Blog for wangd2

The long flight is not a hard problem for me , because I've got something harder: i got fever the day before departure. Bad luck! My task on the plane is one cup of hot water after another.
Air-conditioner everywhere, it is the coldest summer I've ever experience:)
I was very happy to see the interns from VCU at the airport. It was late in the evening ,about 23:30. The boys were all handsome and the girls pretty;). I fell asleep immediately my head felt the pillow. The dorm is fine but too cold, esp. for me.
The intern appointed to my group is Erik. He took us around VCU campus this noon. The campus is big compared to mine. I feel like the it is a town in the university instead of a university in the town.
Time is up, I have to leave the teaching room. I'll share some of the pictures I took today tomorrow.

Erik took us to pizza last night. it was good. It was interesting that all six Chinese students had pizza with fork and knife while the two American interns with hand. Yea, we were just hanging out with friends. Why not use hands which is more convenient.
Our dorm is fine. but the moment I stood on the balcony and looked downstairs, i felt the design of the building was like the prison in Prison Break:) some of my schoolmates had the same feeling and we decided to call it "cell" instead of dorm:) There is a minority group in China called Tujia. Their architecture is also of this type.Hopefully, i will find some pictures on line and put it on later.
Yesterday, we visited the Catholic Church and I saw one of my favorite instruments, organ and it remind me of the church music and Bach. I used to like Chopin most of all the musicians and felt that I could never understand Bach,which is boring and never fails to make me sleep. But once l learned from an uncle from Central Music University that the beauty of Bach's music lies in its regular form. Bach actually uses his music to spread religion. Then i listened to Bach again and got to understand his music a little bit. Last Christmas, I went to the largest and oldest Catholic Church in Beijing. I am not a Catholic and I just went there to experience. At the door, I heard the Church music. It sounded really good under that circumstance. It occurred to me that it is not that Bach's music is boring but I didn't know how to read his heart.However,as a 21 year old ,the romantic Chopin is still my favorite.

The different characters of the Chinese and the American can be reflected in our daily life in some way.

Take the food for example. We make different food with the same materials. In China,we put all the ingredient inside like dumplings and baozi while in America they put those stuffs on the surface.
http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=503316480&z=0&tn=baiduimagedetail&word=%B0%FC%D7%D3&in=15&cl=2&cm=1&sc=0&lm=-1&pn=14&rn=1

The similar phenonenon happens to the architecures,too. The other day, we had a bus tour around Richmond.There are statues at the crossroads. From the crossroads, one can go to everywhere.And one can see the statue from far away. The Americans inherit the way of city plan from Europe. The westerners let people see clearly from the outside what the achitectures are like.It reminds me of the Virginia city hall and the White house.In China,however, the famous places of interest all have high walls around. When the western missionary came to Beijing centuries ago, he was invited to the forbidden city. When he was in front of it, all he could see is the high red wall which is very stately and represents the superior status of the emperor and the political power. The inside was mysterious to the outsiders.Also,Chang'an, which is the capital city of the Tang Dynasty, was divided into several parts. Each part was surrounded by high walls.
http://baike.baidu.com/pic/5/11735997099760691.jpg

Are these related to the character difference between easterners and westerners ? The easterner are more veilded while the westerner are more direct? I don't know for sure. People are always saying people from different areas behave differently. For example, do not take the nodding as a yes in Japan. They are just being polite...It is interesting and I'd like to explore more during this trip.

I was sitting in a police car , rather frustrated, with two of my friends. I asked the policeman with care,"can we get off the car now?" He said with a "cold" smile,"yea". We left the car as quickly as possible and I began to recall what had happened in the past several hours.
After class this afternoon, my friends and I went swimming.The bus system in VCU is convenient. However, unfamiliar with the city, we got off at the wrong stops for three times.When we finally got there, we only had 1 hour left for we had to catch the the last bus back.We hurried off the swimming pool and got on the bus that pulled in the bus station first. As the bus moved on, it seemed that we'd got on the wrong bus. When it arrived at its final stop, we found we were in the middle of nowhere. Erik was the first person that came into my mind.Unfortunately, I hadn't saved his number in my cell phone. My! What should we do? At that moment, we saw a police car went by. We remembered the escort service the policewoman told us the other day...you know what happened next.
I am experiencing everything that is possible in VCU.To tell the truth, it is fun if I am not making too much trouble to the VCUers.

I've always been interested in the space. When i was a little girl, my dream was to become an astronaut.The other day, we visited the observatory. The white-hair gentleman only gave us a speech for about 40 minutes. Then we had to leave because there was a movie on later. I hope i could have stayed there in the dark looking up at all the stars that i loved so much. The interns asked if anybody would like to wait till dark so they could use the telescope to observe the real star. Unfortunately, few people shared the same interest with me. I went back with all the others unwillingly. But it's OK:) I will have chance to observe the "north America sky" in my life.
I used to observe every astronomy phenomenon that i knew back in China such as the meteoric shower,solar eclipse, etc. They never fail to offer me great fun. I've always been fond of the brilliant sunshine, forever energetic and be there for me. I like swimming esp. on the beach. Swimming itself provides great fun, yet it was the bright sun and clear water that really touch me in the heart. At the same time, I don't like meteor that much for it only exists for an instant moment. However,the moment i sat there in the observatory, it occurred to me that meteor could be beautiful.Its beauty lies in the few seconds that it devotes to the sky. As Tagore says,
"there is no trace in the sky,but the bird has flied through."Why can't one-second brightness be beautiful and leave an everlasting memory in one's heart?
We have both fix stars and meteors in our life. Dad, mom,our intimate friends and our lover accompany us for most of the lifetime sharing the happiness and bitterness.No doubt they are treasures to us. Yet, most of the people are only meteors to us. We meet each other, walk together for a while, say goodbye and go on with our own life. People come and go but they do play an important role and make life colorful.How happy we are when we remember the past holding an old photo! Here in America, I meet so many great guys. Some humor, some warm-hearted, some knowledgeable...I've learned a lot from them. It even does not matter whether they are suns or meteors to me. Just enjoy every minute and cherish every friend. Both suns and meteors have their own beauty.

I've heard of the American humor since long ago. It is only when I interact with the Americans everyday that i experience the American humor .So far, i don't know why there is a difference between American and Chinese humor, but i am sure to find out more as time goes by.
When i write down the phrase Chinese humor, i can't help but remember the question that have been long asked,"do the Chinese have a sense of humor?" Of course we do. To ask this is like to ask an Egyptian," are there sands in Sahara?" Humor is a way of looking at life.It requires tolerance and is a result of contentment and leisure.The Chinese people are tolerant and are fond of easy life.So humor is inevitable in China. What makes the foreigners think we are lack of humor maybe is the way that we express it. My memory fails me now so i've no concrete example to offer. But we all can feel it in everyday life.
The interns that i often talk with are humorous by no means, My intern Erik seemed serious the first day i met him.But the more you talk to him, the more you feel that he is such a nice guy and the joke he had on American politics was impressive.The sense of humor is also the shining point of Matt, one of the most popular interns. The other day, we went to a Vietnam restaurant which is a little bit far away. In the car,Matt joked," is the restaurant in Vietnam?" which sent all laugh and forget our empty stomach. My roommates often talked about their interns' humor. Say, it seems that sense of humor is born into every American.Generally, i feel that American humor is casual, which makes life easy and delightful.
It will take a longer time for me to discovery the essence of American humor and i would like to see more differences between the two cultures.

Today, we have the anchor from NBC Channel 12, Aaron Gilcrest with us. I like the dialog-like style of his speech. It is really a great pleasure talking with him.Our topic is media. Both what he said and what the Chinese students and teachers said are thought-provoking.
The American are proud of the freedom that the news agency has here. But although they don't have a written document that restrict the media, they are, to some extent, not that free. Most of the broadcast agencies are owned by big cooperations. How can you publish something that is against the one who support you financially without a second thought? We all don't want our boss to be unhappy,right? I've read a book call The Shadow of the Eagle. The author goes to extremes in some of his opinions.But one of his conclusion is impressive,"if Bush wants the public to believe or know something, all he needs to do is to make a call and the reporters will immediately stand in line in front of him."And also, i believe the American does have restriction on media. Look at the difference of reporting in the Iraq war and the Gulf war.
China is making progress. Reporters all around the world can interview anybody they like when they come to China in 2008 when Beijing is going to hold the Olympic Games. I am glad that all the Americans in class want to know more about what has changed in China. But the image that they have on China is still how people would have 10 years ago. Is it because that the American media has too little international news? It makes sense to say that the audience are unaware of the outside world , so the media only focuses on the domestic issue. Yet should the media have a social responsibility or should it be just a business organization that does things which can bring in more money. I am confused.The media, in my opinion should be a reflection of the whole society and the fourth power outside the government instead of a baby-sitter, trying to satisfy every need from the public.
The American media is notorious in having too little international news. After 9.11, according to Aaron, it changed a lot. We make changes only after something happens. All around the world, the mass media serves as a tool of the powerful instead of the window for the public to reach the all-around outside world. Do we need another "9.11" to make more changes ?
I do not know whether all these above make sense . Just write down what in my mind right now:) I have been interested in media since in junior high. My dad does not support me , unfortunately because I used to talk with him about the problems i found in the media system. He said these questions made me too serious and a little cynical. Anyway, it is a great pleasure to talk about these in America with people from different background.

I met some of Erik's friends yesterday and found more differences and similarities between Chinese young people and the American ones.
They really speak up. A boy asked us things about China.Obviously, what he knew about China was not up-dated. At the beginning of our conversations, he asked about the Tian'an men square issue and whether the Chinese were allowed to keep large amount of private properties. I was not affended at all. On the contrary, i'd like to communcate with foreigners on subjects like that, learn from the past and tell them that China is making progress politically. The boy's cousin asked us whether we were only allowed to have one baby each family and thought it was crazy.Instead of answering her, i asked her what if there were1.3 billion people in America. We all laughed and she said it made sense.
In the party, they drunk and danced.Typical American! Work hard,play harder.It seemed that they were busy enjoying themselves and didn't bother to care others. In fact, they stood in our shoes all the time. V told us helped ourselves and didn't have to eat up things in the plate in case we were not used to the American food. The Americans are not the kind of people who own considerable wealth and care nothing about others. They just refuse to lose themselves.They always know who they are and what they want. In this respect, they win my respect.
I've talked with many American students and it changed my view on them. They read a lot and are never afraid of speaking up.Back in China, I didn't get the chance to know what an American student's daily life was like, except from the movies which was not reliable resources at all.