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July 05 neighbour gossipWe went to neighbour's for dinner yesterday. It was July 4, Independence Day holiday. Their national holiday, like October 1 of ours. They even play fireworks as a tradition. kind of fun. Neighbour prepared what she called "traditional American food" - hot dog with Italian sausage, grilled corn, potato salad. Another lady who is also neighbour next to her house broght self-baked cake, beautifully decorated like an American flag. (That's another thing which I find so different from us, we never like come up with ideas of how to play with national flag, but they do, they make a lot of things out of their national flag, clothes, bags, hat, shoes, even cakes. live patriotism education, vivid." )
One thing about neighbours gathering is that you get to learn "deeply" about the neighbourhood by hearing neighbours gossipping about neighbours. This is universal, I guess. Now I know that the lady of the first house of our lane is kind of mean, never allowing people park their car even just a little bit past boundries, and yells at kids who play at her back yard, and you get a half wave back if you try to greet her with a wave. The man across the lane with a big yard plant those plants in order to keep kids out of his yard, sounds no good too. But I can understand. Things like that.....Though gossip, kind of interesting.
The more I heard them talking about these trivial things, the more I want to go back China. don't know why. I am homesick, totally. June 25 my first courseWith professor's responding email of final grade(299/300, 4.0) on screen, I guess I am perfectly ready to think about the past two months over, which hopefully could make the future course a little bit smoother. I still remember how upset I was after the first quiz, which I only got 70% for. I sat on the roadside stone for a long time, my bag lying quietly beside me. I watched cars passing by, and did not know what to do, depressed, and kinda devastated. Beginning and middle process are doomed to be tough, but everything seems to be weighless if results are not bad. Results, results, nowsdays, this is what people only care about. Gone too far, come back...
First of all, the professor is really great. She is such an enthusiastic, helpful, experienced teacher. I just love her. The only thing is that we have to sit where we chose to sit in the first class for the rest of the semester,which got me to sit beside a very unfriendly white girl, who barely talks to me the whole semester. Whatever, who cares. I think I should seriously think of her advice of joining BPA in FALL semester. I am just not very confident in social activities, due to language problem, of course. Maybe it's a good way to know some people, let's just try, shall we?
Next, I think US educational system is such an advacned system comprehensively, if not the most advaced one in the world. Everyone, yes, everyone, no age limit, is entitled to study if they meet the entrance standards. Then when you finish the courses you are required to take, you graduate. You can adjust your speed according to your personal situation, financially and academicly. So flexible. This is real education. I am so ashamed of the undergraduate study in stupid Shangwai. 4 complete years wasted. Maybe it's too much to ask from a country poorly structured especially politically. (btw, sth unrelated to the topic, here, you feel more respected, you get to be treated more like a human being, like, cars will stop completely before they reach the stop line if possibly there is pedestrian who wanna cross the road, and patiently wait until you completely cross it, and cars will stop completely if drivers find kids are around and playing,they can not go until they are sure about the kids' safety. Think about the treatment we get when we cross roads in China.)
Kevin always says as long as you are Chinese, esp. mainland Chinese, you are supposed to do good in study because students here are *****, and since he is not the only one who believes this, I seemed to believe it as well. But it simply is not the case, at least with me. I worked really hard. I can't say it's because I am diverting to a completely new major. Good good study, day day up is still an universal truth.
Still I barely know classmates, even their faces. Not only because this is a short semester(only two month), but also people get to take different class same semester, and racial things as well.
final, final, my finalFinal is in the afternoon........nervous........... June 18 about returnI just read a passage about a friend's experience of returning products to stores in US, which is a very interesting topic.
People from mainland China barely know what is a return of product, because stores barely let you do this. Once you finish paying, the relationship with the store is done. You are responsible for your choice, that's what is deeply rooted in our minds. But here in US, things are different. A simple "I do not like it" could be a perfect reason for you to return a product bought days, even a year, ago. And the important thing is that you get FULL refund! You would not believe it? Here is some real life experience:
One of Kevin's friends once bought a table from Walmart. A year later, one of the legs was weared a little bit, which was absolutely normal. Lacking money to buy a new one, he decided to try his luck to return this one, even he threw away the receipt when he took the table home! He took the table to Walmart,
and said:" I want to return this table."
"your receipt, pleasse?"
"I lost it."
"...."
"But you can definitely tell it is a table that you sell."
"....."
"Ok, then."
This kind of shopping fairytale is like daydream in China. But it is real here in US. And this is the ONLY part I love about this country. People have personal credit and mutual trust here, which is a very valued aspect. And you feel warm and respected about it.
You buy, and you return! June 15 everyday swimmingThere is a TV program called "Everyday Italian" here going on on Food Network everyday, the name is very impressive to me,though the program is not, basicly I think all foreigner cookings are crap, they should get to see how Chinese cook before they label themselves as cooking.
Now we go swimming basicly everyday. There are few people swimming in school gym compared to the "boiling dumpling" situation in Shanghai. Holding a kickboard with both arms and kicking the water are how far I can go so far. Poor me. I blame my teacher, Kevin, he is bad at teaching everything, from driving to swimming. The problem is why I always have to learn things from him? Morose. I have drunk many gulps of water from the pool. tastes bad........
Good luck to me with swimming! June 14 city of angelsFinally I got a chance to watch CITY OF ANGELS.
I have heard of it for long long time, but never get a chance to appreciate its beauty. It reminds me of some parts of the famous GHOST, they kinda alike in some respects. An angel, or ghost, falls in love with a human being, though the ending is not perfect. Maybe that's more realistic than "they lived happily ever after" that kind of crap, which only exists in fairytale.
The eyes of Nicolas Cage are impressive. How come they look so pure, like eyes of a new born baby. When you look right into them, you feel the overwhelming power and love. " I would rather have a breath of her hair, a touch of her hand rather than the eternity without her." Very touching.
Meg Ryan acts in her unique sweetheart way, from rational to emotional. She always reminds me of my sophomore year professor, the hair, the smile, the dimple, so alike. I like her.
BTW, the music is so to my taste.
I wanna buy a pear to taste. Does it really taste sweet, juicy..........? June 07 pathetic manI still haven't figured out, or maybe I will never be able to figure out, why up till now someone has still considered going on an international biz trip an luxury for an employee. What can i say? Pathetic indeed. Maybe it's just an old crappy "tradition" from where the person came from. It's like a talking in 80's when few people went abroad, and you would be so admired if you happened to travel to some FOREIGN country. Ridiculously funny!
Or is it simply a way to criticize those whom someone would deem as "deserter"?huh.......
"so far so good"As I was chatting with one of my friends via MSN, I suddenly came to realise: When you are asked "Hey, how are you these day?" If it's a friend not so close, you most probably would say" so far so good", but if it's really close friends who are asking it, most probably you would say" not good", because life is always not so good as you expected, then you could start complaining to your real friends.
Is it the case with you? June 06 247 out of 250I was thrilled when I saw the mark!(I should have put this passage on June 4 to commemorate this grand day!)
To be precise, I know I sound ridiculously excited about this, but I am still gonna say I got 247 out of 250, 99% on my mid-term!!! It was much better than I expected, so my surprise and excitement should be understood, right? The past May was a touhg month for me, much tougher than I thought at the beginning of the semester. I came to realise the real meaning of "it's hard to pick up study when you are married". This is an absolute truth.
This crack now means nothing but itself because I know this month wouldn't be any easier than May. God bless me. June 04 marriage is to surviveThe other day I was talking to my neighbour, Denise, she is a very helpful and handy person. She taught Kevin how to operate and maintain lawn mower, and we finally devided to buy TORO after Kevin test-drove her TORO on our lawn, btw, her TORO is 6 year old, but looks pretty new!! All in all, this is a pretty amazing woman. The following is part of our conversation:
"When did you guys get married?"
"Last June"
"Hey, newly-wed!"
"Right!"
"You know what, my brother married two years ago, and he is still married, he survived it!!"
"......"
Actually I do understand what she meant, marriage needs a lot of time, energy, patience, and whatever you have to manage, maintain, just like your lawn mower. one year anniversary0.55 H VVS1 May 11 today's wisdom
Today's wisdom is recorded(stolen from one friend being philosophical): To be a leader, you need to listen more than to say. It is a manner you handle everything, either job or life. April 05 garden reconstruction projectIt has been alomst a week since we started our "little" garden reconstruction project, and I thanked God so much that yesterday was finally the last day of this kind of work. A farmer life of more than 5 days is just not something that I can stand, though from the very beginning I kind of like it. Little shovel, little rake, shears and scissors, all are cute little stuff that are just perfect for those cute little green buds that just spouted.
All started because of the home inspector, whose inspection before the purchase now I think is basicly bullshit, if not totally. Anyway, the outside unit of A/C is kind of buried in mulches, so we decided to dig the mulch around it to a lower level. What we didn't expect was that visually small amount of mulch could be a huge burden for transportation. These kinds of work lasted for two days. Digging, collecting, moving.......With the spirit of YU2 GONG1 YI2 SHAN1, which is the spiritual heritage from our respectful ancestors, we, ended up lowering the level of the ground for like 2 inches. Pretty amazing, huh? Then we put pond pebbles, river pebbles, and pea pebbles around the unit, and all of a sudden it became sort of a landscaping spot, kind of beautiful. I should take a pic and put here. Ok, next time.
Followed by some work by the basement window. Mulches piling up beside the basement window is said to be too high, too. So digging, collecting, moving......again. Again we put some kind of lava beside the window to retain moisture. Hope it works too.
Damages are inevitable. Accidental stepping on some flower roots and new spouts are frequent, just hope it is not fatally destructive. Hope we will have a beautiful yard for this coming spring and summer! March 27 driver license grantedI had a feeling that I would make it though right at that time I was having a hard time dealing with the car.
J. R. is really a nice guy, I should say. I should thank him. The certificate that he issued is the final step that I am supposed to take to get my driver's license. You guys have no idea what this means to me. I do not have to bring my passport with me any time anywhere now, I , have a VALID photo ID.
Anyway, everything, all the suffering, tears, scary and nervousness has been history. The important thing is that I have it now. March 13 protestWe have been thinking of "protest" the taxable value newly assessed on us since the very day we received the notice. Sometimes I do have some respect for Uncle Sam, who claims himself as the land of freedom, in which even you are not satisfied with the taxes you ought to pay, you can protest. So eager as we are, we set an appointment with Board of Review, and hopefully could get them knock down the taxabale value of the house a little bit, thus the tax amount number could be more attractive.
We arrived early enough, almost 15 mins earlier than the appointed time. Previously I thought there might be a government official in a small room talking with us about our concerns, but the moment Kevin opened the door it turned out to big, huge lecture hall, whose platform were seated by three judge-like guys(looks like those kind of people in typical American movies). There are two seats placed in front of them. why are I feeling that I am entering a Supreme Court or whatsoever? Oh, my gosh! Though uncomfortable, we still need to fill forms, remember you fill forms everywhere. Then the lady sitting in the middel of three said:"Come on up!" We had to, I guess. I will not bother to describe the meaningless greetings.
"So you paid ***,000 for the house?"
"Right, ***,800, actually. We brought with us all the closing documents. You wanna have a look at them?"
"Not necessary, I guess, since you have already registered with Township."
"ok."
"Then that's it, we will try to let you know the result by mail. Thank you for coming!"
Before I realised, my subconsciousness had made me stand up and leave the building. " Aren't we here to protest?" I asked us. Kevin looked puzzled, too. " We didn't even be allowed to speak. Then why couldn't this be settled via phone or whatever? We came all the way here, and stayed like 2 mins?"
I think I looked like a fool. February 21 02212007A little walk on campus in such a sunny winter day is a luxury for me. Not cold, not hungry, haha, isn't my living standard deteriorating too much? Good that I still can make fun of myself. February 15 Is there a "if"?Can a very very big, even huge mistake be corrected, though it has hurt someone, deeply and profoundly? Are there any chances of being forgiven?
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"我不会再哭泣，因为再不会痛彻心扉
我不会再失望，因为没有给自己希望
我不期待回报，因为付出只是一种习惯
我不守望未来，因为没有过去可以缅怀 "
-----from xixi's blog
This paragraph is what I found from a classmate's blog. Though more than 10 years have passed since last time I saw her, her blog still impresses me like a gentle and soft breeze, like herself. I indeed like the sentences above, and I would like to share with you as well.
February 12 new year is comingNew year is coming in one week. It is quite understandable that no happy atmosphere can be sensed except in some Chinese mechandise store. Since I cannot feel the "new year" feeling at Christmas coz it's "Guizi"'s holiday not ours, the obvious question is: when can I spend a real new year then? I guess.....never. I miss Shanghai so much. |
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