friends. If you are one of the outsiders, it is time to break out of your shell and start making new friends. Here are some tips that will help.

【小题1】 . Nobody likes a phony (虚伪的人). In fact, if you aren’t yourself, others aren’t becoming friends with you. When the time comes that you feel comfortable enough to act like yourself again, you may not be well received, because you are a totally different person. 【小题2】 .

Use technology. There are all kinds of online groups you can get involved with. 【小题3】 .For instance, Leaflets is a great place to meet new people. It creates experiences people can join, and you get to meet like-minded people who share your interests.

Start with people you know. Reach out and contact acquaintances, and reconnect with old friends you haven’t seen in a long time. Don’t forget about friends of friends. You may connect with some really cool people just by hanging out with your friends and their friends. 【小题4】. If you stay home, you aren’t going to meet people.

Keep in touch. 【小题5】. With the Internet and social media, there is absolutely no need for that these days. Look up old friends and reconnect with them.

The impact of the government’s lockdown policy is approaching me. First came the extension of spring break of my university, then the movement of classes online, and then the shutdown of business. About that time, in the middle of March, I shut down too.

I cast about for something to do. The most obvious path was to help with the care of my grandson, Charlie, since his parents were thrown into managing their own work-from-home situations. Almost as a joke, I asked whether Charlie might enjoy learning a little Greek. It was strange that he should have jumped at the chance. I came to teach Greek from 2: 45 to 3: 30 pm, five days a week, to an eight-year-old.

I have been teaching for over 40 years. I have taught adult education and continuing education courses by the score. But teaching Greek to an eight-year-old may be my crowning achievement, which clearly would last long as his interest lasted.

Each letter was an achievement for both of us. To be sure, the zeta eta theta was easy enough to remember. But the end of the alphabet is not so easy, to say nothing of the letter epsilon. After a couple of dozen corrections, I had to decide that elspion was close enough. Along the way there were laughs, and jingles, I would never try in a “normal” classroom.

My husband and Charlie's parents said that our sessions were the highlight of those hard days as well. Charlie was learning a bit of Greek, I was stretching my old skills in a new and beloved direction, and our family got into delight. One of Charlie's first Greek words was the word for joy, char a. I pronounced it loudly, chara! Charlie responded with his own enthusiastic chara, adding, “Chara, that’s what we will have when our society returns to normal!" Yes, darling child, we will have joy then, but we also have it now.

When I was in primary school, sometimes I would meet a girl of the same age as me. Lisa was never active, but she was always very sweet and nice. In the 5th grade she came to my class.

She was absent a lot, and one day I had the courage to ask why. She told me she was sick, and she explained she wore a wig (假发) because her medicine made her lose her hair. We left it at that. Anytime Lisa came to class—seldom—I would hang with her on the playground.

I received much ridicule (嘲弄) from my friends for this because they thought I was ignoring them for Lisa. My family education taught me to be nice, and I felt Lisa’s needs were much more important than others I knew.

It had been months since Lisa was in our class, and one day our teacher was crying. She explained Lisa died the day before and would no longer be our classmate. She told us Lisa had fought a battle (斗争) with cancer for years.

I was shocked. Lisa never spoke of her illness as if it could kill her. Well, all these years I have kept Lisa in my mind and heart. When I go through the important events in my life, I think of Lisa.

I’ve had a strong wish recently to find her mother and father. I’d like to tell them that though they never met me, their daughter had a sweet effect (影响) on my life. I have no idea what her parents’ first names are. I write to your column (栏目) and hope you can point me in the right direction.

Lisa was such a lovely girl. Maybe her parents would be comforted by the fact that after all these years they are not the only ones who remember her.