Please edit My Story in New York, a short passage a time

Before going abroad, my friends in China told me that when abroad you must change your dress [see 1] everyday lest people there think mistakenly that you stay out all night.

1. I'd opt for 'clothes' over 'dress', Ori. 'dress' sounds like a woman's dress.

So I've strictly stuck sticked [see 2] to the advice.

2. Or "rigidly adhered"

In the few days past, I've never dressed in [see 3] worn the same clothing going to [the or my] office for two days in a row.

3. 'dressed' would work too but you absolutely need the preposition 'in'.

However, my wardrobe is limited [just a handful of clothes] and I cannot afford to change to clean clothes [a different dress] each day.

I had to [really think /rack my brain to make a difference [don't quite understand what you wan to say here].

Well, as a result I have had to face the music [wrong idiom, I think].

(2) Before going abroad, my friends in China told me that when abroad you must change your clothes everyday lest people there think mistakenly that you stay out all night. So I've strictly stuck to the advice. In the few days past, I've never worn the same clothing going to my office for two days in a row. However, my wardrobe is limited and I cannot afford to change to clean clothes each day. I had to rack my brain to make things look different. Well, as a result, I have had to face the music.

I've not translated the whole story, but a passage a time.

(I cannot imagine "she" can be used to denote a man.)

The version edited:

(2) Before going abroad, my friends in China told me that when abroad you must change your clothes everyday lest people there think mistakenly that you stay out all night.


So I've strictly stuck to the advice.


In the few days past, I've never worn the same clothing going to my office for two days in a row. However, my wardrobe is limited and I cannot afford to change to clean clothes each day. I had to rack my brain to make things look different. Well, as a result, I had to face the music.

EhBeth used the idiom, too. I don't know why it is improper here, JTT.

Not "improper" per se, Ori. I just thought it was a bit much for the situation.

(3) Yesterday I dressed up in black going out. In the early morning subway I found there [was always a meaningful look around at me] were many people who looked my way/at me.

I was am a shy girl by nature, longing to be unnoticed (best to be invisible) everywhere I go.

But what's wrong with these people? I lowered my head to check out my dress: black choker and vest, black necklace, black silk wind coat, black stockings, black high-heel leather shoes and a black backpack.

Well, I had to admit that I was [a] "super black;" but was [or is] it necessary for someone to stare at me? Did the foreigners think that I just came back from a funeral and showed some sympathy for me? Well, even so did it require so many people staring at me? I was bewildered and got quite yu men that day, "yu men" being stressful; but, more "yu men" followed after.

I don't have the foggiest notion what 'yu men' means.

Thank you JTT.
It is already explained in the text: "yu men" means "stressful" in Chinese Pinyin.

I dressed all in black yesterday. I noticed a lot of people looking at me on the subway as I travelled to work in the morning. I'm shy by nature, trying to blend into the crowd wherever I go so I wondered what was wrong.

I looked down to check out my outfit (you're missing part of her clothes so I'll wait for the full details ... so it can be described in the right sequence ... it matters to women - is she wearing blouse with pants? sweater with skirt? dress? jumper? you've got a description of a coat and accessories but not the actual clothes). O.K., I was dressed all in black, but did people have to stare at me?

<the next part has some problems ... she is the foreigner ... people aren't usually coming back from funerals in the morning - they are going to them>

why repeat the staring/looking thing three times in one short paragraph?


I was puzzled by their reaction and became quite anxious, but more anxiety followed later.

(I'm debating between anxious/anxiety and distressed/distress ... it will depend on how the rest of the story goes)

frilled with lotus.

No new clothes for me to change today, I picked out a bell-bottoms with strong Chinese style. One side of the trousers was embroidered with a golden-threaded phoenix. I wore a black short coat outside a chiffon short sleeved shirt

oristarA wrote:

frilled with lotus.

what does this mean?

Brims are found on hats, not shirts or blouses.