Blog for liz4

Today was fine, but I was not fine. The moment I got up in the morning, the terrible headache bothered me for the whole day. But the wonderful trip designed by VCU made me so excited that I almost forgot the dame headache. Nothing can be more impressive than what has happened today.

First, I was impressed by the warm welcome by the VCU professors and the interns. I could feel their enthusiasm by their effort. All of them were devoted to our students and the program. The police women who gave our the presentation was so nice that she made me feel safe all the time.And the professor Stephanie, I like her at the first sight. Maybe because she and I share the same name. After all, she is good and nice. And she is the first professor who praised me in the USA. Sound a little childish? Maybe.

Second, the bus tour in the afternoon is also unforgettable for me. During the trip I learned a lot about the American history, especially the history of Richmond,which is the capital of Virgina. At the same time, the wonderful scenery of Richmond is really overwhelming.I love the small bars and restaurants along the fancy streets. I was attracted by the rockiness and wildness of James River. And I was deeply in love with the monuments for the soldiers and sailors who died in the civil war. The most terrific part was the visit to the Virginia Capitol. The house was marvelous and the historic presidents' stories could not be more significant. And forgive me for I didn't remember all the details illustrated by the tour guide.

What comes next is the wonderful cookout in the courtyard. It is the first time for me to have an American barbecue. People gathered around, we cooked, roasted and what was more important was we chatted and laughed. We learned how to make sandwiches, we knew how to toasted chicken wings. We no longer put the salad on our hamburgers and we won't eat the half raw chicken legs any more. As we were stuffed with the delicious food towards the end of the feast, we were also stuffed with ideas which could never be learned in China. And while chatting, our intern Phuc invited us to her house during the second weekend. It is really nice of her.

However, not all the things American are good. There are still something I find impressively unbearable. For example, I find the Americans are lavish. They do not know how to save. They do not know how to save the resources and natural energy. Instead, they are pretty good at saving the energy of themselves. Along the American streets, you can never find a single bicycle. Even if you see a bicycle, it is definitely put on the top of the car. People are inclined to drive everywhere. They do not walk or ride. I think it is part of the reason that why most of them are overweight. Another example is that the American people or more exactly, part of the American college students, are not as considerable as we have expected or as they have claimed. And now I am doing my assignment in the library, but another American girl sitting beside me is just chatting on the phone with her boyfriend loudly. I don't think it is suitable to do so in the library.At least it is not polite.

All in all, it was a fantastic day today. And I haven't enjoyed myself so much for quite a long time. America is an attractive place. But whether it is attractive to everywhere. Time and practice can tell.

So, That's all, and hopefully, tomorrow my headache will go away and a will have a fresh new day.

The first day I came to the United States. I got allergic which worried me a lot. And the second day I got a serious headache which has gone now. And today I kept running to the restroom which made me out of breath now. Different kinds of illnesses visit me every day. And my friend said that it was because I did not adapted to the environment here. But when I got enough time to adapt to environment, it is time to go. So, that's the problem.

Today, we had two lectures presented separately by Dr.Ryan Smith and Dr. Ted Tunnell. I was really impressed by the lecture given by Dr.Ted Tunnell. He was so perfect that he could make two thirds of the students fall asleep and bore the rest of the students to death. And fortunately I belong to the majority. That's why I am still writing my blog here. It's just my personal idea. Of course you can have you own opinion.

Also, we have the tour of Cabell Library and Research Instruction with Dan Ream. The librarian guy is really lovely. He is humorous and knowledgeable. I had thought there would be nothing interesting about the library and it would be a waste of time to visit it. But after the visitation, I changed my opinion. The facilities in the library is so advanced and the environment is comfortable and humanized. I love the library but it's a pity that I don't have enough time to spend here. But I think one day I will come here and buy a cup of coffee and pick up one of the books and enjoy myself. Another thing I want to mention is that after the illustration of Dan Ream, I got to know that in Cabell Library, on the first and second floor, you can talk at the normal voice. So, here I apologize for the comment I made tomorrow about the girl kept talking beside me. After all, it is not against the rule. And in this library, I like the group study room best, and how wonderful it would be if BFSU can have a similar section in the library.

Still, tonight we are going to Short Pump Shopping Mall and Walmart. It is said that Short Pump is a biggest shopping mall nearby and there are a lot of good restaurants. I am really looking forward to it. So, here we go. It is time to go shopping.

Tomorrow, what illness will pay a visit to me ? I am still thinking.

So far, nothing interesting happened today. And I just want to talk about the shopping experience yesterday.

Yesterday, we went to Short Pump and Walmart to do some shopping. No matter in the aspect of environment or the things they sell are quite different in the two places. Surely, both of them are quite different from the situations in China.And there are something I found really surprising.

First is the location of the shopping center. It is so far away from the downtown. I took us nearly 30 minutes to drive there from VCU which in on the main street. But in China, things are quite different, shopping centers always locate in the center of the city where is densely populated. I think it maybe easier for people to collect things if the markets are arranged in the living community. But maybe in America, every one has private car. Distance is not a problem, so things are different.

Second is the shopping environment. While looking around here and there, I didn't think I was actually in a shopping center. There were so few people. It seemed that I was walking around in the park. It was so quiet.I even wondered that how could the sellers make a living since so few people were doing the shopping. I am still curious now.

Also, what made us excited was that there was a panda express which as you can guess from its name is a Chinese fast food restaurant, But because of my stomach, I didn't eat anything. It was quite a pity. Finally, what astonished me was that a lot of people gathered in the middle of the square of Short Pump. Most of them came here with their family members. They put a piece of bed sheet on the grass, lay on it, enjoyed their snacks as well as the film presented on the big screen. They looked as if they had nothing to worry about and just slowed down to enjoy their life. I suddenly had a feeling of jealousy. I felt they were so lucky in the advanced country. Since they have already developed and they just can enjoy themselves as they wish. But people in our country are still rushing to develop. But after chatting with our intern, I learned that, it is very difficult to earn a living in America. People are exhausted during the daytime, and at night they just come out to refresh themselves. It strike me that it is not only a different life style but a different attitude towards life. Work is just part of life, and life is something that we should enjoy. But without the basic economic foundation of life, entertainment is just out of imagination. Maybe it is the so called "work hard and play harder."

Finally, about my illness, I didn't feel much better. But I am sure another Hamburger OR Sandwiches be enough to can kill me. I am really sick of them. Later, our intern will enjoy the dinner with us in the Elephant Thai Restaurant. Look forward to it. And I wish my stomach will be better tomorrow.

Today was really a different to me.

Everything happened was just as usual. After class, my friends and I intended to go to the swimming pool which locates on MCV. As MCV is quite far from the major part of VCU. We must take the school bus to get there. It is the first time for us to take the school bus. A lot of unforgettable things happened which can be both funny and silly.At first, the interns showed us how to take the school bus, and they told us where to get off to get to the gym. But as we are just girls who have no sense of direction. After we got to our dorm to get our swimming suits, we got on the bus without knowing where to get off. So, at a certain bus stop, we felt that the place looked like a gym and we got off only to find it was wrong bus stop. So, we immediately got on the bus again and got off at the next bus stop. Again, we could not find the gym nearby, so we got on the bus for the second time. This time we asked the bus driver to help, and he told us we should actually got off at the next bus stop. So, as you can see, we got on the bus for the third time. and when we finally got to the gym. I thought it was so lucky that we could speak English but what was luckier for us is that the school bus was free.:)

When we finally arrived at the swimming pool. We found that we didn't bring our locks. Although we didn't have taken anything valuable with us, we asked the people serving at the front desk for the locks. But after we got the locks, we didn't know how to use it.

And after we had the shower, we were excited to find that there was a drying machine, which can help to dry our swimming suit. Again, what is frustrating is that we just looked at the machine and didn't have the magic to let the machine work. Also, after eating so much junk food in America, I was looking forward to have a weight, but when it presented in front our me, I didn't know how to read it. What a terrible world.

What happened next was the most legendary part of the day even in my life.

We've told that the last school bus is on 7 o'clock. We are lucky that we managed to get on one after we hurried out. We chatted and laughed on the bus and exchanged the funny stories on the bus. But as the bus running on the street, we found the route the strange. And finally the bus stopped and we were asked to get off by the bus driver. He told us that we've got on the wrong bus. The bus we should take is No.84 but this one is No.82. And what was more, we had just missed the last No.84 bus. It is really far from the major part of VCU. Just as we found us totally helpless, one of my friends took out the VCU security sheet out of her bag. Finally we decided to call the VCU security counselor to send a escort express to pick us up. I had never imagined such things could happen to me. After we got on the escort express we could not help laugh not only for our silliness but also for our unforgettable experience.

What A wonderful day I have.

Usually before the exam or if I had something to worry about I would not have a good sleep. Last night I also didn't sleep well. But this time I just over excited.

It was already after mid night when I got to bed. But I was still deep in the happiness of playing bowling. The interns took us to play bowling and it was really overwhelming. Although I am not a good player I also got a lot of fun. And the price is quite reasonable, it only cost 1 dollar per round. And it comparatively cheaper than it is in China.Besides, the film" Harry Potter" is also a great attraction. But since I am not a Harry Potter fun, I decided to go swimming instead of seeing the film tomorrow night.

Still, these days, I found myself was buried by junk food. After eating the American junk food, like sandwiches and hamburgers.I turned to eat the Chinese junk food-instant noodles. I was sick of it again. And the Thai food is really refreshing. I asked a Thai soup with Tofu and coconut in it as well as a cup of Thai Tea. They are really tasted different and I can say they are delicious to me. Also, before we left, Phuc told us how to give tips. It is my first time to give tips .And from that I felt and experience another culture.

Everything went on well, and I still look forward to the visit to the Bush Garden as well as the Virginia Beach trip. It seems that every day I have something to remember and something to look forward to. Life is so beautiful and meaningful.

During the weekend, we had a lot of wonderful experience.

We waited in the long queue in Busch Garden and had the fascinating experience for one minute and then will remember it for the whole life.We surfed on the beach, embraced the soft wind on the balcony and eat in the cozy restaurant. And now we came back. I was extremely tired. But what is always on my mind is the lost experience. In Williamsburg, I together with Yinghe and Jia got lost in Colonial Williamsburg, we could not find exactly where our bus parked. I was worried and helpless.We tried call somebody, but the only phone card could not work. I even wanted to hitchhike. But at last we finally found our bus, all our peers were waiting for us, and all the interns went to find us. I felt guilty and ashamed. And thanks to all the interns and sorry to all our peers/

Yesterday our intern took us to downtown to have dinner.
The chicken wings are really delicious.We nine people ordered 100 chicken wings.Was it amazing? Haha, what was more amazing was that we almost finished them.After dinner, I sat there, looking at the chicken bones left on the table and feeling so satisfied. But at the same time, I think the Amercian way of eating is really unhealthy. It was nearly 9 o'clock and we have just ate so much fatty food. I began to worry about my weight. Also, we have got a taste of what the American food restaurant is like at night. Actually there are no less people as that was in China. It was so noisy that even we sat beside each other around the table, we must shout to be heard. Let me just stop here, I am so sleepy now, I am longing for a cup of coffee. But I am still worried about getting asonima at night. Life is hard!

Recently, we have been taken to severl places to do some shopping.
Also, I have promised to bring some gifts to my friends and relatives at home.
But what should I buy?
Most of the things here have the label" made in China". For one thing, I don't want to bother these things to take plane for the second time to come back to China, for anthor thing, I don't want to take plane to buy things overseas.
So, it's really a problem. Hopefully, next time, I can encounter something which is not made in China.

I don't like to buy things in Amercia,especially eat in the restaurant. For one thing I have to pay the tax which is really something that I want to pay. For another thing I have to give tips in the restaurant. I could not actually get used to it, because in my county we never have such things. But anyway, it is the Amercian way of living and no matter it is good or not I think I must respect it. And do as the Romans do.

These days, I always have the problem of getting into asleep at night. But during the day time, when I was attending the lecture, I could not help getting aspleep. So, I think the perfect lectures here are good sleeping pills for me. I wish the professors would not be mad at what I've said.And hopefully I can get a sound sleep tonight and take some notes during the lecture.

last weekend, we had a very wonderful home visit.
Our intern Phuc is so nice. I felt I am the luckiest girl in the world.
On Saturday along we had two parties.
First, we had a Hawaii Party. Everyone just dressed very cute.

After that we had another party which is very interesting. Can you imagine that we had a Thanksgiving party in July. We must thank Phuc, she arranged it for us.And the Turkey is really delicious! :)

it is our dinner table, every time I see this picture, I feel staaaaaving!