How are you? Are you enjoying your weekend right now? I hope you are.

Today is the 62nd days that I am in the US. It is also the last day of my Thanksgiving Holiday. Instead of implementing my original plan to preview my new textbook as much as possible, I have been sick while I kept doing something I must do.

As soon as the holiday started on Tuesday, the assistant of Dr. Meinart -- Ms. Anna L Brashers made an appointment and drove me to see a dentist at 10:45am. The dentist pulled out one of my teeth, which had broken and was painful for a long time. Then, Anna drove me to take medicine in a pharmacy and sent me back home at 2:30 pm.

I was tired and sick so much that I got sleepy before I had changed my clothes. When I woke up in the night, I felt cold, then hot, then cold again, accompanied the hot and cold, both of my head and teeth ached severely so that I could not help tearing. In case, I got a kind long distance telephone call from a good friend. It made me feel warm and helpful... After taking some medicine 4 times and sleeping for over 18 hours, I was getting better and I had my first meal. However, I found another bad thing -- whole of my body including my hands, feet and face was covered by thousands upon thousands red spots with pain and itching.

I was not sure what had happened to me. I guessed that was some allergic reflection of the medicine or the cold air and my limited Chinese traditional medicine knowledge made me think that it may be not a bad thing. Maybe that meant that my body was experiencing a good adjusting process to meet the new medicine, new climate and the new circumstance in the US., to make the toxin or deleterious matters that was from the long time tired, nervous and worrying emotions and life to be led out of my body via the thousands upon thousands spots. After all, within the past 4 months, I have been to 3 continents and I have experienced the summer of China, the winter of Australia and the later fall of the US. Right now, I am seeing a heavy snow the first time within my last 25 years with a lovely surprise as a resident from a semi-tropical city by the Ocean. I am worrying whether I will be able to drive on the ice and snow road tomorrow.

So, even though I have been quite uncomfortable, I do not worry about it too much. Instead of troubling anyone during the important American holiday, I stopped to eat any medicine, but I tried to drink water and have sleep as much as possible, to change clothes twice, open the doors twice and wash bed sheet once each day. To live in a clean and fresh environment with a regularly time stable for recovering my physical power and resistibility… now, 4 days has past, most of my skin has recovered the normal color and I have felt better and better. I am sure that after whole of my skin to be re-new totally, I will be used of the local climate, environment and maybe medicine and I will study and live with a more comfortable style in the US.

Even though I have been feeling ache or sick, as soon as I felt better, I got up to do something that I must do. I have changed a new printer/scanner/copier by the patient help from a boy clerk -- John in Walmart; I have filled air for my car’s tyres by a help from a classmate -- Liu Tao; I tried to cook some Chinese food with the Western tools; I drove for several hours in the streets for visiting the city view. I also attended the Thanksgiving Dinner in my Host Family -- Marry & Joe's home and knew many friendly and kindly American friends and their cute children. I did not tell the others that I was sick and I still kept driving my classmates to go shopping when they needed help by a car...

There were two things making me excited in my holiday. First of all, I have known a good local artist ? the mother of the hostess of my Host Family -- Karen. I was touched deeply about her oil paintings ? portraits, landscapes and so on. I love her paintings of nature, especially the grass, flowers and water. It seems like every piece of grass and flowers are full of the vital force and every drop of water under her brushes full of the life-power. I could feel the strong love of her to life and the land of her homeland. Yes, she told me that she has been living in the land for whole of her life, she loves her hometown and she wanted to express the love via her painting… Wow! We have a same view indeed! To express the beautiful of the great nature is also my favorite. But, I painted with Chinese style; she painted with Western style… Except painting, I also found that she was so smart with a very quick responding and quite wide knowledge eye shot… I am really happy to know her and to have a good talking with her…

The other excited thing is that Saturday night, I drove a girl classmate to change her camera somewhere, accidentally, I found and bought something that I had been finding since I came to the US: two electrical music instruments. One is a 78 keys Keyboard of CASIO for playing music, the other one is a 49 keys Session Keyboard Studio for making music. They are smaller than my YAMAHA in China; they have offered me some basic conditions to continue my music learning during I am in the US. You can not imagine how happy I was at that time I fixed them OK at home last night. I felt that my heart was singing with much gratefulness.

Yes, even though I could not read many pages of my new textbook, I could not edit something to show you how tosay “Happy Thanksgiving” in Chinese as my original plan, even, I could not paint anything in the so long holiday. I have still had a good Thanksgiving holiday, for I have felt so much care for and kindly given from my tutors, my classmates, my friends, my family members and all of the people who are helping and supporting me with their own jobs on their position, no matter in a dentist office, in a big supermarket or in a gas station…

How about you? Is there anything new and excited in your holiday or weekend?
I am just a learner on that art of painting, music English and Chinese language, to work on the web site in my free time. I would really like to do a little bit things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be an Electronic Bridge of Culture Exchange, Language Learning & Friendship. To help the others while to improve myself.

I appreciate your understanding, directions and supports. I do hope to get your friendly help...

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you are welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com, or to publish your opinions in the forum.

Shirley Yiping Zhang
Sun, Nov 30, 2008 From USA