Blog for sheny3

Be in Richmond more than 12 hours.
When the airplane reached Richmond yesterday night, America has left a deep impression on me.I saw the lights like stars in the darkness first, then suddenly, a huge golden forests appeared——a forests made up by lights. Countless lights on cars were shining, and stretch to (or “composed of”) the horizon. It was totally different from the quiet lights-horizon which I saw in Tokyo. The city lay on the ground, was simply a golden palace.
This big guy is breathing.

By the way, I like the library. I’ve had a look at first to third floor. The most impressive thing is the classify and catalogs of nearly all fields. Various materials, including government’s publications, which could not be easily found in FDU Library, have made me a little bit jealous. Maybe I can find Real America here.
But where are the fictions?

east coast time 20:18

Today we had a tour around the city. Richmond is so enchanting that when I looked out of the window of the bus, I felt like I was in a fond dream. The ancient architectures here are extremely beautiful. I love the doorways of these houses. They remind me of my family, the warm and fragrant things in my life.

Today’s biggest surprise was the house of Lee. I had read about him and thought he was a great man or rather a real man. You can imagine how exciting I was when I knew I was watching the house of whom I admired deeply with my own eyes.

And James River (maybe it is a sign of God’s grace to this city)——I had never seen such a fascinating scenery before. I like the Rotunda (the statue of Washington) in the center of the Capitol as well, as it was really lifelike.

east coast time 22:36

I Love Cooking!
These days I cook for myself (sometimes for my roommate as well). It’s so interesting!!! I love going to groceries. Making plans about what to eat, looking for the materials, cutting them, preserving them in salt, frying, baking, boiling them, flavoring them with sauces, and decorating the works in the end——I find huge fun in doing these things!

Here are my proud works, delicious and pleasing. Don’t you think I really have a talent for cooking? ^o^

lunch of yesterday
(turkey, egg, tomato with thousand island dressing, blueberry, lettuce)

today’s lunch
(steak, blueberry, broccoli)

today’s dinner
(buckwheat noodle with sea moss and Japanese soy sauce, egg with sausage and mushroom, green vegetable with meat ball soup)

east coast time 23:21

Yesterday I went to Ukrop’s with my classmates after class. My roommate and I were so absorbed in buying grocery that we lost touch with the big group. When we finished shopping, it had rained and still drizzling outside. Road was still wet on our way back to the dorm. We enjoyed the fresh air after the rain. Suddenly, my roommate told me there was a strange man following us. The moment I turned round, the man called us.

“This way is obstructed. Haven’t u heard the raining bell just now? ”He said.
“No, we haven’t. ” We replied. At that time we saw the yellow belt across the road in front.
“In east coast we often have lots of floods, so sometimes we have raining bells. I can show u the bypass.”

Although he looked strange (and said he lived in park), we followed him. The bypass was a little bit lonely. The man lead us across a parking lot, took us to a side lane. Actually, it was really an out-of-the-way. We began to feel nervous and scared. I braced myself to going on walking behind this strange-looking man, as I had no idea what would happen if we ran away from him at once. Would he catch us and rob all the money? Or even worse——kill us? If he really wanted to do so, where would he put his gun?

The man suddenly stopped while I was keeping on making wild guesses. I was so surprised to see him searching the litterbin!!! Then he turned around to us, seemed to explain his unexpectedly behavior, “There are always some useful things in it.” An embarrassing smile appeared on his drunk-looking face. I suddenly thought that this guy maybe not a scoundrel.

After a few minutes’ walking, we could see the main street gradually. I had already trusted the man and felt sorry for my stupid guesses. Finally, we arrived at the main street. While I was going to thank the man for his warm-heartedness, he spoke casually, “Can u give me some change? Or do u smoke? I want some change for food, and cigarettes.” I thought of my money were all in the same purse, and didn’t dare to take it out. My roommate gave him one dime and a cent in the end. “Thanks! This will help me a lot!” the man said. Before we left him, he asked me about Japanese rock. He mentioned a rocker’s name (which I thought I’d never heard before), and Japanese hot girls in bikinis (or something like that——in fact I didn’t catch on him completely (-_-b)).

(milk soup with broccoli and bacon)

There are so many people!! Waiting for a long time in front of each game, I rode the skyride, griffon, train, carrousel and escape-from-pompell.
The griffon is not really terrible. Hearing the scream from my top of head, I almost escape from the line. But actually, except a slight dizzy after get off it, I have no special feeling. Girls of BFSU tell me that screaming out will make one feels better at the time. It really works.^_^

I love the antique shops in Germany and Italy. Especially the nutcrackers and Venetian masks! I have some nutcrackers and two Venetian masks already. But every time I see these kinds of articles, I can’t help to control my desire to buy them…

My favorite is Rosina Wachtmeister. They are fantastic and beautiful——exactly my favorite type. I love them!!!

The atmosphere at VA Beach was really America.

We arrived at the hotel at dusk. Our room had an extremely good view of the beach and the sea. The sunset clouds were so beautiful that I couldn’t find words to describe them. I got up early at Sunday morning (actually I set the alarm clock every half-hour from 4-6) in order to watch the sunrise. It was extremely beautiful!!! Golden sea glittered under the rosy clouds of dawn. Sunlight shined upon the footprints of seafowl on sands. White waves beat against shore, sounded like some kind of song——maybe the song-of-sea. At the time, the beach was peaceful, graceful and romantic.

The feeling was totally different at daytime. Blue sky, white waves, golden sands, colorful umbrellas, bronze skin——absolutely holiday! The sunshine made me feel comfortable and relaxed. Accompany with the languid songs of Kuwata Keisuke (one of my favorite Japanese singers), I fell asleep on the beach unexpectedly. ——As a result, I was horribly burned(>o<)
Well, I had used some sunscreen, but after swimming I forgot to reapply…

The night of VA Beach was amazing! Thank BRIAN for guiding me! The magic show was extraordinary funny. ^o^ And the other performances as well.
Another interesting thing was that BRIAN had learned Chinese PingYing and read our names in Chinese in McDonald’s during the supper time. His pronunciation is unexpectedly perfect.^_^

The beach time was wonderful! I LOVE BEACH!!!

Sunday night was horrible. I found my sunburn become more and more uncontrollable. Firstly it was on my legs, then spread to my back and breast. In a couple of hours, I looked like a cooked shrimp. It was terribly red and felt like burning fire roasting me. I sprayed cold water and put a frozen wet towel on my legs, but seemed no use. So I went out and bought a bottle of Aloe Vera. I felt pain when I apply it on my skin, and after two hours the condition was still awful.

My skin is extremely sensitive. I rely on Avene (a French brand sold in pharmacy)to get rid of allergy during the change seasons and to solve most problems of my skin. But in Richmond I’ve never seen Avene!!! What a mess!!! I had found it even in XingJiang (one of the most undeveloped provinces of China)! So I had never imagine that I couldn’t find Avene in America. But I looked for it each time I went out, and up to now I haven’t found it.

After the desperate night, we went to Williamsburg and a outlet (again I failed to find any Avene there). At the outlet I met my BFSU friend and asked her whether she knew anything about the clinic. She suggested me to ask Matt (her intern) who was just walking ahead. I told her I always felt nervous to speak to an intern. So she asked him for me. Matt was really nice and sweet. He said he or other interns could take me to the clinic next morning if I wished.

Next morning I got up early in order not to miss the lecture after seeing the doctor. I left a message to Matt on the payphone then went back to GRC (actually I shouldn’t leave it). A few minutes later, when I walked on the road at the middle of GRC, I saw Matt.
Here came my rescuer. He looked in a hurry——panting, not wearing his cap and sunglass, holding a bottle. He gave me the bottle and said sincerely to me that he had missed the call and hurry to GRC immediately, even had no time to take a shower. I really felt very sorry for having bothered him at such early morning. Then he drove me to the clinic. Although the insurance problem caused I couldn’t see the doctor, I really want to thank Matt a lot for doing all these for me!

Finally I had to miss my class and went to doctor with Julie. Thank Julie for helping me to see the doctor and giving me the medicine! And the breakfast as well——it was delicious. Although the doctor did nothing, I felt much better after that——maybe what I needed was just a psychological hint…(-_-b)

Mapo Toufu (spicy bean curd) & green vegetable soup

Scrambled egg with mushroom and sausage

Pasta (very delicious!!!)

Yesterday two students from BFSU and I went to John’s home for Home Visit. John lived with his family in the suburb. His 15 years old brother was cute (Actually we thought he looked like a Taiwanese pop star whose name was Guo PinChao).And his 1ittle sister was only 13 months old! She was so cute that we all loved her very much. John’s mother said the baby was the super star in the family. I thought her big black eyes and loveliness would make her the super star everywhere. :)

During the dinner time, the baby kept looking at me and smiling to me. Her mother said she liked me. I felt so lucky!~~~(^o^) When we had fruits, the baby looked as if she wanted some too. So they let me fed her some watermelon. John said I could hold her. I’d never hold a baby before, and was so nervous about being offered such a great favor! At first I didn’t dare to touch her. John helped me to carry her in my arms. The feeling of holding a baby was so warm and fragrant. It was really a completely new and wonderful experience to me.

Everyone in John’s family could speak Vietnamese. I noticed that when they spoke to the baby, they used Vietnamese rather than English. The decoration of the house was totally Asian style, and had a family hall for worshipping Buddha on the second floor. They planted some Vietnamese vegetables and herbs (which we ate at the dinner) in the garden. It was my first time to try the tradition Vietnamese food. It was delicious.^_^

The Home Visit was great. I really had a good time in John’s home. Thank John and his family for their hospitality! And what impressed me most was——seeing how an Asian family tried to keep their traditions in America.

east coast time 0:30

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.
——by Robert Frost

Just now I translated an ancient Chinese poem (for my paper). It was really difficult! (I had translated a contemporary Chinese poem into English before, which was longer than this one, but easier to translate.)
However, it’s still my proud work. Please comment if you read——Any suggestions? What do you think of it? And if there are any mistakes, don’t hesitate to point them out! (^_^)

Jiangchengzi (江城子)
by Su Shi (苏轼)

夜来幽梦忽还乡，
In a night dream, suddenly I was home.
小轩窗，正梳妆。
Saw you making up by the window of the little room.
相顾无言，
We looked at each other with no words,
惟有泪千行。
Only with thousands lines of tears.
料得年年肠断处，
I can foresee the place that will break my heart year after year,
明月夜，
Under the moon that is bright and clear,
短松冈。
On the hillock covered with pines there.