I LIKE THE CHURCH!I LIKE AMERICAN PEOPLE!

When I stepped into the church which looked pretty beautiful this morning,I was immediately touched by the singing of people.Everybody looked full of happiness and we received welcome sight.Sitting on the second row,I listened to everything seriously.The church choir's singing really inspired me deeply because I can feel their love and godliness.Childre's singing,dancing and the nicety charactors--grace,persistance,light,power,united--makes me feel growing up in such circumstance is a great happiness. That grace lady's voice just like a wild wind blowed into my heart and made me feel warm and calm.Today I can see that church is a pure land of everybody.You can put down all your burdan and bother here.People just listen,feel,comunicate,dedicate with their heart.What makes a great impression on me is that American people are very sincerely and warmhearted.I love their smile!I want to say again:I like the church!I like American people!

Farewell

Saying farewell is always a difficult thing to do. Something does exist even if you erase most parts. But you have to, because you have to move on.

But saying farewell to OSU is not like that you will never come here and meet the same people again. So the farewell party went on really well. People talked, laughed, took photos and so on, to memorize every moment we had. I learned a lot here. If there's a chance I will come back to OSU again, I will.

Thanks to all people who have helped me in these days and thanks for all the presents which I really cherish. Never fading is the times we had together. Go Bucks!

How expensive is it to enjoy life?

The Scioto Park Country Club was the first thing on our schedule today. It was impressive, the sky there was always blue, grass always green, air always fresh. Sitting on the comfortable chair in the tea yard(of course they are always nice and clean), I was able to get a whole view of the beautiful golf course. It was designed in a way that you could feel you are a part of nature, every detail was carefully selected, reminding me of those fairytales where you can see elves and unicorns. It's a place that makes you feel that you are the prince or princess living in the "perfect" world.

BUT, you can never taste a little bit of it if you're not a millionair.

Later in the day, we went to the German village. With delicious cheeseburger in my mouth, I saw the same blue sky, green grassland and enjoyed the same fresh air.

So, you can spend thousand of dollars living in the "wonderland",or you can spend several bucks enjoying the same thing in a public park while using your wealth in more meaningful ways.

How expensive is it to enjoy life? You can decide.

My American Dream

I never thought that I could visit America so early, because at first I thought it would take me five or even more years to realize it. That’s really wonderful and exciting to me. Thanks for WHU and OSU that organized such a summer program. And thanks for my parents’ support to my participation. As it is known to all of us, the U.S. is the most developed nation in the whole world so that stepping on the land of America appears to be one of my dreams. Even until now I am feeling a little bit surreal-surreal but nice.

In my life plan, of course, I must go to America, the most powerful country in the world. I am eager to sense and experience something about America by myself rather than gathering information only from books or movies that are-you know-usually far from the reality.

I like America series very much, such as Gossip Girl, Prison Break and Desperate Housewives. From those I can imagine the way American people live and think. Those also stimulate me to step into American world.

What appeals me so much in the U.S.? Maybe the answer should be their attitude to life and the spirit of chasing freedom. What they seek for seems to be individual liberty rather than restraint. For instance, they are good at enjoying themselves by different ways such as traveling, taking interesting courses, dive into the sea of music, or even just sleep. They always have big smiles on their faces and open mind for almost everything.

written by Catherine

a great band

it's a wonderful band playing rock & roll music. We all enjoy the music they played.
Expect for their more songs.

What an amazing luck！

Chinese tend to believe the luck by which people are brought together. American have the similar kind of faith, too. I’ve never imagined making friends and having fun with American students because of luck just in three days’ time. Despite the behavior of departing from the whole group to go with two American guys was crazy and kind of wrong, this experience was really special and impress deeply on us .
Just a few days before, because of our small group mission, we got to know two students in OSU campus. A Taiwanese, Andy and an American, Ruzic,who are of Serbian origin. We talked happily and they showed us their facebook. This morning, abruptly ,they appeared mystically in front of us. They told us that they had canceled all classes and partime job in order to meet us today,while the reason why they did so was to give us surprise ,which verily affected us .At noon, they paid for us Indian cuisine , and invited us to their houses. We had a wonderful time to talk about our different life and culture.They were zeal to us.
All of us believe the luck between people, and if you want to do something to biuid up friendship with people coming from another part of world with different backroud and cultrue , their hearts are always open to you. We are grateful for this peculiar friendship.Thanks to the amazing luck!

Make Sense

Thanks to Mike that we all have a wonderful chance to communicate with his students. I had an unforgettable afternoon to experience a typical American English class which I participated in rather than just be a listener as a few days before when I was in a math class.

At first, the teacher talks about translation and how can we translate poetry from a language to another. Then we all found an American student as our partner to work out. Our task is to translate a Chinese poem to English. ,theirs, vice versa.

I tried my best to tell my partner what’s this Du mu’s poem is about, but it’s really difficult to express the deep thoughts under the poem, Even if it’s really simple. I experienced how hard it is to let a foreigner realize Chinese culture. What I can do is just translate Du mu’s Poem literally which I think doesn’t make any sense at all. However, on the other hand, without my help, he would do nothing facing to those Chinese characters. Actually, I do make a lot of sense.

I enjoy this kind of culture exchange and that make sense!

Learn by talk

Special day

Happy birthday to Bob's mam,70 years old , I can't believe it , she looks so young,her smile is so beautiful, she is kind and make us very comfortable.May she happy,healthy forever.

dreamland

Today, we have a chance to have a tour on a typical American farm. It is really rewarding to be there, since it is really like a dream world in Alice wonderland, which blue is the sky, white is the cloud, green are the corns swinging with the bat of the wind. Nothing can be compared with the moment you lay down on the farm and do nothing at all, just relaxing. I appreciate the atmosphere in the farm which air is fresh, wind is tender and more important people are so kind to us.
I spend the whole afternoon talking with two students of BaLin. It is the first time that I find that I can talk a lot with a stranger, especially a foreigner. There are no disgusting, no uncomfortable, just like the friends we knew each other for a long time. When I spoke, he just smile and nod sometimes, looking me in the eyes. It is amazing that we share so many same topic with each other, such as music, history, politics and so on. When you walk in the dreamland and talk with a nice guy at the same time, you may be unconscious about the time, you may forget your sadness and find the true fun of life.

Farmland

This afternoon,we go to a farm. In America, it's a small one compared to all the other farms,but for our chinese students, it's big. I think it take us hours to walk around it.

The scenery is really beautiful there, blue sky, white cloud, green farmland, one will feel happy just seeing the great colours.

The owner of this place told us many things, like what they grows, how they prevent the frost to destroy the strawberries, how they deal with the market...a lot of things.Actually, I really have some good pictures, I chose four of them and posted above. I love the beautiful sky! And the three insects stick together is so funny that when I take pictures of them, I feel very lucky.

By the way, after so many days, my computer can link with Internet finaly.I feel really happy about it!

Oh FOX!

“We will be on FOX News tonight!” Big smile is dancing on my face.
On July, 19th, after we visited the Air Force Museum, we were having lunch at Wendy’s, when suddenly two TV people from FOX station came into our sight. As a student who is doing broadcasting and hosting , I was excited to come across people with a microphone and a professional video camera. More over, they were from FOX( Since I saw the FOX signal clearly on the microphone) ,the TV station which was famous for the most popular ever---America Idol .And I believe that my two classmates had the same feeling cause we dreamed to be hostesses on TV.
I went nearer to them with Ba Lin,our program designer’s encouragement(actually I planned to get some more ketchup on the table)and tried to talk them.
“Excuse me, are you from TV station?” I asked the lady with microphone.
“Yes.”she answered kindly.
“Actually I am doing broadcasting and hosting too in Wuhan University.” I was so glad to find that we are in the same major.
“Wow, really? That’s so cool.” she said.
“And they are my classmates, we are all in the same major,” I introduced,“I wish I could be your workmate someday!” I was just kidding,haha… But who knows, maybe someday our paths do cross again in FOX.
After this short conversation as a beginning,she interviewed me: How long have you been here? What did you do in the last a few days?What are you guys going to do next after visiting Ohio?
I was happy that I answered these questions fluently generally and introduced our summer program a little bit.
After that, my two dear classmates who are in the same major with me just could not wait to take their turns and speak more to the hostess--- Nikki, of course, Mike--- our kindest road scholar, talked some more details about our program, but unfortunately, I missed the interview cause I went back to my seat since I was starved to death.
At last, we three and our teachers shook hands with Nikki, and Tom—the camera man and took photos with them, we were just so happy and lucky to have them here.
“Were we really on TV that night?” Maybe no, maybe yes but we missed it. But I will truly remember this this experience and make it last forever.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Miss Fang holds a blonde boy in the stands near us, with much glee. Grace gives the good old American hot dog a try!

What’s American: Campus talking & Foosball

I’ve always been longing for chances to talk to local people freely and exchange viewpoints about China and America. What is really lucky for me is that the two person I met today are extremely special and uncommon. First is the cool guy whose name is Tom Bright. He is the vocal on a band, and he can play guitar and bass. He is also interested in karate and taichi. One important thing is that he is vegetarian and he takes no drugs, no cigarette and no alcohol. He is just like the perfect guy.
The second person is a political boy, Matthew B Caffrey, from whom I saw enthusiasm and passion. Everything we talked went to end in politics. Actually he is now in a campaign team running for Obama. He does love his major, which deeply impresses me.
After the communication, we went to RPAC to relax. I learned Ping pong here, which is to some degree sarcastic. I thought I should do something American, so I transferred to play foosball, which I only saw in Friends. I invented a way of striking, and taught it to all other people. At that moment, I had a feeling that I was also cool, and passionate. Maybe that’s something I acquired here.

Classroom and campus conversations at OSU

The American church

The American church we visited today is very different from how I thought it was. It seems to me that European church are more concentrated on God, while in American church is people. People play piano in a light tone, clap and sing hip hop in the church. Hundreds of years ago, people were still arguing for whether Bach's music was suitable to play in the church. It's not solemn, but it's easy-going. In spite of how people think of it, Christian has changes a lot in the past two thousand years, and it changes faster in USA. I don't know if it's appropriate, the King of Kings didn't tell me. However, I am sure that things will keep on changing.

hello from wuhan

hi folks....i am reading your postings on the blog and it sounds like you are having a great time and really making the most of your experience. the indie music, the church visit, the campus scavenger hunt, and the baseball game...all of it sounds awesome!!

i want to thank you because my mom wrote to me and said what a special treat it was to have you sing to her. good job--i really appreciate you making the effort to make her day special.

take care and please write as much as possible on the blog...i look at it every day. finally, remember to keep your eyes wide open... :]

sincerely,
bob

We got so many surprises!

Today is the first day we start to take classes taught by teachers in OSU to practice our English .After several days keeping enjoying the travel in America, I thought of having classes as a sort of boring things at first. But when the class began, I definitely toppled down my worry about this.
The morning class was about intelligence. The Professor Hancock is a very kind and humorous person. He just let us search the book to find out the information we may not know about the Einstein before and then spoke out towards the whole class. Through this way we knew a lot about Einstein during a short time and improve and improve our self-confidence because we could consider him as an ordinary man with some shortages like us. Besides, we also knew the theory of multiple intelligences according to Dr.Howard Gardner, which tells us that intelligence, can be defined as 9 different intelligences. What’s more interesting, we all got snacks and drinks during the broken. While the most impressive thing I learned was the African proverb Professor Hancock likes most:”Start where you are but don’t stay there.” I think I would also keep it in my mind.
The lunch time in Mike’s house was amazing. We listened the live band music! This was the first time I’d seen live music. I was deeply intrigued by one of them who are the singer of the band. But the greater thing was that I got his CD with his signature, and I took photo with him wearing his band’s cool sunglass!
The afternoon class was more interesting and .We were divided into 11 groups that was 4 people in one group to gather information about given buildings on campus through talking to the certain people. What made me delighted was that the professor told us we did really a great job because we got so much information.
The baseball game was also exciting. I’d never seen a baseball game but I’ don’t think it was enough attractive for me to watch, on the contrary, I thought it was a little boring. But I took much pleasure in getting a clarinet by turning the prize plate and a T-shirt with hot-dog mark by a coupon .Why the hot-dog?yes!Tonight was “Dime-a-Dog Night”! That meant you can get a hot dog for just a dime!
So, there were so many surprises, right?

scavenger hunt&baseball

Today we had the best chance to have a close contact with the campus! Though we did not quite understand the term, we wouldn't let go this precious opportunity. We quickly set off after finding our four destinations on the campus map, figuring out our routes, practicing asking for information and dividing the work. During the 1-hour-and-a-half search, we all found that Americans are very polite and friendly. And most of all, we carried out conversations with native speakers in front of shyness and unconfidence.
In the evening, we were finally taken to a real baseball game! It is really exciting and curiosity to see professional pitchers, beaters and catchers running and beating and catching. From the game, we learned more about the rules of baseball and I think we can carry out a fantastic game, too. And I am looking forward to our next game!

Get involved!

What is the wonderful way to study English? Maybe it is to use it, speak it,and be involved in it. Today I think we have got a new way to learn English. Susy and Bill divided us into 11 teams to do the Scavenger Information Hunt. We needed to find the buildings on the map of OSU, and then get more information for it. In the process, we had to communicate with other people we didn’t know before. It is to say it indeed may help improving our oral English. For example, when we didn’t find the building we were searching for, we must go to ask someone else. It is fortunately that everyone here was so kind that they always paid attention to our questions whatever my sentenses were poor or not and gave answers again and again until I understood it. Thanks for these kind people. I have got the idea what the language is. The language is just a tool that makes people from different countries communicate with each other. So don’t be shy. Just sound out what you think, what you want to say. Don’t take a lot of time to think about whether your sentenses are right or wrong. That’s OK! Maybe just a phrase or one word by one word, people you are talking to may understand you. That’s it, and that’s the language for. So come on, let’s get involved.

A rock'n'roll lunch!

We were lucky to have a chance to enjoy the band's playing in a typical American yard. We shouted and screamed, we rock'n'roll. Both the two bands were sweaty and tired but passionate under the big sun. Molly told me she couldn't stop smiling seeing so many people around. They are really cool people. And it's great to talk to different local people, form which we learn a lot more about American culture. The home-made sandwiches, which I prefer to call hamburgers, and the cabbages, were yummy and special. Thank all people working today. We had a lot of fun and relaxation.

The bridges of people

We are always looking forward what a country of freedom looks like, and what kind of religion and lifestyle a good country exists, besides, we are also wondering why these people’s thoughts are different from us. So, I think this summer program is very helpful and meaningful. Especially this morning, today’s short visit at Mike’s church impressed me deeply.
On the way to the church, Mike had shown a great proud of his church, through his words, we can find the church is very comprehensive. It welcomes all the people, no matter whether he is white or black, no matter whether he is rich or poor, no matter whether he is educated or never-educated, and the church doesn’t require its people to hand in some money, it is all about truly love to God. Furthermore, the church will try its best to help different people get jobs or find a home.
So, we are visiting the church with a great expectation, and after all, it definitely doesn’t let us down. The church is amazing beautiful, from the flowers outside to the colorful window inside, we can find a peaceful and dreamful happy-land in great harmony
The chorus gave us a deeply understanding of the special ceremony and a refresh wash to our souls at the same time, some of the members are ordinary people, they are not professional, but their heart to heart performance is really moving. And there is another part impressed me deeply, the kids’ show. The children’s moments were all held by little kids and their nice parents, through this part, I can see a society which is growing through the gaining kids, and founded by little adults with much gratitude. But the very moment that softened my heart was the chief’s speech. The nice old man said, “Praying is thinking yourself into the God’s world, and the most important thing is to connect to the God’s will.” I think these words mean a lot, and everyone should think about it. He then talked about the bridges, the bridges between different people, from different countries, from different religions. But the bridges are important; some people think heaven is a way of avoiding thinking about today’s trouble, but we should work hard to build our today’s world just like the heaven. By how? By accomplishing bridges over gaps, and God can’t do this without our own work, and us can’t achieve this without God.
Ｉthink this speech is much more than the only religion, and it can benefit much more people in spite of sitting in the church, and what we can do to take every advantages of it is to think it well and make our own answers in our truly hearts.

Mike won the lucky dumpling prize!

America QandA

As the lucky dog who has the chance to come to the US, I've been asked a lot of questions by people in China. Here are some of the frequently asked questions and my answers. I'm posting them here for those who can't come. And,these are just my answers, they may not be correct, if some other group members have better answers, just put your comments here :)

Q: How does the time difference feel like?
A: It's like when you chat with your friends in China online,at the end of the conversation, you may say "have a nice day" while they're about to go to bed.

Q: How does American food taste?
A: errr...I don't think there's "American" food, but there are Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese food, etc.As an immigrant country,I don't think there's traditional American food(maybe McDonald's or Wendy's?but why do we call it "French" fries??).But surely you can find something you like.

Q: Is the US a Christian country?
A: well...yes and no, as Ba Lin said, as an American, you wouldn't say you totally don't believe in God at all, religion does have a very strong influence on this country, you can tell from almost everywhere, like tv show, the local currency(they print "In God We Trust" on it), the church(of course) etc.But everyone has the right to choose what they believe in and people do have various religious background here besides Christianity.

Q: US is famous for democracy and freedom, is it true?
A: yes, but it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Last night, there was a Latino party in my hotel but I couldn't go because the law says people under 21 can't go to places where there's alcohol even when I begged for it and promised I wouldn't drink anything,they still wouldn't let us in(what a BUMMER!!). Generally,I think democracy and freedom actually mean you have to respect others and if your way of life doesn't do any harm to anyone,then people shouldn't judge you.

Q: Is there still racism in US?
A: I Do Not believe so. So far, everyone I've met here is very nice and friendly to me and they're always very eager to know and help people from outside of America. Just now I met some girls in my hotel and asked them about American coins because I forgot how to recognize them, they were being so warm-hearted and helped me sort out all of the coins.When I showed them some Chinese money,they were so excited and asked me a lot of questions about China.
I don't think racism is a big problem here. I suggest you all come here if you have a chance.

And here's one I got asked by a LOT of girls and I would like to keep my answer short and clear.
Q: Are American boys cute?
A: yes,they are. (good news for girls,haha)

We are here

the fresh air, the green tree, the bright sunshine, the best friends, OHIO, we are here. We are here to study,we are here to communicate, we are here to know friends.Hot still be hot like Wuhan,but people is different,friends is different,Mike,BaLin,Han,Dieter Wanner,Maureen Miller,John Prescott,Yuhao Sun,Kevin Harty,Janis Browning etc.more and more friends jions us,help us ,we believe we will be long-life friends, we will learn from each other. So keep learn more, keep make friends more.