funding for this program [with captioning] was provided by: additional funding is provided by: and: funding for this program [with captioning] was provided by: additional funding is provided by:

and: narrator: each video episode has three parts. watch the program, read your book, discuss the program and... rebecca: ♪ that would be enough, enough for me ♪ ♪ everybody needs a dream catcher ♪ ♪ catch me!

funding for this progr [with captioning] was provided by: additional funding is provided by: and: narrator: each video episode has three parts. watch the program, read your book,

discuss the program and... rebecca: ♪ that would be enough, enough for me ♪ ♪ everybody needs a dream catcher ♪ ♪ catch me! fasten your seat belt. yeah. are you going to be all right? don't act like that. don't act like what? like this is a big ordeal. it's not. you'll have a great time. you'll be back for new year's and we'll celebrate christmas then, o.k.? and you'll get together with vincent. promise? yeah, i promise.

and you promise to call me on christmas day? of course i will. and so will grandma and grandpa from mexico. woman: excuse me. and you have to promise to give vincent, rebecca and uncle alberto their presents from me. certainly. you have to, dad, right away so they get them before christmas. don't forget. don't worry, i'll do it right away. today? i promise, i'll do it today. vincent, rebecca and uncle alberto will have their presents today. it's time to go. how about a smile? and smile when you see your mother. yeah. all right. i love you. i'll call you christmas day. que dios te bendiga. vincent, alex father

came here with this today. a gift from alex? i didn't give him one before he left. alex will be in los angeles for christmas. i know. i feel bad for alex, mom. why? he didn't want to go to l.a. no way. well, many times we must do things we do not want. ni baba huilai le. we will have our dinner soon and so go up and wash your hands, please, o.k.? we have to talk. this is the letter we've been waiting for. the letter? yes, from the company in taiwan. mr. wang: it's a definite offer. mrs. wang: they want you? mr. wang: they want me to work for them.

mrs. wang: in taiwan? yes, mei-lin, this may be our golden opportunity. we have done well in united states. we have good life. we have good business. we knew this difficult decision would come. vincent, too, he has good life here. he is in good school. he has friends. vincent's friends were not always his friends here. ni cong lai mei you kuansu guo naxie haizi, dui bu dui? mr. wang: they hurt our child by calling him nes and those words hurt us, too. vincent was born here, but to some people in the united states vincent will always be a foreigner. this is our home now. we will adjust. well, when do we have to go? soon, very soon.

( doorbell rings twice ) ramón, what a nice surprise. i just dropped by to give you this. it's a christmas present from alex. oh... alex is so sweet. he's a great kid. i just put him on a plane to l.a. he's visiting his mother. it must be difficult not having alex around for christmas. ( sighs deeply ) are you all right? i don't know, i... it just hit me, i guess. do you want to come in? yeah... yeah. would you care for anything to drink? no... no. i really don't have much time. i have to open the restaurant soon. you probably have a lot of studying to do. no, it's fine. i have a minute.

it's heavy. wonder what it is. i had to stop by. alex insisted that i bring you that gift today. kids that age-- they get an idea into their heads, and they just don't let it go. yeah, you can say that again. i guess sending alex off to los angeles is hitting me harder than i thought. i can imagine. i've never been alone at christmas. what about your mom and dad? they're in mexico, visiting relatives... and i'm all alone in the house. well, at least you'll have your brother. alberto said he's going skiing for the holidays. aren't you going with him? no, we never talked about it. anyway, skiing's not my thing. i'm sure he'll have a great time. he makes friends wherever he goes.

mm-hmm. ( both laugh awkwardly ) are you doing anything special for christmas? no, uh... i'll be here. it'll be pretty quiet. melaku and angela will be gone. it'll just be nancy and me. what about your brother? no, i'm not going to see him. he's at my uncle's farm. i'll call him for sure. this'll be our first christmas without my dad. i guess we'll both be without family for the holidays. we have a family tradition. on christmas day i'll bring food over to the community center in our neighborhood. it's like a posada. a posada? the posada is a mexican tradition. during christmas we go from house to house and we ask for shelter. we sing christmas carols, eat, share the christmas story.

it's a beautiful tradition. my family has been doing it for years. this year, i'll have to do it by myself but, uh... it wouldn't be christmas without it. i should have known that you'd have the true christmas spirit. ( clock chimes ) i'd better go. yeah, i should get to my studying. i don't want to make a fool of myself but i... i have to ask you something. sure. if things were different... i mean if... would you consider... spending christmas with me? christmas with you?

wow, ramón... i don't know what to say, i... i... i figured because... since we're both alone... um... ramón-- you are one of the sweetest men i know and a wonderful father and i love spending time with you. that's what i thought. no, no, i'm sorry i bothered you. no, you didn't bother me because i would like you to... no, i, really... have a great holiday. please, don't misunderstand me, i didn't mean to... no, i understand, no, really, really. i don't know why i asked... i would love... no, really, i have to go. o.k.? all right. good-bye. oh, man. right there, reception? thanks, andrew. ramón. what are you doing here? alex made me promise to drop this off pronto so here i am. what a thoughtful nephew i have. well, i have a present for him, too. he won't be home till after christmas.

you drove him to the airport already? yeah. hey, i got to go, get back to the restaurant. hey, i need a break. i'll walk you to the door. so, i've made a reservation at a ski lodge in aspen. sounds great. ( sighs ) what's with you? i think i'm starting to hate the holidays. well, there's only one answer-- escape. i told you, come with me. and i told you it's impossible. you've got to do something, brother, before you turn into the grinch. i tried. what do you mean, you tried? i think i did something out of line. what was that? i had to deliver alex's present to rebecca... rebecca. and we got to talking

and i told her that i'd be all alone on christmas and you'd be gone and so would alex and mama and papa and she said she was going to be alone so before i knew it... i asked her to join me for christmas. so... what did she say? that i was a nice man, and a good father. it's all true. i was so dumb to ask her. i realize i was out of line. i meant it in more than a friendly way and she picked up on that. hey, you were just lonely. it happens. this rebecca thing might be something we should talk about. definitely... but not now. um... we've both got work to do and these chats are great, but not on company time.

all right. see you. all right. see you. this is christmastime. alex is going to l.a. you'll have a great time. you'll be back for new year's and we'll celebrate christmas then, o.k.? and you'll get together with vincent. promise? mr. wang got an important offer that could seriously improve his family's business-- to go to taiwan. this is the letter we've been waiting for. the letter? yes, from the company in taiwan. mr. wang: it's a definite offer. mrs. wang: they want you? mr. wang: they want me to work for them. mrs. wang: in taiwan? mr. wang: yes. vincent is really bothered by that because that would mean losing everything he knows. i think they should explain to him the situation

and what is about to come and all that because kids... they build up a lot of things, imagine a lot of things what's going to happen. they don't know exactly what is to expect and things like that. mrs. wang: this is our home now. mr. wang: we will adjust. ramón delivers alex's present to rebecca. i just dropped by to give you this. it's a christmas present from alex. oh... alex is so sweet. he's a great kid. so he invites her to spend christmas with him. well, i think she felt very stunned. would you consider... spending christmas with me? christmas with you? wow, ramón... i don't know what to say. ramón admits to his brother that he invited rebecca to be with him for christmas. i had to deliver alex's present to rebecca...

rebecca. i asked her to join me for christmas. ramón tells alberto about his feelings for rebecca. it's the decent thing to do towards alberto just in case alberto still was interested in rebecca which i think ramón suspected might be the case. i never had a brother, but looking at this scene where there are two brothers speaking i found it touching, because i feel that it is important for males to express their feelings and their emotions. and this conversation is inspiring in many ways because there are many layers, many issues that are going on at the same time and the good thing is that they're communicating as human beings. nancy: may i join you? i thought you drank your coffee black, no sugar. tonight i need sugar. studying for exams can certainly burn up energy.

you can say that again. i saw alex's father leaving. he dropped off a present from alex. ( sighs ) ramón is such a great dad. just a great dad? o.k., he's a good dancer, too. there's something in the way he looks at you. i think we understand each other. whatever happened to alberto? wouldn't it be a little awkward dating two brothers? what makes you think i would date both of them? stranger things have happened. i came here to get a college education. so? i can't be involved with either ramón or alberto. i've got to focus on school. you mean you can't do both? no, i can't.

right now it's got to be my music and my music alone. it hasn't been easy to get this far. you've been through a lot... but don't worry, you'll pass your exams. i know you will. i've got to. i've just got to. time. that's it for beethoven. can i have your attention, please? we will now proceed to the second part of the exam which will be an analysis of this chord progression. i'll play it for you once. ( begins playing progression )

well, here goes nothing. i still have another exam. i mean, i'd be happy to leave and you can just... come on, give it a go. all right, but just a minute, though, o.k.? who are you? i'm bill ellis and this is rebecca casey. we're here for the moles audition. follow me. ( hard-rock music playing ) he's tied up right now. wait outside. you can wait out here. do you really still want to wait? of course we're going to wait.

all right, we'll wait. hey, did you see that studio in there? all that equipment. ( rock music playing ) ( sighs ) what time is it? ten minutes later than the last time you asked me. how much longer do you want to wait? let me go find out what's happening.

he doesn't know how much longer. oh, let's go! no way, wait, man. this is going to be worth it.

i've got some bad news. the band had to leave. what do you mean, had to leave? sorry, the band had to go. but if you two want to leave your tapes. tapes? i don't have a tape with me. hey, wait, i was told we could play for them and we've been here for hours. all right. i'm full of christmas spirit today. come into the studio. i'll do a quick scratch track for you both. but hurry up, i want to get out of here. bill: ♪ there's no remote control for taste. ♪ ♪ sense-surrounded ♪ you've got me sense-surrounded ♪ ♪ and so i think, "my, oh, my, what your money can buy..." ♪ shut the monitor for a second. i got to make a phone call.

hi, baby, it's me. yeah, another few minutes and i'm on my way. milk and diapers. i'll pick them up on my way home. bye. ( song ends ) you done? yes. what about you? me? yeah, you. are you auditioning, too? sure, she is! i'll play piano. what key are you in? "g." manager: tape's rolling. anytime you're ready. start with your name and phone number. my name is rebecca casey. my phone number is 555-1998 and this is a song i wrote. it's called "dream catcher." ( playing intro to "dream catcher" )

♪ all the lights are shining bright down in the city ♪ ♪ shining like a million dreams. ♪ ♪ sometimes i feel like i'm upside-down ♪ ♪ and all those dreams are falling right past me. ♪ ♪ everybody needs a dream catcher ♪ ♪ someone to be there when your dreams start to fall. ♪ ♪ everybody needs a dream catcher ♪ ♪ someone to be there ♪ when the bad dreams are all you can see. ♪ ♪ dream catcher...

♪ catch me. bill convinces her to go to the audition. rebecca's studying for her exam because they've been waiting there forever to get auditioned. how much longer do you want to wait? let me go find out what's happening. bill records his song. ♪ sense-surrounded ♪ you've got me sense-surrounded... ♪ nobody pays attention to the singing. yeah, another few minutes and i'm on my way. milk and diapers. i'll pick them up on my way home. rebecca's song is so beautiful. manager: tape's rolling. anytime you're ready. this is a song i wrote. it's called "dream catcher."

what's the name of rebecca's song? "dream catcher." ♪ everybody needs a dream catcher... ♪ after listening to the dream catcher, i was touched, because not only the lyrics are beautiful, but her voice is just gorgeous and i really loved it. rebecca has decided, uh, to stop seeing both of the brothers. wouldn't it be a little awkward dating two brothers? what makes you think i would date both of them? stranger things have happened. i can't be involved with either ramón or alberto. i've got to focus on school. schoolwork is the most important thing to rebecca. she shouldn't be thinking about those men anyway. well, i don't think it's fair she has to choose between her music and someone. i think she should have a... she should have it all.

♪ all the lights are shinin' bright down in the city, ♪ ♪ shinin' like a million dreams... ♪ ♪ sometimes i feel like i'm upside down ♪ ♪ and all those dreams are fallin' right past me... ♪ [captioned by the caption center wgbh educational foundation]

funding for this program [with captioning] was provided by: additional funding is provided by: and: