If you face yourself truly,keep striving for your dream
Every year I send my wishes to my visitors. This year as well.
But, I'm writing this on the soil of another country.
Different culture, different people, so different holidays.
No crackers, no fireworks, no "FUs"... nothing we're used to.
Hope my motherland becomes more powerful.
Hope my friends are always happy and healthy.
Date: Feb 11 to Feb 12
Many students complain that we have spent so much time on the road - trust me, although the US has fewer people and better highway system, getting from place to place still takes plenty of time. Under such pressure, the director Juan had to cancel one day's lessons. We went shopping on that day - Feb 11.
Boys usually hate shopping. I walked in the mall for an hour and found nothing interesting. Then I had lunch at Burger King, which had hamburgers that look small but eat big. Finally I decided to buy a bag for my mom.
In the afternoon we visited a museum, just looks like LACMA. I bought a book there, $16 before tax, color, printed in Japan. In the US books are really expensive - our textbook is $40, so the price is reasonable.
The host family took us to the church in the night. What does a church look like? Well, that's just a multifunction hall of a school - at night it's a casual church. What did we do? At first it was like a concert - just no scream. Then the man told us a long long long long moral story - long enough to have a good sleep. Check the photos below.
On Feb 12 we visited the Getty Center. Everyone, including our host family and teachers said that it was great and we would like it. BUT, we had less than an hour in it! We just take a tram to the museum which located at the top of a mountain, walk around the building, and left - even without entering the building! Though the scenery was great outside, that's absolutely not what we should do. In contrast, it took us 5 hours on the road.
I apologize for keeping you waiting for so long. "School life" here is a little bit hard, and the traffic is bad. Sometimes I get home late and exhausted, having no time for writing blog posts.
Date: Feb 8 to Feb 10
On Feb 7 I experienced the first delay in my flying history. Not so long, only 30 minutes, that's lucky.
L.A. is the second largest city in the US. So just like Beijing, it has been experiencing lots of traffic problems.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, commonly abbreviated as LACMA, has a great collection of fine art, throughout ancient ages to modern times. Those paintings are usually wonderful. Those who have a special interest in arts should visit this. But probably I'm not such a person.
Downtown L.A. has some places of interest, but it rained on the day we visited it. We visited the Union Station, which many movies picked up as a scene, like TITANIC. Then we visited the birthplace of Los Angeles - you can see it in the photos below, the street with many vendors.
High School Visit might be the activity that attracts many ones reading this post. Well, American high schools have six classes each day, and school ends very early. Students have to learn English, maths, science, history, P.E., and at least one foreign language. Each subject has different levels, so that every one finds the one mostly fits his/her skills. Other subjects, like arts, are optional. Schools here cares about P.E., and students have to gain enough credits to graduate.
Description:
Photo 1,2: Downtown L.A. seen in the plane or on the bus
Photo 3: Hollywood Sign
Photo 4 thru 11: LACMA
Photo 12 thru 20: Downtown L.A.
Photo 21 thru 35: High School Visit
Date: Feb 7
Among public universities, U.C. Berkeley might be the best one. It is famous for its biology, law, and economics department. Unlike Stanford, its culture is much more relaxed. This can be known by the difference of architecture. Anyway, the campus is elegant. It's Sunday, so it's quiet - maybe not on weekdays.
Lombard Street is famous, but not in winter. There's no flowers in this season. You'd better get photos online. Photo used in title is grabbed from the Internet.
Union Square is named after the United Nations. The place where it was founded just lies next to the square. Around it are some expensive stores. Since there's nothing to see, no photos here.
In the gallery below, before the Lombard St (last) is downtown San Francisco taken from the bus, and a famous bank.
Nothing special today. In the afternoon we went to Los Angeles.
Date: Feb 6, 2010
Fisherman's Wharf is a famous place of interest in San Francisco. In my opinion, it is a great place to enjoy the beautiful San Francisco Bay. Also you can see Alcatraz Island, the prison where Qian Xuesen stayed. Though the sea is beautiful, it is not possible to swim there because the water is very cold, and sharks often appear. That's why nobody has escaped from the prison successfully.
Among those tourist attractions, Palace of Fine Arts is a very pretty one. You can even see a swan there (alive, of course). Just see the photos - I can not think of any word to describe it.
Golden Gate Bridge is the most famous landmark of San Francisco, even the U.S., most probably because of its color - now named International Orange. This brilliant color makes the bridge visible in fog.
Date: Feb 6, 2010
I liked San Francisco, because of Silicon Valley.
Now I like San Francisco even more, because it's a city you never want to leave.
San Francisco, located in the west coast of America, has a Mediterranean climate. That means it rains a lot in winter but is dry in summer. Sounds not so good, but actually it is wonderful. The average temperature falls in 10 degrees to 20 degrees, just fit our need. Also, it's highest temperature is just more than 20 degrees, and lowest temperture hardly gets below zero.
The first place we visit is Stanford University, the best university in western America. Actually, no Stanford, no Silicon Valley. Stanford has lot of land. It is not allowed to be sold because Leland Stanford, the founder of the school, asked so. But renting is allowed. That's where the early Silicon Valley corps located. Stanford provides the most talented students for the companies, and they offer finances and projects.
The next place of interest is City Hall. Western countries think highly of City Halls, since they represent self-government. It's an amazing structure. Tons of gold was used to decorate it (Why? Think of the city's popular Chinese name - Former Gold Hill)
(suffering from jet lag. to be updated)
[Data source: most comes from our tour guide Mr. Yin, detailed numbers comes from Wikipedia]
I am a member of feeyo.com, but not an active member - I only read others' travel journey. I really hoped to be like them, to fly in big planes from continent to continent. Now I'm in UA888, a Boeing 777.
As soon as the plane takes off, I found that my dream was just a bubble. The plane was so huge that the acceleration is larger. There's little room for my legs or head. So I can hardly fall asleep. Unlike those Asian airlines like Singapore and Thai, United Airlines has old planes, old on-board entertainment system and little useful stuff like eye mask.
Finally we arrived at San Francisco Int'l Airport. Ten hours just feels like ten days.
Look at those photos and you'll find out why.
Because I've never been to Beijing, neither has my mother. So we stayed in Beijing for some more days.
National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, is the new symbol of Beijing. To be honest, you can only see lots of steel if you pay a visit. You can only realize it's one of the greatest wonders in architect history in a faraway place.
China Science & Technology Museum is quite popular among students. Its new site locates just near the Olympics Park. New site added lots of items visitors may interact with. However, for that reason, many of them are broken. Another reason is that there's so little guidance. Visitors, whose age can be from 6 to 60, usually come to find some entertainment instead of learn something. They press every button they meet without taking a look at the instructions nearby. I strongly suggest CSTM hire more tour guides.
There's almost nothing to see in Beijing Planetarium. Just some ten-minute short 3D films. But I strongly recommend that you see the space center equipped with Zeiss' device. SGI's seems better, but it was broken when I arrived there.
Check the photos below.
I and the Bird's Nest
Water Cube
Square
Sunken Garden
Drum
CSTM's Gate
Water Energy
Ford Model T, a very classic car. Since Model T, autos comes into popular usage
Double-slit experiment (Young's experiment), one of the top ten experiments in history, proved that light is wave.
Double-slit experiment (Young's experiment), one of the top ten experiments in history, proved that light is wave.
Foucault pendulum in Beijing Planetarium
It is the first time in the last one year that I have flown. And it's the fourth time that I have been in Beijing. I'm quite excited.
If you take a plane from Changchun to Beijing, I strongly suggest that you choose a seat on the right side. There, you can have a great view of downtown Changchun. The South Lake (Nanhu Lake), commercial centers, streets can be seen very clearly. Nowhere but in a plane will you be able to see these.
Once you approach Beijing, you will easily notice that the terrain below begins to change. You may also have such experience if you play Flight Simulator. In late Ming dynasty, Qing tried to invade Beijing, but the general had no idea about these mountains. Now I get to understand why the emperor of Yuan, Ming, Qing as well as those founders of People's Republic of China chose this city, which located in northern China so that had less rice and water as capital.
It's my first visit to Terminal 3. It's so huge! It took me more than 10 minutes to the baggage claim area.
Now let's enjoy the photos.
Photo taken on board. Such clear photos can be rare. See if you can find your house.
In-flight food. As terrible as it used to be.
Mighty mountains.
Here comes the plain in which Beijing located.
Beijing Capital Int'l Airport
Terminal 3. Really big. You can say it looks like a dragon, or a turtle...
Once upon a time there was an era in which churches controlled most European countries. Some people who were armed by the thoughts during the Age of Enlightenment dreamed of a republic where people are grant equal right - no, "grant" is not proper here, because all man are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Seeing these words, you know that they are the fathers of the U.S., and the republic is the United States of America. However, none of them could have known that this country became a superpower. So why? How can a country became a giant in such little time? That's what I wonder.
I joined a Global Study Tour organized by New Oriental to the United States. In the trip, if possible, I will post my travel journal here, as well as photos.
Why I'm using English? Anyway, I go there to study English.
