Cindy Ma

I've been here, VCU, Richmond for almost 4 days, but it's not until this moment that i made up my mind to stop procrastinating and start working on my blog.
The reason why I keep procrastinating on my homework is that I was totally immersed in seeing and to enjoying this city which i have never been before.
Everything is new to me. Our interns had arranged lots of fun activities for us, so no homesick, no jetlag, even no time to sit down and write my blog!!!!!!

Yesterday, I met the first shower in the U.S.
I was lingering in the VCU book store and browsing the books after the lecture. And when I looked up, I found it was raining heavily outside! The rain fell on the ground and then splashed. What a beautiful scene!

The rain stops when I got out of the store. But it’s still so dark outside. The clouds overcast the sky. Suddenly, a light flashed. Yes! It’s the lightening! In Shanghai, there’s not a lot of open area in the downtown, so I don’t have a lot of chances to see the lightening. However, I saw it clearly in the Richmond. It was so nice, though a little bit scary=P. After the rainfall, it was so cool and breezy. I can smell the fresh air and the scent of grass.
I like the rainy Richmond, but I also like the sunny Richmond. I can feel the sun is scorching my skin, because it’s close to me. However, it won’t makes me sweating like I always did in Shanghai. So I totally changed my view towards summer. I love summer, esp. the summer in Richmond. The most annoying thing of summer is the insects, like mosquitoes and flies. But I can hardly find any mosquitoes or flies here. Now, I started love wearing the vest and the flip-flop, walking under the sun, stepping on the green grass, and passing the quiet and delicacy neighborhoods.
I’m having a good summer time here! I love the summer here.

It is a huge shame that I missed the premier of Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix, but YEAH! I went to the Harry Potter last night!

I have to admit that I’m a huge fan of Harry Potter, though I’m turning 22. I collect Harry Potter books and go to Harry Potter movies once they are released.

When I was in Australia last month, everywhere was advertising the 5th movie on 11th.

However, at that time, I would be on the air plane back to China. So, I missed the world’s premier.

But yesterday, our interns took us to the theater to watch this movie. Although it was not premier, I was still so excited because it was the first time that I went to the IMAX and it was one of my favorite movie!!

When I stepped into the IMAX Dome, I was greatly shocked at the sight of the five –story-tall hemisphere screen which I had never seen before. A lot of American people had already seated, chewing pop-corn, drinking cokes. We soon got ourselves seated.

The movie was cool. British author, American movie, British Accent, American Actors. I really enjoyed the movie, even though there was no subtitle. 2 hours and a half passed so quickly, and I have to get back to the “muggle’s world”.

Yesterday after the lecture, I went shopping at the Ukrop’s with my roomie.
On our way home, we kind of got lost. We walked into a road which is under construction. And a man yelled at us and stopped us. He told us that we couldn’t walk down this road and he was going to show us the road. Don’t know why, we followed him. He took us to a small lane, and kept murmuring all the way. We all thought he’s kind of weird. The more we walked, the more we feel scared. Is he a kidnapper? Is he cold-blooded murder? Do we need to call 828-1234? Do we have to try to run away?
Finally, we got back to the main streets. At the sight of the crowds, we were relieved. But things didn’t stop here. This guy asked us for some change. Give or not to give? That’s a problem! We discussed and got our decision: GIVE! Because we think if we refused to give him, he might be got furious and robbed all of our money…So, I took out my purse and gave him some coins…Then he went away satisfied.
Both of us felt so relieved that he was just a bagger. A weird bagger.

Eventually, I finished all the lectures this week and going to have and outing!
I'm so looking forward to the excursion to the beach. I often watched on TV how Americans hang out on the beach in China. Now, I can experience it in person! How it will be? Sunshine, blue sky, sand and sea. At the thought of these scenes, I cant wait any more.
Put away all the notes and books, take out the flip-flop and swimming suits. Im coming Virginia beach!!

YAY! Finally, I got back from our weekend excursion and returned to the GRC.
Don’t wanna go back, cuz I had so much fun at the Busch Garden, VA beach and the Williamsburg.
Unlike other theme park like Disney Land or Universal Stuodios, there are much more rides in it. What’s more, some of them are the most thrilling rides allover the world. On Griffon, I experienced hurtling 90 degrees straight down. Though I still didn’t get scared from the plunges, twists and turns (hmm…think nothing on the world can make me feel scary), it was really a fun and relaxing try. I got a splendid sea view from the very top of the Griffon.

Besides the rides, strolling around the park is also like an adventure to the European countries.
I didn’t have any dull moment in the Busch Garden, because there was bunches of fun stuff waiting for me to explore in the garden.
The only thing I have to complain is that, there were long lines almost everywhere because bunches of people flocking to there. Due to the long line, I didn’t have enough time to visit the whole park and take all the rides. 5 p.m., I waved goodbye the beautiful Busch Garden, excitedly and reluctantly.

Yes, the trip to the VA Beach which I’ve been looking forward to for almost a whole week.
Now, I’m here, standing on the balcony and feeling the sound, the smell and the view of the sea.
The night is coming, the street even gets more busier. Crowds of people walking along the street, artists giving the performance all along the street, young people lining outside the clubs and bars— I am greatly impressed by the night life of the VA Beach.

Party is an indispensible part of the beach trip. We had a room party at 312. We played drinking game. Cassie always drank coz she was doing other stuffs. Hannah slpet like a baby after some drinks. It was the first time that I drank a lot since I have been to the U.S. And it was also the first time that i felt so close to all the interns. Eric taught me a new game named EYGPT RAT SCREW. It is really fun, but unfortunately, I couldnt win Brian everytime=( He's really fast at slapping...Late in the night, most of ppl went to sleep. Me, Annie, Norah, Vivian, Brian and Eric were still awake, sitting on the balcony and waiting for the sunrising.
Finally, the dawn was coming. It was really beautiful, though it was a lil bit windy and cloudy.
Something bad also happened on the beach. The wave swept my sunglasses away!!!! I learned my lesson from it: Never wear an expensive fashion sunglass on the beach...Anyway, I have to face the reality and say goodbye to my 300USD sunglass./sniff sniff
This is the last pic of my sunglass

After having all of our history lectures, we are now having a special history lesson -- tour to the colonial williamsburg.
Williamsburg is really a living museum. All the architectures are well-preserved. Ppl there dressed up and walked around. I can even see horse-drawn carrige on the street. I felt that I was back to the colonial times.
Inside most of the buildings, there were guides who wear the costume and explain the history and the function of the buildings. By listening to their introductions, my understanding of the colonial America became more well-rounded.
The whole city is also a fantastic place to take pictures. Everywhere looks like a movie scene. So,ya, of course I took tons of pictures=)

People often say that the best way to learn and understand another culture is not jus sitting before the table reading piles of books, rather, one should go to this country and live there for a while.
After couple weeks of studying the American history & culture and travelling around the Richmond, I finally got a precious chance to visit native ppl's house! So, I can experience the daily life of American families.
Luckily, my host families is Dan Ream -- the librarian of VCU. I said I was very lucky because Dan is quite popular within the students. We can see American's sense of humor from him.
3 p.m. Sunday, Dan came to pick up we five gals in front of the library. He had already arranged an considerate tour plan for us--visit the other parts of Richmond which we have no chance to visit before.
Fisrt stop was Hollywood Cementery. Of course, this Hollywood has nothing to do with that world-famous Hollywood--it is a place for dead ppl. Dan was really at telling a story. He introduced us the graves, the status and the things happened in this cementery in a very illustrative and vivid way. We felt like watching a documentary.

Afterwards, we paid visit to the James River Park, University of Richmond(where his wife works also as a libriarian.) and the neighborhoods in Richmond(both the rich and poor ones.)
5 p.m., we arrived at Dan's place. His wife, son and dog gave us warm welcome.
His house is pretty nice, though not impressively big.

There are bunches of books in their living room. Maybe because of both of the couple are libriarians, they like reading so much. They have very nice television in their entertaining room, but contrary to my imagination, they spend much more time on reading books and newspapers than watching TV. Their son Paul who is still a high school student is now studying Chinese and he also knows some Chinese stuffs, for example, we found a Chinese toy in his room. He can play it very well, while lots of Chinese childern may dont even know this kinda old game.
6 p.m., Dinner time! Dan's wife, Lucretia prepared a table of typical American dishes for us. Cold fried chicken, salad, corn, bean...I like all of these dishes!(oops! at the thought of these food, my mouth is watering AGAIN>.<) The Dan family also treated us with the special drink from South Carolina -- the CHERRYWINE!
We chatted over the dinner. Dan is really a talkative guy. It was quite nice conversations. Dan also played the ice-cream track music for us which made the atmosphere cozy. From the conversations, I knew more about the American people and life.
The delicious food, coupled with the warm hospitality of the host, made the home visit night perfect.