Blog for chaij

Almost 3 weeks @ VCU will call it an end by the end of this week. Here I would like to say a few words to conclude this pleasant program.

Life @ GRC:
GRC for me is a very satisfying place to stay cuz it is equipped with hot water, a kitchen and a free and clean access to the Internet. Additionally, my roommates and I have learnt how to create a enjoyable life at the dorm. We four together went to Ukrop’s to do shopping according to our plan. Sabrina, is a great cook. She always has creative ideas about how to make use of all the American ingredients to make a Chinese cuisine. Emily is a gentle girl who is just 2 days younger than me. She will smooth the tension when something occurs to us. Ellen is the most funniest girl of us all. Fond of telling jokes and activating the atmosphere, she has added a lot of elements of joy and fun into our life @ GRC.
Every morning we got up at 8:00. Emily and I are responsible for the breakfast---- boiling eggs. Ellen and I shared the duty of an accountant, calculating the money we spent at the supermarket. Sabrina, undoubtedly, was the absolute No. 1 cook. It is not exaggeration that we felt really indebted to her for her delicious dinner.

Room 403 @ Hibbs:
Room 403 was the lecture hall where we took our lectures and where different and sophisticated sparks of thoughts came across to bump, to mix and to sublime. In some of the lectures such as the one about colonial America, America during the 20th century and Contemporary American society & Culture, we did absorb a lot from the professors and have some communication with them. During the lecture, a lot of similar scenario have come into my mind and reminded me of what I have seen and learnt about America through all kinds of channels. Well I admit there were some conflicts to what I’ve learnt here in the U.S., but there were many consistencies as well. Here I would like to express my gratitude toward those professors, some of whom had a very good knowledge of China so that they were able to communicate with us, bringing us the idea of what China is like in foreigners’ eyes.

Interns:
Perhaps the greatest ever special thanks should be delivered to our interns. You guys have really done a lot for us. I remember every detail of what you’ve done to us.
You are the most effective bridge linking the director and us. You’ve been so patient to listen to our needs in our broken English.
Julie: Though you’ve got so many things to plan, you still pay attention to the minute things such as the sunscreen protection.
Katie: It was a very pleasant trip to your home and to visit your family members. And you’ve always been so kind and patient to us.
Phuc: Thanks for inviting us to dinner in your apartment and commenting on my blogs. Quiet as you are, I can deeply feel your sincerity and hospitality to all of us.
Brian: Maybe you one of the interns who showed up almost every day. The trips to Maymont and Belle Isle were really awesome. We felt so excited when hearing your whistling and taking us to some trails that not everyone would like to take.
Matt: Ellen and I do appreciate your help and companion when Ellen was desperate to seek her lost cell phone.
Gnami: We really love to listen to your words cuz they were so funny and interesting. And we appreciate the ride to short pump that night.

And to other interns like Eric, Lisa etc.. I wish you good luck in everything and welcome to Shanghai in the near future.
And there will be 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 Shanghai World Exposition.

Monticello possesses all the significant ingredients for establishing a home for everyone. Mile temperature, lush and green trees and the height to view the whole countryside etc… Thomas Jefferson was the own of Monticello, which was considered the center of Jefferson’s world.

My friend is right. Charlottesville was under benevolent weather. Furthermore, Jefferson’s plantation was covered by the tall trees and vast area of green, which made me a little jealous of him, but he deserved it, right?

After visiting the house, I would like to comment that Jefferson really led a luxurious life. Look what composes of his house, tea room, dinning room, slaves house, wine cellar etc… Admittedly, it was a beautiful house with high ceiling, first-rate room and large windows to let the outside scene in. However, inside the room I felt a little bit depressed. And the furniture looked so either short or small. How could I spend so many years living here? No worries. The flower borders outside can make up for that.

I would like to say that the trip today was perfect until early this afternoon. The downtown area in Charlottesville was pleasant in terms of the environment. But it failed to become a good place for shopping. Hungry and exhausted, my friends and I just spent 2 hours sitting at the benches at the downtown street with nothing to do but talk. We all felt it didn’t make any sense to idle away our time in this downtown area. After all, the price of the shops there were too expensive for us to complete a purchase.

Anyway, the trip to Monticello was worthwhile. It is when we pay tribute to the greatest man in history that we realize that there is a lot to do and to progress on.

Hiking---- My favorite
Childhood experience:
I definitely love hiking, which has been my hobby since my childhood. I have to admit that I did possess a very happy childhood. From Hangzhou out to Suzhou, I’ve nearly climbed all the famous mountains in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province and several in Fujian Province. Among all the group mixed with adults and children, I was always the first one to reach the top. For me, it was not the feeling of being a mountain-climbing champion that satisfied me, but was the beautiful scenes from a bird’s eye view that impressed me most. It felt so good when the breeze blew past my face and all what I had conquered just now were underneath, like match boxes or gizmos.

Hiking in Sai Kung:
The latest hiking I have experienced was in Sai Kung, Hong Kong. It was lucky that we got a cloudy weather on that day. My Philippine professor and William, FB (Faculty of Business) program director led Snowing and me climbed several mountains. On the stiff and tough trail, we met different people and encountered what was considered amazing for me. Some guys from Model Plane Society of Hong Kong, a flower that has longevity of only one day, the trees which would be eroded by fungi and the modern town under construction. The blue sea seemed to me that it was just a few meters away, but to reach this vast blue required sweats and pains. In order to commemorate what we had achieved, I used a twig to write ”Jessie Loves Shanghai”.

Sherando Lake:
In contrast to the scorching weather we’d encountered in the past several days, the weather today was benevolent to us. Around the Sherando Lake, people there were so busy grilling and getting sun tanned. In the lake, there was a totally different world with the joy of water. Sabrina, Emily and I chose to go another way, staying some distance away from water. Instead we picked up a trail to start our short hiking journey. It was a good place for hiking for there were few people in the way. After we’ve climbed for some time, we met Julie on the trail. She was so athletic that she jogged all the way around the lake through the trail. Our target was to reach the rocky part half way of the mountain. Rugged as the trail became later, we kept pretty high spirits. Admittedly, the scenery around the Sherado Lake might not be as enchanting as the places where I have been in China, it does provide the people nearby a good place to relax and to have fun. Just within a little time taken on the road, they will be able to get to a quiet place to release their pressure.

Home visit---- Sweet, Sweet Home

It was so lucky for us because it was our intern Kati who invited us to her house and we finally made it.

Peaceful Town:
Scorching as the weather was today, it didn’t upset us at all. On the contrary it was the bright sunlight that rendered us such a perfect light to take photos, especially in such a beautiful place of Urbanna, where Kati’s home is located. Kati described her hometown as quiet, small and pleasant. It is true. As soon as we got onto the bridge over the bay, the landscape spread out and it seemed that we were able to have a whole view of the beautiful and historic town. The bay where once oyster, crab and tobacco industries was located in or nearby, was the carrier of the whole history of the development of Urbanna. Driving past a lot small houses with lawns, flowers and even water surrounded, we felt so relaxing and refreshing. The town itself is just like its peaceful appearance, with very friendly residents and very low rate of crimes.

Meeting Kati’s family:
Kati has a very nice and clean house. When we got out of the car, we saw a girl in orange lying on a bench. That was Kati’s little sister, Grace. And there was someone else curling up on Grace’s chest, a tiny cat. We call it “Tiger”. Inside the house was Kati’s Mum Dona.
Grace was a very athletic girl, playing all sorts of sports like baseball and basketball. Dona told us that she is a tomboy, which made us all laugh. Grace was curious about almost everything around her, on the road and beside the river. Sometimes she picked up an oyster shell to observe and sometimes she would found something that none of us would notice, say, a crab basket. All of a sudden, I felt that I had already beyond the age full of curiosity and the motivation to explore the unknown. And Grace has no homework for her summer vacation, which reminded me of my busy vacation time, rushing for summer classes under sultry weather and for school assignments. Lucky Grace, isn’t she?
But Tiger the kitten is even the luckier. It attracts everyone’s attention, much more than Grace. To our surprise, it didn’t uncomfortable when humans approach it, huddle it and stroke it. Tiger is so tiny and soft that we can even bent its legs a little due to its excellent flexibility. An outside cat it is, Tiger still gets a cozy place to stay and a good protection. A spoiled cat, isn’t it?
Dona is a very kind and extroverted mother. We 4 started a very pleasant with Kati and her. Through the conversation, everyone got fully involved in it and tried our best to learn as much as possible about America and China. And there seemed not be a very big gap between the parent and “kids”. Dona is a mum who is with her children and be very considerate and understanding. When I tasted the tasty browning cooked by Dona, the sweet and sticky browning. This small snack made me feel so warm inside my heart.

This is a sweet home of Kati. In China, there is a saying that 3 girls/women/ladies can complete a stage performance. To Kati’s home, it is the same. A mother and 2 daughters can perform a perfect role in their sweet home.

In China, I am a fan of Discovery Channnel, fanscinated by the rescue team saving people stranded in a cave or sort of desolate wilderness. Yet I've never imagined that I could be in such a situation.

Well, my story was exaggerated if I call it a rescue. But it does add a dramatic sense to what has happened to me this morning.

I was locked in the bath room. Sounds ridiculous, right? The door locked didin't work when I spinned the handle. "Oh My God!" my almost screamed out. And then my friends realized what happened. And they rushed to the counter @ GRC.

I was locked and could not get out. I couldn't believe. The only similar thing i've encountered was that once I got locked outside my apartment. Obviously, the staff member working at the counter of GRC has never encountered this before. He popped up,"That was amazing!", which made all of us, including me, burst into laughter.

In order to hear what my friends and the maintenance workers were talking about, I switched off the ventilation system, which meant, I also turned the light off cuz they are connected to the same wire. I stood still in darkness with nothing to do but to listen to the rumbling sound of the machine which produced it.

All of a sudden, the door handle became loose from the door and fell to the ground. I was so excited to see the light again. Outside the door, my friends were talking and the maintenance staff were still working hard. After several minutes, I finally got released.

The moment I stepped outta the bath room, everyone cheered and a camera was projected at me to record the whole process and my facial expression. I appreciated my gratitude for taking me out.

Instead of feeling upset, I was in very high spirits. This is because my friends contacted the staff member right away and they all accompanied me, telling jokes to let me calm down when I was in trouble.

This is the most ridiculous and funny thing that occurred to me at the GRC.
I've only got one week left @GRC and it has deeply stored in my mind!!!
Anyway, I do love GRC. HAHA!!!

Life is a box of chocolate. You never know what you’re gonna get.
This thing happened to Forrest, and the same to me. These 2 days, I really got so much surprise.

The time when I got chocolates was in the evening, when the sun was still brightly radiating its enthusiasm in the sky. And the venue was located in and near the Science Museum of Richmond with an Imax cinema nearby.

The excitement started from last night’s movie ”Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix”. I cannot remember how many times I have read Harry Potter, but the thing is I know Harry and I grew together. It was Harry Potter who accompanied me to go through hard times in the finals of junior high school and senior high school. In this movie, I saw so much darkness as well as so much about love and friendship. The twin brothers were like sunshine in the gloomy school life of students and Sirius Black kept nurturing Harry to become a real fighter. On the way back, our intern Katie and I talked about some of the inconsistencies found in the movie, though, we still found it a good one (not as perfect as the fourth one). What thrilled be most was the kiss of Harry and Cho. That was a real kiss, except for the fact that Cho was not considered beautiful in the eye of we Chinese. It was also strange that at the moment when Sirius was down, I had no tears to shed. On the contrary, I was quite peaceful and accepted the fact. As far as I remember, I used to cry a lot when reading that Sirius was dead. Maybe it is a proof that I have been more mature than I was in the past.

One more thing to say, after we had dinner @ our lovely intern Phuc’s apartment, and after I was just taken to the planetarium, I received a message from my friends saying that my friend from VCU have come to visit me, which was totally out of my expectation. Jay gave me a ride back to GRC where I was lucky enough to meet him for the first time. As a UVA math student, my friend Bowen led a typical campus life, busy and also having fun. However, now on summer vacation, life on campus has suddenly dived into silence. My friend feels so lonely as his girlfriend has gone back to Shanghai for a vacation. My arrival seemed to save him temporarily from loneliness, keeping speaking Chinese and Shanghai dialect all the time to him.

Life is a box of chocolate, for me and for my friend. For so long time, we haven’t met each other. And who knows that we’ll meet 2 years later in the United States. Life is also a chip of the chocolates in the box with different tastes and shapes offering us happiness as well as bitterness.