Sai (a Chinese Singaporean immigrant) and Esther (a Nigerian immigrant) have journeyed across the globe to train in Canada as nurses. On the night before the first day of school, and both women are shopping for groceries alone. The shelves are a sea of confusion. The ingredients to make char kway teow and jollof rice are nowhere to be found. They each ask for help and receive the same response: go back to where you came from. Shocked and scared but still hungry, both grab the thing closest to the checkout: a box of macaroni and cheese. Returning to their respective rooms in the same dorm, Esther and Sai simultaneously attempt to make their meal over a lone hot plate. What is the powder for? Why is it that colour? Both women break down in tears, and muster the courage to call their parents. At the sound of their voices, shame overtakes them, and they can only manage the words "odi nma", "I'm fine" in Igbo and "wo mei wenti, "I'm fine" in Mandarin. Esther and Sai both lie awake, unable to sleep. Day breaks and both women depart for school without eating breakfast. Sai walks the whole way, too afraid to ask for help finding the bus stop. Esther waits for the bus. The bus passes her. Arriving at the nursing building, Sai is spotted by a university administrator who mistakes her for a new member of the building's janitorial staff. Walking into the classroom, Esther and Sai make eye contact from across the room. Two beacons of colour in a sea of white, they silently and with resolve sit down next to each other and open their books.