Bye 2012

       CRAZY!!!!! After tomorrow, we will arrive 2013! After tomorrow, REALLY only one week in this cute town (Silver City, New Mexico). Two weeks ago, I was thinking what I should plan to do in this town. But now it has been more than half way through. :( Time never lets you know it flies!

       Even though I didn't do so much things like my friends did in California or in Florida. However, they didn't do what I am doing either. To be frank, I really enjoy the life here, relaxing, getting spoiled, and not thinking about school.

       This week, Dr. Murphy, who is Eric's friend, are visiting from Chicago. They went to China together and had a great time in China. He told me that the food over there was the thing he loved most. I do too. Haha. Eric and I went to Tucson airport to pick him up. The road trip back and forth to the airport was nice. You can see the obvious changes between two states. More mountains in Tucson. AND SAGUARO!!

      I like saguaro (that's why I hugged them) and those palm trees over there. Even though I am not sure why they have palm trees there, those made me think I was in Hawaii. Eric and I went to Trader Joe's to get some yummy stuff. Eric and Jo have been teaching me simple way to cook delicious food. I appreciate it so much. They might figure out that I would live on chips and cokes when I am in nursing school and get lazy to cook at all. :P

     
       Since Dr. Murphy was here, we went hiking for a couple of days. The first hike was at the City of Rocks (picture on right), where I fell first time this two-year hiking. Ouch. Yes, it did hurt. I shouldn't have hiked up a huge rock and jumped. I never fell at the trip to Southwest and trip to Rocky Mountains. Well, it just happens. It is not a shame anyway. :P Our second hike was pretty easy. We went to Gila Cliff Dwelling (Picture below). It was so cool to see where the Native Indians lived. It is about 700 hundred years old and above 7000 feet. The caves are very tiny. I wonder how people lived there! They must be so skinny and little then.

   
      Today I didn't go hiking with them but staying home with Jo. We talked for a long time, which was so good! I love talking to her and getting to know her more. :) We went to a local restaurant for sushi tonight. It was pretty good. I have been having so many first-time things since I came here. I had the yellow package mustard, which I didn't actually have a pack of mustard in my sandwich. This is kind of a big change. I have never known that I would like the yellow mustard. I thought it was so gross because of the color. OK...I confess, it is because of the color I had never had that. :P 

       In China, it is not common to find the mustard, cheese, butter, or something you think it is very normal. So I am just getting to like butter on the bread, butter and salt on the corn, melted cheese, or a slice of just cheese. I can't believe that I did eat them! AND how could I miss them?! That's ridiculous! Now what I need to deal with is how I can get those stuff when I go back to China. I am pretty sure there are some in some stores, but not sure where. We will see. I will definitely post them when I find some while I am in my own country. :) 

       Actually I haven't started my Health Assessment that I brought. Shame on me. Even though I really want to move into the dorms and explore a new life experience, I am not too excited for being all-nighter. 

       Tomorrow we will have dinner at a nice place. Gosh, I forget the name again!!!!! It is so me. Today I finally remember the Italian icecream store, Alotta, after people talk about this again, again, and again. Their iceream is so darn good!!
(Picture on the left is the Alotta store. Looks yummy, doesn't it? :P)

       Gonna finish Life of Pi before I leave for Illinois and get the nursing stuff started, hope so. :P
       Learned to how to play chess at the Javalina coffee shop after hiking with Eric and Dr. Murphy. It was fun. It is kind of like Chinese chess too. I think everything in this world is some sort of similar everywhere. The rule how to play Chinese chess is kind of similar to American chess. Dumplings from China, Germany, or whoever has dumplings, are similar. It just tastes differently. Ha :P But the concepts are pretty close.. 

       Actually I stopped for Eric's popcorn and Psych so I don't really know what I was going to write and what was in my mind. I will dig it out sometime. 

       Good night people. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

       

how I spent the so-called end of the world

       It was a relaxing and luxurious day today. Actually it has been like this since I came to this town.
       First of all, the weather was pretty nice in this winter time--50F. I walked down the street and passed by the Silver City Museum. Then I turned back and walked in. The building is very cute so that you can't really just pass by. The lady was so nice and explained everything to me, even though I was just thinking to walk around by myself at that time. :P Actually, everybody is very nice in this little town.
      After this, I kept walking down the street. Arrived all kind of antique shops. The owner of the first antique shop is an Indian American. How did I know? Just like you know right away which continent I am from when you see me. :P Seem like it is redundant too explain. I have to say sorry though because I was scared when I saw the owner. I guess he was the first Indian American I saw. Not stereotype.
      Then I walked around the other antique shops. The first time I went to the antique shops was two years ago. I was very excited and amazed how expensive and how cheap things could be. There are not many antique shops in Shenzhen where I am from. Everything is NEW, NEW, NEW. They can tear down one building and build another one in one month. Crazy.
      Done with antique shopping, I went to the coffee shop called JavaLina Coffee House. I guess it is the biggest coffee shop in town. When I walked into the shop, I was surprised that there were many young people inside and they watched me like I was an alien...Well, I am though. "Alien" can be described as "foreigner", I suppose? Anyway, I got my caramel latte and sat with my book. It was a lovely time. Life of Pi made me giggle a lot. Like the expressions.
     Later on, before all the shops close or the town kind of shut down, I left the coffee shop reluctantly. BUT! I had a great time walking around the galleries and shops! They kept me busy looking. It was my second time to walk into some shops. I guess they owners will recognize me when I walk in the third time..."that not buying but looking at everything Asian girl." :P
     About 5p.m., twilight fell. Walked back home in 5 minutes. Yes, it is THAT convenient! Sounds like an awesome day, doesn't it? Come and spend time here! :)
     Never be tired of walking around here because you can always find something new and delight your day. (Woahaha...should I be Silver City commercial lady?) They should think about it. :P

Wonderful wonderful--New Mexico

Aloha people!
OK...The title of this post is about New Mexico, but I just love using "aloha" to say hi. Why not? :)
Currently, I am in this artistic place, Silver City, New Mexico, visiting my friends, Eric and JoAnne, who just moved to this town this summer.

This is the back of the downtown of Silver City. Tour from yesterday. I have never thought that I would live in the downtown of anywhere in this country. Downtown for me means busier people and more things to do (maybe IT IS what downtown means.:P)

This was from the second day of my trip here. Hiking on the Dragon Trail. How nice it is to hike around where you live! Oh my goodness!(-->wo de ma ya, "oh my goodness" in Chinese.) People probably will think it should be very warm in New Mexico. So did I. It was about 40F that day. It snows somedays, but it is sunny for the most of the time. The snow melts when it hits the ground. I saw some snow outside when I got up in the morning, but they melted about noon.

                

Eric and I found petroglyph on the Dragon Trail. When I saw the post, I was scared of anybody would come out and use the spear and shoot me. Blame on the cartoon.  :P

                 

This is the downtown of Silver City. From the picture, you can't really see the town. However, this is most wonderful town I have ever been! It is so artistic and so friendly. The road is not just flat. It goes up and down. Can't have a good picture of the road yet. :( I walked around the downtown yesterday. It was just about half hour and I fell in love with it! You can turn at one corner then you will find some cute galleries or shops. Eric and Jo told me about the coffee shops. I did see a few lovely coffee shops around, even at the corner. :) It is just a veeeeeeeerrry lovely town. So many hidden treasure. :) Just like you will run into some good stuff when you just randomly wander around.

Yesterday Eric, Jo, and I went to two stores to buy Christmas tree. People here cut their own trees so there is nothing left in the stores. Then Eric and I went to the Gila National Forest Ranger Station to buy a permit to cut a Christmas tree. How exciting! I have never cut a tree before...of course not  Christmas tree either.  It just sounded very fun. So today Eric and I went to the C Bar Ranch Road to find a tree. Surely, Eric did most of the work. I was responsible for taking pictures. :P My first time to smell Christmas!!! :)

Last picture of this post, it is a typical New Mexico view. JUST VERY COOL AND DIFFERENT from other places. 

Plus, my friends Eric and JoAnne are just the people to make this town more wonderful! So thankful that they are willing to host me for THREE 3 WEEKS!! Sounds like a long time, but it has been going by so fast! It is already almost Thursday! They always make good food. That's why I say they know how to eat. :) And we have good talks. They are just sooooooooooooo sweet, nice, and thoughtful!! You can't ask for more because you already have the most wonderful companies! 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TAHNK YOU...n+1 times! Even though you don't like math, it means same thing as thank you for millions or billions times. :)

Close to say goodbye to 2012

December 1, 2012
Had too much surgary treat today so my brain is very slow right now...don't know how they are relative to each other, but seems like sugary stuff has so much power to get people fat and slow...

After Thanksgiving break, I feel 2012 is getting closer and closer.
So during Thanksgiving break, I had hotpot with my Chinese friends and one American...Why that American (Ryan) is so special? Because he is the host's boyfriend...It is reasonable that he was there...
Our stomachs almost exploded!!!!! We kept eating for hours...
Here is a picture about the material and how it was before we ate.

                                               

So the balls are meat balls.. the organish ones are fish balls..the white ones are pork balls..the dark ones are beef balls...the dark pink ones are shrimp balls...beef flavor is my favorite.. :) The meat in the container is beef..the white stuff you see is tofu...the seafood on the right is shrimp...and also we had mushrooms, cabbage, bok choy...so on.

Actually these are just part of material that we will put in that pot when we are in China...It is just different when you do anything in the foreign country...I think...but they are still very very very good!!

Other than this hotpot, I had three Thanksgiving meals...AND I GAINED FOUR POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!

That's scary...I had six Thanksgiving meals this year..all happened in one month. I didn't have any turkey before I came to this country...so I guess I am trying to catch up and make up my turkey-missing-years.

So what is above is my third Thansgiving.....food part.

the other part? SHOPPING!! It was not crazy...but tiring. Longest shopping time I've ever had in this country...I went to shop with two Chinese girls and Ryan (again). Ryan was there for his girlfriend..He didn't shop at all but driving the car for us. So nice! We stayed up all night shopping on Black Friday. It was people everywhere. Christmas music was on since 3 or 4 a.m. It was not that crazy as I thought...It is just like normal weekend at the shopping center in Shenzhen where I am from in China.

I spent some time with my American sister Tess on the break. It was so nice and awesome. It was just like the old time...SO GOOD!! She is such a sweet girl.

Really...I can't imagine how my life would be without my first host family. Last night was monthly international student night at my American parents' house...A Chinese boy was a little bit impressed by my English, even though mine is not good enough to impress a lot of people. It is all because of my American family. My American mom corrected papers, grammar, and oral English for me. I have spoken the most English in my whole life during last two years with my American family. Although there are still many grammar probems of my posts, it is still an encouraging thing for me to do. I bet I would never write anything long like this post in English before I came to this country and actually learned something. I think what I learned most is to be confident with speak another language.

I am just so so so thankful that I stayed with them, truly, truly. LOVE THEM!!

This semester is really getting close to the end. I am going to New Mexico to visit my friends JoAnne and her husband Eric after finals for Christmas and New Year. They will be my first Christmas and New Year in this country. SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :))) The warm place makes me more excited! :P

Here is a sugary picture for starting this month. Wish a sweet and nice month for everybody!!! :D

Maybe next post will be in New Mexico! Adios!:))))))))))

Turkey Day

    My 3rd thanksgiving will be here soon.
   What's my plan? Hummm..staying at this tiny town. :) Not going to anywhere but Peoria, but I will love it. It will be a wonderful relaxing break. :)
   This kind of holiday reminds me that how I spent in the past.
   My 1st thanksgiving was in New York City. Stayed at Brooklyn, walked down the street to the subway station, crossed the famous Brooklyn Bridge, arrived at Manhattan, jumped around the crowd on the Fifth Avenue, watched the well-known Macy's Parade, went to Statue of Liberty...
   It was a great time. Exploring world center with three other girls with no worries, I was so glad we did that. Even though we got lost sometimes, we always found something  new for us. Chinatown in NYC might be my least favorite part. Sorry, but it is true. From my society class, Chinatown is just a comfort zone for people who are new and not knowing English. It doesn't matter how little English you speak, you can still find a job over there. It is just like little China. No language barrier. However, it is very old fashion. It is not the new version of China, but very very old one. When I stood under the railway rail, listening to the roaring old subway, I saw many people in old fashion clothes spitting on the street. Sometimes, place like this is good for those are new immigrants and those who don't know English. It is a harbor for them. No storm, no danger.
But I still like NYC.
   So it was my first thanksgiving.
   My second one?? I guess there must not be anything big happened because I don't even remember. I just remember that I didn't go to Black Friday shopping. :P
   My third one is not here yet. But planning to eat, eat, eat, and eat!!!!!! And gain some turkey weight. :P Also, plan to experience so-called crazy Black Friday with my new friend from Saudi Arabia. It should be very fun. :) OOOOOOOOoooooooooh!!! HAVING HOTPOT TOMORROW with only Chinese friends!!
   What is hotpot???
   First, it is very common way to eat in China when it is winter time. Second, you have to have a pot. :P
   Here is a picture about the material from the last year.

      This was taken at a hotpot restaurant. Look at the steaming pot. You can choose whatever broth/soup you like and boil it. Then you can have whatever meat or vegetable put into the boiling soup. Since the temperature is high, everything is cooked very fast. Then you can pick them up and dip any source you like. Seriously, nothing is strict. IT IS ALL ABOUT HOT AND FRESH! That's why I haven't really explained what you need to do and what you eat. Just eat what you think is yummy.
      I guess I had at least 10 times of hotpot last time I went back to China. Everytime I went back was in winter. So hotpot is not avoidable. :)
     This kind of thing is what we are doing tomorrow. We are going to buy some meatballs (not like American style one), it can be made of pork, shrimp, fish, and beef!! Beef one is my favorite. We also will buy crab sticks, all kinds of vegetable, beef, tofu, and so on so on. Just depend what people like, really.
     Going to gain some worthy weights in this break. HOHOHOHO...
     May post a picture of tomorrow's hotpot in next post. :))))))
    
     Well, I told you my blog is very random...from thanksgiving to NYC, to hotpot..hummmmm..jumping thoughts. :) Have a good thanksgiving! And thanks for whoever is reading!! :)

Reunion

       So today we had a reunion for Charlotte.
       She was one of the nine exchange students two years ago. She married Eric in China in August. Now they are having honeymoon here because Charlotte wants to show Eric where she studied, where she stayed, and her friends.
       We had dinner at Sushiko on the University Street. As far as I known, a lot of Chinese and also many Americans love that restaurant. The boss over there is super nice and hospitable.
We had 27 people in total at the party room. It was packed, but it was really fun. Our American grandpa joined us also. He is the one who is taking Charlotte and Eric to Florida tomorrow. We had a few Americans, and most of them have been different areas in China. To be honest, they all went to somewhere I have never been. Shame on me.
       Grandpa got to know a lot of young people..That's why I encouraged him to join us because he could stay younger..:P
       Mitch is an American. He told me that he was so surprised that there are these many Chinese around here. Guess what, Mitch...there are more all over everywhere! :P Mitch stayed in Beijing for two years and speaks pretty good Chinese. And he loves this restaurant.
       Overall, all of us had a great time (hope so). At the very end, after we appreciated the boss' making all those sushi, he offered a free Japanese drink to whoever wanted to have a drink. So people went crazy. Some girls and I didn't have any but watched they competing. It is kind of tradition. In China, it is very common the young people drink with friends. It is different culture. Drinking is very normal even just simple holiday. My dad will drink and have some snacks with his friend and talk. Surely, it is just for relaxation and talk. In college, people drink because it is fun?? I don't know. It is not fun actually. They always try to get you drunk or something, not sure why. They just drink when they have reunion or sing in the karaoke...(The karaoke in Asia is in private room, not in public.) There are bars in China, but I haven't been any yet. So I am not going to talk about this since I don't really know how exactly it is.
       Anyway, it was loud at the restaurant because we Chinese were there. :P (stereotyping)
       I really appreciate everybody came and had a little bit reunion. :) It was fun.
      

stereotype

So this was what happened today at the XXX medical field department,
"You are from China? So your next TB test should be positive and you should go to your doctor and have chest X-ray. There are more germs in China..."
I don't know how you will feel when people say things like this to you. For me, I don't feel very comfortable with this.

During this two and half years in this country, usually everything is very good and I like it. Just only twice I felt offended. One time was in Chicago and the other one was today.

Just like a student from Kazakhstan said that people thought they didn't have cars and normal machine over there! People thought they should ride the camels or something. Come on people. This is 21st century. Every country has its advance, even though some of them might be very very poor in general. Just like people think everywhere in U.S.A is like New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, all those big cities. But guess what? People might be shocked when they see the huge corn field! They might be surprised that they can't go to anywhere without car! and so on. So stop stereotyping.

well. just not feeling very comfortable with people saying things that they have no idea with.

11/7

                I've heard it is snowing in NY and MA crazily. I guess snow flakes might come to Illinois pretty soon. First snow always makes people excited. But once it goes on and on, not many people will like it. It never snows in Shenzhen where I am from. So not until two years ago that I saw the snow, and it was a big one: blizzard. :D Win win~It was really fun. We went sledding around the house instead of going to school because the road was blocked and school got cancelled. We made snow angel. We had hot chocolate after that. Every single thing seemed so new and interesting to me.
                It becomes not like that fun any more until I have to drive by myself. Last year was not too bad. It was a warm winter for here, even though it was still cold for me. Obviously, the winter is coming pretty soon this year. Every season looks weird this year.

              Today was the day working at the Chinese restaurant. I am very used to it now, including answering calls, serving people, changing orders as how customers like, and being positive all the time. 99% customers are very very friendly. They are willing to talk. Well, I guess this is kind of American thing, in a good way. I like it. It just seems like there is always somebody cares about you, even though it is not real. I am sort of like answering machine or a robot. Whenever there is a customer coming into the restaurant, I immediately say, "Hey, how are you today?" It never changes. Apparently, most of the answers don't change either.
              However, I love doing this plain thing. Many customers say that I am very positive and happy. Sometimes I feel like I get spoiled by them. They tip me very well even though I have to give it to the boss. One time, there was a couple tipped me $10 after their dinner. I was shocked. Seriously?! It is just very unbelievable for me.
             Today I got heartwarmed by an old man who walked very slowly with his humpback. I had him sit while he was waiting for his carry out.  I talked to him every once a while before the food was ready. When he was about to walk out of the door, he came back and gave me $1. I guess I almost cried at that moment. He didn't say anything but still made me feel sad. I just can't stand the elderly doing everything by themselves...They should have people take care of them...But here, independence is throughout a person's whole life since people learn to be independent.

             This semester is getting closer and closer to be wrapped up. Just three weeks of school and finals. CRAZY!!! I am very looking forward to going to OSF, the nursing school, but I am not ready yet.

A visit from China

Hi, blog, it is me again, your poster. Couple weeks ago, I got you some fishes, a calendar, a prayer frame, and maybe two new posts.

Today, Charlotte and her husband came to visit from China. Charlotte was one of the nine exchange students two years ago. Now she is married and back to here with her husband Eric. I was very excited to see them.
Our American grandpa took us to Olive Garden. Charlotte and Eric ordered hot water, which most of Chinese usually will do in China. The waitress kept asking whether they wanted teabags or not...surely, she doesn't know we Chinese are weird. We drink plain hot water..When Eric saw me drinking lemonade with ice, he was surprised and asked me, "don't you feel cold? it is so cold outside." Probably like this face @.@ It is his first time to visit this country and not used to icy drink, cheesy and creamy food yet. Now I can completely know how Americanized I have become...which I don't know it is good or not...They brought me stuff my sister bought for me. I was overexcited. I guess this is first time for me to get real Chinese stuff from my friends. :D We had a very nice night.

Last night my aunt from Hong Kong called me. Now I really feel spoiled. :) People who studied years ago mailed their letters back home and waited for replies forever. Maybe sometimes some of them got lost on the way to China...maybe in the shark's stomach, or in the Pacific Ocean, or somewhere impossible. How blessed we are living in this high-tech age. Then I facetimed with my second older sister today.
It was really awesome to catch up with family back home.

Tomorrow is the president election day of U.S.A. From my racial sociology class, I learned ethnic groups do not usually vote. They concern about their daily life instead. Well...I believe that...especially when my Chinese friends told me that when she and her sister went to vote, every single person looked at them with big big eyes...

Things are complicated. So make it short, goodnight.

Hey November!

Hello November! You are so beautiful. It has been getting cold these days. I wonder whether Miss Snow is gonna come to visit us pretty soon.
Today I had "coffee" (at Starbucks, he had hot chocolate and I had tea. so I used " " for coffee) with Rob, who was one of 16 classmates from my science field trip class last summer. He read my blog one time and we talked a little bit about it today. Both of us reached agreement that there is not very many things to do here so that I don't know what I should write about. It seems like everyday sounds the same. Coffee shop, study, shop, home, etc...
HOWEVER!!!
Life is grand! Rob always says this and I do agree with that.
He is such a good friend of mine now since he interviewed me in September. To be honest, I guess I should feel privilaged...That should be my 4th or 5th time to get interviewed...as an international person..:P
We got to know each other a little bit. It does take time to know people and their stories. He always has good attitude of everything. He has a very nice family, sounds like. His daughter just graduated from pharmacy school with honor. She is a good example of this medical field. That motivates me a lot. Rob's wife works for CAT and knows a lot of Asian people. I am trying to convince Rob to take Chinese class for his second language class. Well, having an awesome Chinese friend like me, there is no point of not having Chinese class...haha. just kidding...



Since I moved, I have made myself porridge/congee a lot. It is like rice soup with whatever material you want to add other than rice and water.
This is one of billions kinds of breakfast choices in China...It might sound weird to you...but we do have things like noodle soup, rice soup, fried rice noodles, western or eastern buns, hot soy milk, steamed rice noodle rolls, and so on so on so on so on....MAN!!! This just reminds me of the food over there!!
Anyway, these are kind of our breakfast, which you may think they should be for lunch or dinner, but not for breakfast.
We barely have cold milk with cereal as our breakfast, which is super common here. I get used to it now because it is quick and easy...now I am becoming lazy...
We eat differently too. People from north of China mainly have various noodles and buns while people from south have rice as main meal. Surely, it comes with many other dishes, vegetable and meat.



Sometimes, I can't keep writing just one topic...such as the one above...My lazy cells are occupying me now.

Today I stayed at the Starbucks for almost a whole day to finish my BLS (Basic Life Support) book reading for tomorrow's CPR class. It will be from 8a.m. to 4p.m. Wish me luck with finishing that class and get my CPR certificate.

Sometimes, it is kind of weird but in a nice weird way...Like when you go into a coffee shop, they know what you wanna get...I started to notice that I have been to a coffee shop so much that they remember to add honey in my tea...OK..How about ignoring the fact that there is not many Asians in this little town? :P

Time for bed. CPR. I am ready. ( ^_^ )

From Julie and Julia

1:31 a.m. it really should be bedtime for everybody except those who poorly have night shift at work..But what am I up to at this point?
I just finished Julie and Julia. :) This is one of the a few movie choices for my adulthood psy class. I didn't know why I really want to choose this movie. It might be because I have heard this movie for many times, but didn't have a chance to peek at it. I am supposed to write a paper about this movie from psychological aspect. So far, forgive me, my brain is not working psychologically yet. Can't apply the information from the book right now...at this early morning. haha. I guess I am just avoiding my paper.
However, the movie itself is really really good. The content is awesome as well. Julie keeps writing about her daily life and the recipes. Julia is such a happy woman and crazy about food. Both of them have encouraging husbands.
From Julie, it reminds me of my blog. Well, I don't really think there is any whatever editor or publisher will see my posts and become interested..sounds like a dream..wow..if that's true, would be so cool?! OK...first of all things, I need to keep writing..with my Chinglish. :P

When I worked today, a mom and a daughter came in. The daughter was hugging her mom, and I asked what I usually ask (like a robot),"How are you doing today? What can I do for you?" The mom said with a smile, "can you help me move this girl from me?" We all smiled. "I can't do this in three years, mom." the daughter said. "Oh? Where are you going?" I asked. "She is applying for Harvard." Her  mom said it proudly. Suddenly, I felt I should be very proud that I served a future Harvard girl..Wow..who knows. maybe she would be future president too. OK. I am being ridiculous..it is possible though..Everything is possible.

I think I shouldn't have watched the cooking movie especially at this time because it makes me more hungry!

OK. another random post. :P Just feel like I should keep updating. future memory. :)

From weather to English?!

         Walking on the path at school, I couldn't help stopping and watching the colorful leaves and enjoying this colorful fall. Love stepping the fallen leaves, even though it is not time yet, it will be soon. Trees have turned to different colors significantly since last Sunday. Apple cider, pumpkin this and that (bars, spice latte, etc.), all kinds of fall season products and fall decoration. You can't escape it, but I don't think anybody will miss wonderful fall.
         It seems like I started to have real fall season after I came here. Shenzhen is too hot to catch up with any season except summer. I miss that city though. Oh.again?! I am not gonna talk about any suspicious homesick feeling.  So no more Shenzhen, Shenzhen, and Shenzhen.

         OK...No Shenzhen..what about the weather over there? :P  because it has been becoming colder and colder for me, the girl from the south.
         50F is very nice weather here. BUT! How about no heater in any building or at home? Can you stand that? OK...If you can. How about living in a concrete building then? Yes, this is how it is in Shenzhen, concrete building and no heaters. We have to wear as layers inside the building as going outside. My grandpa has to wear more! Actually I wear more layers when I am home because I don't move too much and it is really cold in the concrete building. At my family, the worse thing is we don't have the hot taps. Many family do have this, but there are still  a lot of families don't. So I don't really want to wash hands, or do anything with cold water! Maybe we just need to improve so many things.
        
         Last weekend, I visited my Chinese friends at ISU. I guess that was the time I spoke Cantonese and Chinese most. They couldn't understand my Cantonese very well because it is going worse... Should I be happy about this? Does this mean my English is getting so much better? It better be.

        I don't really think my English is perfect or better than other International students..But I do find out that they are not confident in speaking in public. I can understand that since I was like that at the beginning. We usually start to learn English since 4th grade..kids start even earlier these days. Even though we have learnt this language like forever, we don't actually speak and listen more than writing and reading. Well...it should be hard for the exam-oriented education system because it just cares about how good grade we can get on the reading and writing exams. Not afraid to be shamed, I got 8 out of 30 on my listening part of TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language, usually for international students who want to study in U.S.A.). 8/30?!!??!?! I had never gotten the grade like that low ever in my life. I have been studying English for over 10 years, but look at my feedback--they couldn't understand me or I couldn't catch up with them. Oh, exam-oriented education, I got at least 100/120 on my usual English exams, but I failed? 
       We usually have Chinese teacher as our English teacher..We just learned grammar and vocab.mostly in class. Most of us barely practice speaking and listening in English.
       Maybe this is the reason that most of us are not confident with talking to people in English or just start the conversation like,"My English is very poor." Actually it makes sense. When I talk to my friends who study Chinese, they do the same thing as well. I did that too! Languages are hard..-->this is the conclusion for above. Why I randomly talk about this? I got inspired from my visiting ISU. :P

        Half of semester went away already! Can you believe that? Time is crazy. We are never fast enough to catch up with it. It flies, sneaks, and slips. Better watch the beautiful falling leaves before the time tells trees to be ready for being bald!

      
        
      
         

study-machine?

Again, it has been a while, Ava's blog.
Days have been busy, such as making me chase all kinds of homework...
I thought it would be an easy semester for me compared to before...and obviously it is not..but it is enjoyable. I love studying at a coffee shop. Whenever I am sick of my homework, I can just stalk people. :P
Oh well. Is that better if I keep one theme of one blog every time? or just...like right now..write as my mind goes?...I don't know..just writing one topic seems boring..unless English class requires so.
So as I have been here for so long, I have known a lot of people..but I guess most of them think I am just a study-machine..So more and more people keep telling me, "go to have fun." I have realized this problem these days, which makes me want to keep away from school and homework.
However, I don't really think I study too much because I don't have perfect grade yet. In China, kids study all day long. So compared to that, I study way less than what I did in high school. If all my homework were in Chinese, I guess I would have way more fun than others did. :P I think English itself is the main reason make my homework harder than others. Am I trying to find an excuse??? :P

                                                        ( Picture taken by ICC computer!)
 Oh of course this is in library. Where else do you think it will be with study-machine? Also, more and more people keep telling me that I am more Americanized. So I learned sarcasm, other than eating like Americans.

weekly report?????? :P

         Have been living with the Ochoa's for a week. Pedro is from Honduras. Lisi is Cuban American. Their almost 2-year-old baby is mixed. :) so he is super cute. I always think mixed blood kids are cute and smart. I guess I am being laid-back now because there is pile of homework waiting for me and I am hitting my keyboard here.
        It is very interesting to live with them in the city. Oh well, Peoria. But compared to Washington where I used to live, it is a city. So I have culture shock here. Yes, culture shock.
        I don't like driving in the city at all. It is busier than little town, for sure. It IS convenient to get to anywhere in the city, all kinds of coffee shops, malls, friends, and cars (@.@) However, I am just used to country life. :P Quiet and peaceful. Not driving in the busy corners, not listening to screaming police car or ambulance, not afraid to go outside late night...and so on. If this city could be like big city, I guess I would be more familiar with. Maybe I can talk about Shenzhen since I mention big city?
        Okeydokey, Shenzhen.
        Shenzhen is not my hometown, but it is the place where I was born and grew up. Shenzhen is located at the southern tip of the mainland of China and neighbors Hong Kong.
        My parents are from another little town far away in the same province, Guangdong. They came to Shenzhen about 25 years ago to earn money and escape country life. Shenzhen is a 30 years old city. Compared to Beijing and Shanghai, it is  very young. BUT, it has significant influence in China now. When many people hear I say I am from a big city, they always ask what the population is. I didn't check it until this summer. If you do think Chicago is a big city, Shenzhen is definitely a bigger city because it has as three times as many people there. There are more than 15 million people in this city where used to be a little fishing town. IT IS VERY VERY CROWDED! It is defnitely not exaggerated that we need to squeeze ourselves into the bus when it is rush hour. We can totally, if we are the one close to the windows, have our body against the windows! We will not have any personal space in the same bus, at all.  If you think there is ever traffic jam here, oh, my, you might never want to live in Shenzhen.

         My family has never owned a car in Shenzhen. First of all, none of us can drive except my brother and I. For me, probably I can just drive in this wide and less car country. I will never never never ever drive when I go back. I don't want to kill others and myself.  Second, it is absolutely unecessary to drive in Shenzhen. We walk a lot. Plus, the transportation is super convenient. Every 5 minute, there is a bus driving through in front of our door. Taxi is 24 hours. Subway is open till 11p.m. Most of the buses are available before 10p.m. This is the reason why I had never driven before even I was 21! My mom always walks to the fresh outdoor market to run errands, such as fresh fish, chicken, vegatble, and so on. Those who sell these are real farmer. They get up maybe around 3 or 4 a.m. to get everything ready and go to open.

         OK..I stopped for couple of seconds just now...and my inspiration is gone..So...this random post is bye-bye. :P

         Back to study now.

         At least, I found another way to relax myself--writing.

 This picture was taken last year when I went back to Shenzhen, I had a lunch at an almost the tallest building with my family.

This traffic time is not the bad not yet.

Mr. McDonald "invades" China. Probably this is one of the reasons that more and more Chinese are getting bigger!

New Year everywhere, 2011.

This is one of popular spot in the central city, Hai An Cheng.

This one was taken on Dec 30, 2011, Huaqiaocheng, Shenzhen

My good friend Wing and I were at the Window of the World, Shenzhen

Art in the subway station...

It was 6a.m. that's why there was no many people..next time, I will try to have a shot of crowded traffic.

Dec 30, 2012 CocoPark, Shenzhen

 

        I don't know how to start with this post. Just write as my mind goes.
       First of all, I know it is not goodbye for forever. However, complicated feelings are at the bottom of my heart, thankfulness and missing. I just want to write it down.
       I moved out of my host family's house today. I have been living with them since January 15th, 2011. I know you can do the math, but I still want to say it has been one year and eight months. I am just so so blessed that I met them in my life. They are such a wonderful, sweet, thoughtful, and awesome family.
       Tess, their daughter, asked me where I would live when she knew I decided to stay here two years ago. I said I didn't know. She said,"Oh, you can live with my family!" Well, she doubled check that with her parents after the words slipped through her mouth. First day of coming back to U.S., Buzz and Sal came to pick me up at the airport. It was so nice to see them. Our stories began with the warm hug in the winter at the airport.
        The first semester, Tess and I drove together a lot when she had classes. She is a really sweet girl. She brought so many new friends to me. Maybe that's why almost half of my facebook friends are our common friends. She always took me to her girls night, worship night, hangout night, and Blend night (Blend is the only coffee shop in Washington.) She taught me so much English. On the way to school, she helped me pronounce "walmart","L" and so many other words. Thanks to her, one day at the Blend, her coworker asked me to pronounce "walmart" and I got it right! He said he teased his friends with that because most of Chinese can't pronounce it right. She is also a very fun girl! We watched movie together, we had a tent set up at the living room with many many blankets, we had snow sledding, and we had all kinds of talks. How blessing I am to have her as my host sister!
       The second semester and now, she isgone for ISU, but I began to visit there quite often. We were still very close. She is the one who always, really always, listen to what I say and complain. She is a friend and a sister. :) I love her so much.
       Since Tess was gone and I still didn't have a car, Buzz and Sal took care of me so well. Buzz gave me a ride to school every day. They never complained. Buzz stayed up late a lot, so did I. So whenever I had English questions, I just burst out my Chinglish and he usually asked me to spell it. :P Well, it was quite often for me to ask him to spell words too because too much fancy words is not in the dictionary of my brain. He encouraged me to go for hard classes and challenges. He gave me advice of insurance. He is just a patient, smart, and funny host dad.
       My host mom, Sal, looooves coffee. She is the sweetiest host mom. She treated me like her daughter. Every once a while, we talked, humm, about many things. She is really smart too. Well, it is a smart family. :) She loves knowing international people and helping them. she revised my papers a lot. She gave me good suggestions. When I hung out with people, she was very happy because she didn't want me to be bored. Once a while, she put some good books and articles on my table. She was just so wonderful and thoughtful.
       When I was an exchange student with either other Chinese students, Sal always planned for us. She took us to the mall, grocery, coffee shop, antiques, and even her house and the farm! :) Every time she picked us up at school, I always jumped into the back seat, which is the reason that she didn't really remember me by that time. :P It was because I was so afraid to talk to people in English in front of all my Chinese friends. I was afraid of mistaks and unperfect English. Thanks to Sal mom, I have practiced the language I am writing in a lot and a lot. Compared to millions of Chinese students in this country, I lived with an good Christian American family, having good host parents, nice host sister, good food, good chance to practice language, good church to go to, and so many things so many other Chinese students can never expect. How blessed I am!
        Even though thery are not my real parents, they are my true parents in this country. My mom doens't worry about me at all because she thinks I have a mom here too, and yes I do. My host parents have been so good so so good to me. I still can't belive how people can be as nice and unselfish as them. Thanks God, who is the one made all of these happened.
        It is not forever goodbye. Well, I live in Peoria now...Maybe I will break into their house once a while.....:P
        Thank you, my dear American family. Wish you the best.

                         The way from city to a quiet wonderful paradise.
             So now I am back to be a city girl? :P even though compared to Shenzhen, China, Peoria is still tiny.

Different perspective of Chinese

           It was my second time to help my friend, Hannah's family's restaurant. It is a little restaurant in a little place.
          Looking at Hannah's mom, (I called her aunt, in China, it is common to address those who are moms ayi=aunt) I felt like I was completely in a comfort zone for my whole life. Ayi and Mr. Zhang (Hannah's dad) are really hard-working Chinese. Their family immigrated here about eight years ago except Mr. Zhang came here first to work for some other Chinese restaurants for many years before he owned one. From them, I got to know more immigrant history than the raical and ethnic groups of sociology I studied in the summer. They are living examples.

          Well, I already have Hannah's permission to write about her family. She said I should be a good reporter. :P Hope so.

           Hannah's family is one of typical immigrants from China, espcailly from her hometown, Fuzhou, Fujian. There are tons of people from there in the Chinatown of New York City. They also spread out around little towns, just not as many as big cities. Fuzhou people usually run their own family restaurant. Kids from their family either go to school for higher education so that they can escape restaurant life forever after graduation or still work for restaurants.

           Two years ago, I met a Chinese guy from Fuzhou in NYC. He didn't say very much English after being there seven years! He also dropped school because of some reasons I forgot. @.@  According to him, many kids immigrated from Fuzhou with their family don't go for more education. They are just under the fake-good-looking Chinatown. To be honese, the Chinatown in NYC is the worst one I have ever ever seen! Other than nasty street, people are keeping old old old old old habit instead of learning new things. I mean not following others blindly but they are worse than people from 1950s (about that time, i guess) in China.. humm..maybe 30s? Anyway, old! Fuzhou people who want to keep their old fashion stay at their own world. However, there are always exceptions, such as Hannah's family.


           Hannah has been working for her family's restaurant for over six years. When I first knew her, it was almost 1.5 years ago. After I learned she came here seven years ago, the first question I asked her was where she visited in this country. Guess how many? None. Hannah became one of my very good Chinese friends after we have been hanging out for a long time in the past. I learned more about her. Why she said none? She doesn't have time, neither does her family. Their restaurant opens 7 seven days a week and closes after 9:30p.m. Basically, their life is in the restaurant. Hannah always goes back to restaurant to work after school.
           Before I worked for them, I completely didn't know how her life was. In the summer, I asked her to hang out. She always said no. Couple times, I was a little upset about being rejected. I thought I was nice to ask. Now I know I was totally a brat. I didn't put myselt into her shoes at all. It is not easy to live in a foreign country. It is even harder to run a restaurant and keep family in this country. Sometimes, people think Chinese are rich. Try to think about this, they work 12 hours every single day. They do not have vacation, no, not even family vacation.

          I just worked twice so far. Today, when I felt tired after almost 5 hours, I saw ayi still busy with this and that. She had worked since 9:30 this morning and didn't say anything tiring thing. Earning bread is difficult. Ayi and Mr.Zhang don't really speak much English except basic English. Ayi said, "If I know more English, I could talk to customers better and maybe we could make friends."

          However, they are one of the sweetest families I have ever seen! They treat people very well, even new employers, such as me. Watching Mr. Zhang mopping the floor, I felt like I saw my dad. Both of them are hard worker, honest, and humble. They are quiet but they are influential. Ayi and Mr.Zhang always make me food before I take off. Who on earth will care about your meal when you are off work? But ayi and Mr.Zhang really do. My heart just got melted. I just can't stop saying thank you when they treat me like a realitive. Maybe they don't realize that, but I will never forget my first restaurant experience.

          Both of them care about their two daughters' education. In China, well, in my generation, not many parents pay attention to their girls but boys. Ayi was surprised that my two older sister graduated from university. Because of our society, I totally understand why she was surprised. None of my relitives at my sisters' age graduate from college. Thanks to my parents who raise all of us and support us without any selfishness.

          They are just very very simple, honest, and hard-working people, but I feel so proud of them and thank them.


To those who are simple but brighten others' day and warm them up, like sunrise.

(Sunrise from Grand Teton, Wyoming)

First week of schooooooooooool

On Aug 21st, it was my second anniversary of being in U.S. Starting my third year here, I feel really normal, just can't belive I have been here for that long. That means the exchange students who came with me have been working in China for over one year. Time is crazy.
First week of school was over. I have online medical terminology, online theatre, microbiology, and psychology of adulthood this semester. Microbiology is everyday but Friday, which means the beautiful microbio professor is the one I will see most in this semester. Luckily, she is energetic, helpful, and a little bit funny, which is really good. :P You won't like seeing somebody you don't like everyday.
Online theatre? Yes. Teehee..Taking this online is not because I am too chicken to act in the public. Well, maybe so. Anyway, online theatre is a little bit confusing. @.@ Good thing is I finally figure out how this class goes and what I need to do.
Sometimes, I think people who take online classes are probably smarter. I am not talking about myself, definitely. They need to keep tract on schedule all the time, figure out what they should do, read bunch, and some other things.
I love online classes because my listening English is not as good as my reading skills. 
These days, I have been working on my field trip report and creative project. It takes forever to finish up. I guess I didn't study hard enough when I was on my two-week trip. :P it will be over someday before it due. Definitely not on the due day. I am not that procrastinated, I hope. >.<
It has been raining all day today. I don't know why I like raining so much. Maybe it brings fresh air, fresh smell of the soil and grass, and energy (after nap. :P) Love listening to the radio in the car while it is raining outside. Isn't that a good combination? :)))
I don't think each post has a real conclusion. Neither is this one. :P

One of the highlights of this awesome summer ^.^

6 a.m. July 27-3 p.m. Aug 11
I was with an awesome group of people for more than two weeks in wild west.
Right now, staying at 3030 coffee shop, sorting thousands of pictures from the trip, I just feel like I took too many pictures because many of them are almost the same :P well, fabulous pictures are produced in this way though. :D

I can't believe that I am back to midwest now except the weather here is a little bit like in the Rocky mountains. Two weeks ago, everywhere was yellow because it was too dry. The grass was crispy. I am not sure the cows like crispy grass or not. Maybe the grass can be chips for them.


I am so glad that ICC offers the GEO/BIO field trip class. Last year, I went to Southwest with a bunch of people I didn't know at all and became good friends with them. This year, Rocky Mountains welcomed us. :)
I fell in love with those mountains and hiking which are absolutely breathtaking, even though I always imagined that we could die any second, any minute because of the volcano eruption. Nobody will know when the Yellowsone will erupt. If it did, that would be a huge disaster of the whole world. When the geology instructor said how big the caldera it was, I was shocked. Well, maybe I shouldn't have felt that since the disaster would be huge. Last summer, we climbed SP crater in Arizona, which is a small cinder cone. It was a tough hike.

The instructors said our group was so lucky because when we were on the way to the Yellowstone National Park, we saw an elk with huge antlers!!! Our bio professor Kristen got so excited at the moment because she had never seen one before. (If I remember right.)  We saw tons of bisons later on. "Wow!! Bisons!!" this was how we felt at the first time. "Oh...bisons again." this was what we said on the second day. That was incredible to see bears, wolves, elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer, bison in the wildlife instead of zoo. OH..bears!
On Aug 7, the day we hiked Amphitheater Lake of Grant Teton, we met two black bears. It seemed like I was the only one to meet both of them. Maybe because it was my birthday? I wasted my birthday wish though, it was not getting eaten by a bear. One bear we saw was on the way to the lake. The baby bear was about 30 feet away. A half naked guy stood still on the path and clapping. His partner was taking pictures of the bear. Nobody talked. The bear walked across the path in front of them!!! A few of students and I was behind and realized that there was a bear. I didn't really have time to take out of my camera because it happened so fast! We didn't stay for a long time after the baby bear went up the hill because we didn't really want to meet his mom.
The second big baby bear showed up on our way down to the mountain. This one was just 15 feet away. Literally close enough. I could see his nose, ears, and eyes! I remembered to get picture of this creature this time. There was a family stopped before us and hikers were coming uphills. The bear just crossed the path and looked for food. I just couldn't belive what happened in the same day. Luckily, the bears didn't care about human. :) and their moms didn't show up. :))) which was really good.
The hiking on this trip was tough but the view around was absolutely gorgeous!!
I wish I could go to the field trip with ICC again, again, again, and again. Maybe I should become a professor? :P

School starts tomorrow!!CRAZY! Summer is too good to be wrapped up. To be honese, I am not ready for school, at all. Can I just say I have high altitude reaction and not going to school? :P Just kidding.

Most are about somebody's changes. O.O

Hummm..Humm...HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...
We are having cats and dogs raining at home, I mean my China home. a level 10 typhoon. Here, some rain drops were seen for several seconds. Weather is an interesting thing. Jetlag is interesting also. Say good night to my parents when we are having the sun from the east. See them having lunch when I stay up late. Interesting, interesting, and interesting...So are different cultures.
Well, this post will be very random. Or...all my posts are random. Just like lightening random thoughts in my brain.
I have changed a little bit in this two years in U.S.A. Such as...
1. have ice in my drinks except hot ones.
2. drink coffee, just sweet ones, like vanilla or caramel
3. have simple breakfast, cereal or peanut butter toast
4. driving? well, let's not talk about the driving skills.
5. not afraid of cops any more on the road even if they blow around. I was afraid of them not because I was arrested before, it was because my very first driving got chased by them...detail stories? maybe next time. :P I will let you assume Asian drivers are bad drivers, which has already been a stereotype for a long time.
6. drink tea with honey and ice! goodness. I can imagine what my family and my friends in China will think about me when they see this. We never drink tea with honey and ice. We just drink hot tea.
7. like being tan?!? My mom might freak out when she see my dark skin...You will see people carry umbrellas everywhere, not just raining days, also sunny days like this. They wear sunscreen and carry umbrellas. Humm..double protections. I am just too lazy to carry it so I don't care being tan. Too much sun exposure is also not too good for skin sometimes.
8. study at coffee shops. I didn't study at any coffee shops until I came here. I felt weird when my American sister Tess brought me to the Blend to study. But now, I am jumping around different coffee shops. One of my records, went to 5 different coffee shops in one week. @.@ Am I crazy?
9. have too much meat, even though I love it! :P Too much meat is really not good for digestion. I tested that. OR, maybe I have an Asian stomach?? >.<
There are lots of changes, which I might not realize by myself...until I go back to my own country? OoO

These days, I have been studying for my sociology. Last week of summer school! :)
Going to Rocky Mountains Field Trip on Friday morning, and I haven't pack yet. Hahahaha..successful procrastinator! At least, I got myself swimming suit, which is kinda big deal. I need this equipment even though I don't know how to swim. Well, maybe it won't help at all when I drown.
Hummm...right now, I might as well fight with the procrastinating elements, which are in my way of studying.
I might win this battle. ^.^

I am back to here!!

Okeydokey, it is time to update this got-forgotten-desert-blog.
Last post was on January 25, 2012. Teehee, ya, it has been a while.
Hummm. what happened between 1.25 and 7.16?
1.Got accepted by OSF. Maybe this is the biggest good news this year.

2.Finally done with all anatomy and English classes before nursing school. I love the anatomy classes, my teacher also. He was very helpful. I could take the test for forever at the test center every time.

3.Clean for grandma Plattner every month. Grandma is very funny and cute. Love her.

4.Made more friends. Mostly AC friends, who are very nice, cool, awesome, considerate, creative, don't care about my poor English, encouraging, and something good. <---limited English makes me not able to say more good words.

5.Cooked at the ICC International Fair. We cooked fried rice noodles, butter milk biscuits, and egg rolls. I think this was my last time to attend this fair because I will be at OSF next year. Probably I will come back to eat. :P

6.Obsessed with bdubs. How much have I been obsessed with that? Maybe you can tell from my friends or the waiters at bdubs. They all know I go there almost every week, or, every two weeks. Got to know every single special at their restaurant. I might be able to fly someday since I have had so much wings.

7.Went to Lawrence, Kansas to visit my high school roommate, Jocelyn, for ten days in this summer. It was very fun to hang out with this old friend, even though we didn't really do very much stuff. The good time was to be together and talk forever without any embarrassment or language barrier. Well, actually, our Chinese is getting worse. SAD!

8. Didn't have too many plans after spring semester in May so I wrote a lot of postcards which are collected from last two years from the places I have ever been. Many friends in China got the postcards and some of them didn't. Maybe some postcards fell into the Pacific Ocean.

9. Went to Penn State with a sweet and smart girl, Emily Knepp, last Tuesday and Wednesday. It was another good roadtrip time. I thought people from there might be as so-called rude as people from east coast. It is definitely not because I went to prove it. :P People are very nice and polite. OK. Now I don't need to worry about Emily. It was a long trip also. What I learnt most from this trip is to pump the fist to the semi truck drivers. Most of the drivers did blow the horn. How nice!

10. Went to AC teen camp+family camp in Indiana last four days. It was awesome! I just love this camp so much. I was there last year and I just hung around my American sister, Tess P. because I was TOO shy to make friends. :P This year, I don't know why I feel very comfortable with making new friends. I love worship, devotions, games, and people there. A lot of touching devotions and music. I think I am so much closer to God than before.

9. My very good friends Eric and Jo moved to New Mexico except Eric is still in IL, but based on Jo's FB, I got to know their house was sold! I am so happy for them! I love going to their house here. They always listen to me and give me good suggestions. Also, they always make me awesome food. They just spoil me so much. Love them!

11.Trish and Kyle got back last month for Shannon's wedding, which was my first time to attend American wedding. They brought a lot of different stories and experience back. I really want to go to Africa sometime in my life.

10.I miss my sweet American sister now, who is in beautiful classic Scotland. She is my very good friend, who always listen to me also. And she is very smart and encouraging.

11.I miss my family in China too. It seems like I am not a good daughter because I haven't talked to my mom too much, but I definitely miss them and love them.

12.Last but not the least, our cat, specifically, it is Tess' cat, Shakespear or Lionel, has been lost for months. I really wanted it disappear sometimes when he was here. However, I am not that cruel, I guess. I feel bad now for my not-liking-cats thoughts. I just hope some cat lovers adopted him.

13. Gonna work hard this two weeks for my online summer class before I take off to Wyoming, South Decota, and Nebraska. Hopefully I won't be eaten by a bear.

14.Hooray for my updated long post, including the background, fonds, and this post! :P

2012

It has been 2012 for a long time already in U.S. time, but it is just beginning of 2012 in China time. It is the third day of lunar calender in China so it is still Chinese New Year. Maybe it is a little bit sad that I start to forget this most important festival in China. I think I'd better make myself to forget this, sometimes.However, it is not too sad. I already had many good times with family and friends last month.
It is just one week since I came back. It is not too hard to adjust the life here but a little bit hard when I went back China.
This semester is a little bit tough. I was studying anatomy again just now. I found out that I have been studying this since I took the flight. Actually, I like this very much, compared to the all research paper, philosophy, and psychology. They ARE helpful, but just not my tea.
Took TOEFL test (which is a language test for international students) last Saturday.It is 4 hours test. Reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Oh..goodness. I wish I could write as fast as I do now. I didn't know what's wrong with me. I couldn't think and write very well at that time..poor listening skills ruined me. The listening covers every part. It just required me to write 300 words of one of the writing. It seemed like it took me forever to squeeze some wonderful English. I think the test just shouldn't judge people with those standards. Anyway, I am done with that.
I missed ISU application dates and also many universities. It is kind of messy now.
Working hard is not far enough. I need a smart and fresh brain.