Leaving Day

It is the last day in America. Tomorrow we will fly back to China.
I am a little tired, a little happy, also a little sad.

To be continued...

Leaving Day

The other American REU students are leaving today. I feel a little sad and we will also leave soon. It is really a happy time to be with all the guys. Even though we have some difference in our living style, our opinions towards something due to the different cultural background. But I feel very happy to know them, talk with them and learn from them. We have had meals together, we have been to musuems together, and we have enjoyed the short time here together!

American Beauty

These days I have seen several American films which have won the best film of Oscar, like Shakespeare in love, the English patient, Kramer VS Kramer, and American Beauty. Among these films, I think this one--American Beauty has given the greatest impression on me.

I cannot say I have understood the film totally. It is really not an ordinary movie--strange music, abnormal story in a normal American family. I really wonder how it can win the Oscar Award. According to the other three films I have seen, I thought the Academy Award for best picture should be given to a film that at least can be understood by public, however, I think American Beauty is not such a film.

It is mainly about a story about an unhappy American family--a girl, father and mother. It seems to be a most ordinary family in American. They own a big house, the three would leave together by their own car in the morning and the parents would go to see their daughter's performance in school. However, this is also a family filled with quarrels. The couple do not love each other and they dream of different things even though they sleep in the same bed together. The daughter is bored with her parents because she thinks they do not care about her.

Everyone seems just to chase what he wants instead of caring about others. But finally one night things seem to become quite different. The mother who tried to kill her husband because of the mass and boring life she cannot suffer gives up for the reason that she notices she still needs this family and she still loves him. The father who wanted to make love with a best friend of his daughter also does nothing because he realizes his life is great and he also love this family. But the father has also been killed due to some misunderstanding and an accident.

I cannot say I love this film but it really makes me think a lot about life, family and love.

Greenfield Trip

Last Saturday we went to Greenfield village. I should write something about it early, but the poster really needs a long time.

Greenfield village is a small and cute area about the history of Ford. As everyone knows, Ford is a famous company producing cars, machines and so on. The village is filled with historic houses which Ford had either lived in or done some research in. In fact, houses there are moved from other places far away. What is amazing, they are all preserved in good condition as if there still lives someone. It is very interesting that we can see some people who work in the village dressing in ancient-style clothes and play some old games. Walking around the village I just felt like I was in the 18th or 19th century. Small wood houses with a window through which you could see the beautiful scenery outside, carts which are moved by horses --- all of these things are making me feel the peaceful and relaxing life.

After visiting the village, we went to Henry Ford Museum. What a pity that I have not found the bus Mindy mentioned before, but we really had a happy time there. The museum is just like a book telling us the history of American industry. However, it is more interesting than reading a thick textbook at home. Here we were actually walking through the history. There are old big train, different kinds of cars, huge machines, guns and planes..... I really felt the time is so limited that I could not see all the things in display. There was also a chololate exhibition. But I am not a fan of chololate. So it seemed less attractive to me.

The last activity is the IMAX film. The screen is so big that almost all the front wall is covered by the screen. And there are speakers set up all over the theatre. The name of the film is Dark Knight. It is a latest film which published this year. The servants in the theatre told us all the tickets had been sold out. But actually I am a little disappointed because the 3D effect is not so effective as I imagined. This is the first time I have seen a film in American theatre and this is also the first time I have seen IMAX film.

I enjoy this trip!

ELT Test

This is my ELT test!

Today our ElT lesson is to talk about something about the web. And everyone needs to create a blog.

Until now we have talked about many phases, such as"on someone's plate", "walk someone through". I have not heard of such phases before!

Art Fair

It is really an interesting and amazing event! I have not taken part in such a big art fair in China before!

It seems that the whole area of Ann Arbor is under the atmosphere of this activity. The central part of this town is filled up with art shows held by artists from all over America. There are paintings, pottery, sculptures and all the other styles of art you can imagine. It also includes a modern art style-- action art. In front of the Diag, a man dressed in western-style clothe with a cane in his hand makes his face grey just like a puppet. He has a basket in front of himself used for begging. He keeps the same posture all the time. Once people put some coins into his basket, he would do some interesting action and change his posture. Many people are amazed by this amusing person and stand around him. When a boy comes up to give money to him, he shakes hand with the boy and then grasps the boy's hand without relaxing. The boy has no idea without putting more money to the basket, but the man has not loose the boy's hand. Everyone laughs.

Despite the traditional art style, there are also some common commodity in the art fair like clothe, bag and jewelry. I buy a necklace for my mother. It is made of silver with a light red pearl in it. I like the talking with the salesman. They are not eager to sell their commodity, on the contrary, they just like a friend of you to discuss some topic you both are interested in. I enjoy the harmony relationship between people.

The Arboretum

There is an arboretum next to the house I live. I have been there twice, but now I have not walk around the whole area in it yet. I really quite like this place, the place with natural beauty and peaceful life.

There is also an arboretum in Beijing which is located in a part of a mountain. Compared to the one here in Ann Arbor, that one in Beijing is a place filled with man-made landscape. I think it is very strange contrasted to the traditional Chinese culture in which people put much emphasis on natural aesthetics, now the Chinese buildings and parks etc. contain more and more man-made elements, while western people seem to be more concerned about keeping the original site of nature.

Yesterday I went to the arboretum here again. This time I chose the narrow path around lawn. There are several big lawns in it. I saw some people play games like soccer and frisbee there, some just sit on the grass, talk with each other or just enjoy the sunshine. And I could always meet couples with their dog in the path. Sometimes receiving a smile or a simple greeting "Hello" from strangers would make me feel at my own hometown.

A lot kind of plants are in the arboretum like tall trees, small yellow flowers and so on. But I could not tell their names. Nobody picked up flowers here including kids. Huron River also goes across here. Water in the river is quite clear. I have not seen such natural scene for a long time living in city.

Enjoy sunshine! Enjoy Arboretum!