How are you? Is everything ok with you?

This is the second week I am in the US. This week, I did have many feelings. I was touched by something, I have experienced some excited time and I have felt something frustrated, too.

Saturday afternoon, I accepted a friendly invitation of a very nice American lady and one of my tutors to visit a local park Silver Dollar City and to attend a concert of Mr. John Conlay (John Conlee). Before we started off, I met her sons Cody, Chance, Jessie and her husband and had a good talking. When we went out of the gate, I just knew that for accompanying me to go the park, her family members would have to look after their Saturday dinner by themselves. I was really touched by her friendliness, kindness and helpfulness. Then, when we said "bye" to her family, I saw Jessie was picking up something from the grassland, and when he took the things to go to the rubbish box, I realized that he had picked up some rubbish on the grassland. My heart was touched by the young boy at that moment. I have seen the good education from his parents and the society behind of his good behavior. I have also realized some reason that why the Americans that I have met are quite polite and educated...

Then I saw another touched thing in the concert in the moonlight ? a lot of young children went to the stage to give their donation to help the poor children during the singing of Mr. John Conlay (John Conlee). Some of them were accompanied by their parents, some of them run forward by themselves. No one knowing their names, no one recording the amount of the money, they just did that by themselves. At that time, I could not help thinking of Jessie and his hardworking mother ( this Saturday, she got up at 5:30 am and went to the university to attend an activity in the morning, then she accompanied me to the park... when she drove me back to my apartment, she kept looking me to enter my apartment at 10:15 pm, then she still needed to drive another 20 to 30 minutes; the manager of the estate company, he had waited out of my apartment for several hours for fixing my wash machine. The friendly and warm lady from the same company, she had driven me and a classmate to 3 stores to buy this or that on her Sunday. The associate dean who had picked up us at the airport, drove us here or there, to help us buying commodity and sent us to our dormitory one by one and the workers who fixed my Internet, cable and wash/dry machine once and once…

When I am writing right now, I feel my eyes are wet... In fact, before I came here, I had known how my N.Y. work partners worked in China. Several times, when I went to see them in the meeting room in the morning, I saw someone was sleeping on their chairs. They worked for whole of the night and they did not go back to their hotel last night at all… Now, when I am in the US, when I see how these common Americans work, I am really touched and I have started to understand a part of the reasons that why the US could become the strongest country within their short hundred years history.

Anyway, I knew that what I have seen and felt is still something surface. Since I would like to understand this society and their cultures, since I am working in a company that has some cooperation with some American companies, I should certainly learn things more, not only from the classroom at all. So, I have been to the nearest Church and had a friendly talking with someone there. I am glad that I am welcome to do any thing I want there at any time.

Except being touched only, I am also excited for something, too.

First of all, I had my “great” adventure alone -- to save my deposits, to buy notebooks, books and breads, to study in the library, to sign a lease, to write my first personal check, to lose my road in the heavy rain and to face many things that I first met and hear... they were all something small and common in China. They were not easy in the US for me, because, I have to deal with them in English. I am excited that the long-term English learning via teaching myself has become a good tool to help me to live and study here. Meanwhile, I also realized many problems in my expressions, especially, I am difficult to understand the others totally. So, I am keeping working on my distance English lesson in Beijing Foreign Studies University even though I am I the US. I was happy that my 5th assignment has gotten 96 marks by my tutor in China.

The most excited thing of this week is still the visiting in Silver Dollar City and the first concert in the US. With the nice help of my tutor, I was so lucky to have an opportunity to take a photo with Mr. John Conlay (John Conlee) together. Also, in the park, I met an American artist who has a M.A. in art education and she is an art teacher until now. Both of us were excited to know each other, we had a photo together and we will have some more communication in the coming time...

Via the several hours' visiting, once more, I felt the friendly, kind of local people and a totally fresh local culture...

This is a village that is making a reappearance of the life and work of the local people since 1880... All of the ladies wear in some beautiful ancient long dresses and hats. My feeling was that they were just coming out of those beautiful classical oil pictures from some European Art Galleries... it also made me think of my former history lesson -- the ancestors of Americans who just landed of the new land by the May Flower...

A strong Hallow-mas atmosphere is full of the village. Everywhere, we could see the golden pumpkins, the witches on the brooms, the masks on cucurbits, pumpkins and some plants that I had not seen yet...

In a little store, I had a good talking with a couple. They told me that the witches can forecast a good luck or bad luck for a person; also, the witches that are flying on the broom from Germany would bring people a good luck... My question that why they are flying on a broom instead of an airplane made them laugh and when I was away, they sent me a witch on the broom as my Hollowing gift. Also, I took a photo with the wife together as a memory…

Then, a beautiful American young girl introduced me that how she made her own soup with different smell; a young boy showed us how the ancient American made glass; an artist painted his birds with many pencil points, another artist cut his picture with knife on a piece of copper, a couple made syrup with sugarcane, people worked on spinning with some cotton or made candy with chocolate... by the dusk, I tasted some interested American Ice Cream, it was not something as we have seen in the supermarket, but some granules and to eat it with a spoor from a bow, interesting and funny indeed...

This week, except so many good and excited things, I have also felt something so surprised -- I can not believe that I can not find a public bus or a taxi system in the city until now. Traffic has become the biggest problem of mine to live in the totally new circumstance so that I have not bought my TV, printer, vacuum, music instrument and some life necessary yet. I am thinking, even though I buy or rent a car, my Chinese drive license can only support me for 3 months. I have to take a new international license to dive after 3 months. Since I will just stay here for 1 year, is it deserve to spend much time and energy on it? If I do not buy a car, how should I deal with my daily life? Always opening mouth to ask a help from the others? That is not my style... So, everyday, when I see my empty hall, when I see my guests to stand to talk, I do feel a little frustrated, impolite and embarrassed... Maybe I should use some modern tools to "shopping" via Internet? Maybe I should also suggest our classmates who are learning Project Management in the classroom to think of the reality project -- the Solution of Public Traffic of International Visitors, Tourists or Investors Here? Just a Joke.

How about you? Have you had the similar experience in a foreign country as me? What would you do if you were me?
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
Sat, October 11, 2008 From USA