Wuhan To Ohio Summer Program

2008-09-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

When rechecking our blog,I feel like talking a little bit about how I feel about our short-term trip in the United States, which here also can be summarized as the proverb Mike taught me before , ‘When in America, do what Americans do’, coming from the old, famous saying, ‘ when in Rome, do as the Romans do’.
In my opinion, our American life experience can be detailed as four main parts, campus life, food, tourism and friendship. So here we go.
We’ve visited two great universities, Ohio State University, which we stayed a little longer, and the University of Tennessee. Both of them get beautiful campus. And personally, I like OSU's better.
Between the two universities, we traveled along passing quite a few states and big cities, like Idiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Ohio and Tennessee of course. We had tasted all kinds of typical American food, and American-Chinese food, too.
NY and DC are our last two destinations. They’re fantastic!
Wherever we went, we met new guys made friends with them and had a lot of fun.
I think the true meaning of cultural exchange is to find out the biggest differences and make yourself get involved, which here equally means “when you’re in America, do what Americans do”. In this way, we need curiosity, openness and the little but necessary courage to talk to people. And sometimes we may even need to change ourselves a little bit to adapt the new environment. This is actually what we did in the US and we’ve learned pretty a lot.
Moreover， I am impressed by Matt Dixon’s words after our cute discussion about poems. He wrote that, I came away with the perception that people all around the world are the same in many aspects. I think we are all inherently good people, and we all like to have fun. Even with the language barrier we could communicate and express our genuine like for each other. I think if societies had more interaction we would see that we all have more in common than we think.
You know what, I feel almostly the same way!
All in all, I want to tell all you guys that this is a wonderful trip and thanks to it, we become a big family; thanks to it, our future won’t be the same!
And I want to express my sincerely gratitude to OSU, University of Tennessee, and Wuhan University, additionally to those people, both American and Chinese, who's been working so hard on this program to provide us this once-in-life opportunity to check out what America is really about! Thank you all! Miss you all!

Have a good day.

Silly girls

2008-08-26T00:31:00.000-07:00

I found this short video yesterday, and found it was really funny.

It was taken by Faline when we were playing at the Smoky Mountain, we were really happy that day, too happy to act like a adult, but I think this video is very funny, hope everyone can have fun in the rest summer holiday!

PS: what we are singing at last is a very old song for little kids, something about encouraging the kids to go to school, we were really crazy that day^~^

Bob and Pete return!

2008-08-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

Three better friends of the summer programs in Wuhan and Columbus cannot be found than in Minru (Han's dad), Bob and Pete, and Minru picked me up and we went to meet them at the airport at midnight last night. Great to see them return to Columbus!

Hope all you students are enjoying the Olympics and I hope more of you can reflect back on our time together and write some short posts. I'm working on a post about the Ohio Historical Society and our trip to the Statue of Liberty. I'm also working to edit some video from the trip and I'll be posting that soon!

Miss you all in Wuhan!

Mike

Away From Home (written by Grace)

2008-08-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

this is grace's writing. grace was having trouble with posting, so she sent to me to try. here it is!

Every journey has its end. When the end comes, memories remain. All the beautiful memories in this trip make me feel obliged to keep it somewhere I can always recall. It is the people here making this place feel like home when I was...
Away From Home
Ellis Island, a famous tourists attraction today, has been witnessing millions of Eurpean immigrants leaving their homes, heading for the great expedition which gave birth to what is America today. Hundreds of years later, when I was standing here, I wish I could find out the stories behind them. What were they thinking when facing the unknown world? What gave them the courage?

One of my friends had a conversation with me recently about what to do after graduation. I suggested finding a job in Beijing, Shanghai or other big cities. Hearing this, she strongly opposed just because these places were “too far from home”. She might be a little too overwhelmed, but it is, undoubtedly, an important part in Chinese culture that one should stick to their homeland. This can be proven by countless poetries, novels and other Chinese literatures expressing people’s sentiment towards theirs homes, which is so strong that war, poverty, even diseases can never shake it at all.

“Home, Sweet home” is a universal term but interpreted in different ways. Many Chinese, including me, have this mindset that home is the place where you were born. While, an western saying is that “home is where you hang you heart”, which means, home is not necessarily one’s birthplace but the place where you have a sense of belonging. Under these two principles, in tough times, some people make every effort to stick to their homeland, while others, who are more adventurous, try to make a new place feel like home by speaking the language, making new friends, being a part of the community.

I have been encountering plenty of “cultural shock” this summer. What impressed me most is how the concepts and understandings of “home” in both countries differ. Such dicoveries, even though they may not be correct, help to broaden my mind and understand what a “global citizen” really is.I am very grateful for this oppotunity and hope this will not be a “once”-in-a-life-time experience.

Team China -- Dream Team: Who's that Star from OSU?

2008-08-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

I just watched the U.S.--China basketball game as you did in real time. No big deal that Dream Team beated Yao's team with big margin.

The real big deal for me, and I guess for all of you 44 newly turned Buckeyes too, is one Dream Team guard player Michael Redd:
He was a true buckeye and the top player of The Ohio State University Men's Basketball team a few years ago. An honorable mention All-American as a junior and sophomore, Redd ended his career at Ohio State ranked fifth in career field goals made (699), fifth in career points (1,879) and seventh in steals (149).
He remains an Ohio State sports fan, though he doesn't get too excited about a top-ranked football team. "See I don't get excited with that because we're No. 1 all the time," he says. "Either that or we win a national championship. Every year, year in and year out, we're like No. 1 or No. 2. They do a terrific job of recruiting."
He was born and grew up, and still lives in Columbus. If he were not playing in Beijing now, he would be coaching many young buckeyes at his Michael Redd Basketball Camp every summer.

For me and hopefully for you, Redd (from OSU to Team USA) is a living example of "Dreaming Big, Anything is Possible".

Xu Xin, Zhang, Liu Jun, Chen Kun, Francis, Tan Cheng, ....., it was truely my pleasure to play basketball with you at OSU and U.of TN. You guys were great! You make me feel young, thank you. Can we play again if I visit Wuda?

2 ceremonies in one day

2008-08-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

I focused myself on 2 ceremonies on Aug.8th,2008,of course one was the opening ceremony of beijing olympic,and the other was...the closing ceremony of wuhan summer program.

As i was in the wuhan program last summer,so i wanna meet some of the teacher i familiar to(Such as Bob:D),and what's more,2 of our Wuhan to Ohio program will make a presentation there,so i fancied an afternoon to it:)

the closing ceremony was began with a speech by Principal.Liu of Wuda,it was the very first time i heard him speak english,he amazed me by his good english.haha -Princepal.Liu is making a speech-

after that,Mr.Li(Hans's father)made a speech too,to express his feeling about the program and showed his thanks to many people,include some of teachers in Wuda and Hans,haha.then Principal Liu gave Mr.Li,Mr.Zhao and Bob rewards to appreciate their contribution to the program both in Wuhan and the U.S .

here comes the pictures of our sister and brothers' presentations.Helen reported what we had learn in America(the education part) and gave lots of details about what we learned from Suzy,Bill,Charles s' classes and showed a PPT with some photoes on it.interentingly,she shouted"go bucks!"at the beginning of her presentation many times and everyone followed her,:D that was so cool.haha
Sean did the cultural exchange part and reported what we enjoyed in the U.S,including watching a baseball game,seeing a movie and going to a church.he said :"personally,i like OSU better..." "O-H?" "I-O!"we responded loudly.haha,you should never worry about our Ohio loyalty,hahaha.i guess everyone remembered "go bucks"and "O-H-I-O"thing deeply in mind:D

the closing ceremony varies from dacing ,singing to poem and even yoga exhibition,that was awesome. -Don and his poetry club-
-unique yoga exhibition-
-singsing campfire songs-
-all the teachers and volunteers singing "Welcome to Beijing"-

i think the reports----- "top 10 things U.S teachers love about chinese students","top 10 things Chinese students love about U.S teachers","top 10 things Chinese students don't love about the U.S teachers",and"top 10 things the U.S teachers don't love about Chinese students and suggestions" are the highlights of the closing,the reports are fun and special,what i remenber about thoese "tops" are:

"they love China,Wuhan and Wuda,and some of them can even speak a little Chinese!"----this is the top 1 of"top 10 things Chinese students love about U.S teachers,and i have the same feeling:D

one of the"top 10 the U.S teachers don't love about Chinese students" is "you only look at the teacher(but not your classmates)during your presentation or speech(how many of you are there?!we ALL have faces and are looking at YOU) " haha...this make me think about myself...

the top 1 of it is"you say 'firstly' when you start speaking and 'that's ALL' when you finish speaking(we know when you are starting or ending,but obviously is just not very creative or interesting)"that 's also what i sometimes do,haha...i may not use these words too many times in the future.

"top 10 things Chinese students don't love about the U.S teachers" are very interesting. "their english is perfect and sometimes they just can't understand out Chinglish." "we have to look up when talking to those tall teachers and it hurts our necks!" "some teachers are so handsome or beautiful that we can't concentrate on their lessons." 'U.S teachers give us lots of cookies,candies and ice-cream that after the program,we have to go on a diet!" i just couldn't help to laugh out when hearing these things,haha.but the top 1 is "they just stay here for one month and it's time to say goodbye."hearing this, i suddenly realized how strongly friendship they built during such a short time just like we did :) still,there is no "goodbye",but "see you soon."

ps,when the closing was over,i went out and saw one of the teachers was holding an umbrella,hahaha...

after i got home,i just waited for the opening of beijing olympics,it was such a wonderful feast that worthy to remember forever:>

G4 in USA~~~

2008-08-08T19:05:00.001-07:00

G4 in Washington DC! We just looked like rock stars in our first CD album!

Don't judge our pose, we are not in THAT group,Ok? G4 plus HUIZHU~

G4's formal performance in the genius's hug! Why is there a running guy behind us?

We are great!!!Go Buck! Go China! Go Wuda!

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was founded just in front of the United Nations!!!!

The crazy night we had in Friday's!

G4 and plus 2 are always a famliy!!! USA~WE WILL BE BACK~~~~

Go Beijing Olympics!

2008-08-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Dear All:
Simple hand-shaking was my Goodbye to you in Columbus. Knowing you were in good hands of big Mike, but I was still nervous about your remaining trip to Indianapolis and Chicago. I wished I could accompany you all the way to the end just as I picked up you at the beginning 3 weeks ago. Did you see that old train station behind Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Hotel and did you swim at the beautiful pool there? Who said America did not run the train anymore!

Now, finally, I am relieved to know all of you students were safely back in Wuhan.

I have slept like a pig and have recovered in the past 3 days after I slept only 4--5 hours each day for 20 days in a row.
Dear Dorothy (Liu Chang), thank you very much for the greeting card, and I have got rid of some of my black eyeshadows. I hope you would rest well too, and I wish you the best.

Overall, we executed the program very much according to the plan, and I hope the broad range and in-depth content and activities of the program have given you students a lot to learn and experience and to reflect.

But nothing is perfect, as some students complained about: too much bus ride and waste of time (Columbus--TN, TN--NY, DC--Chicago), sometimes too much fast food particularly on the road when riding the bus, some students still felt hungry after eating the fast food, too little time at Columbia University, some students did not like and appreciate the farm visiting at all even though many liked it very much, ..... , not very organized in TNU.

I know, though we tried our best, it was almost impossible to satisfy every student's individual need on evey day. Still, I admit we could do better, and we can improve the program further in the future.

Thank you for all the trust and understanding. Have a good summer. Take care.

Go Beijing Olympics: Did I hear China Women Soccer team just beated Sweden in the opening game? I hope all the girls of this Wuda program have the courage and fighting spirit of China Women team to exercise and be healthy, and to overcome all the difficulties life may throw at you in years to come. I believe you will and you can.
After all, Life is a bitter-sweet journey (just like this 20-day trip), which you all (boys and girls) have just embarked on! Enjoy Life, not just study.

Keep in touch...... your friend, BA Lin.

Hello & Goodbye !

2008-08-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

Only twenty days before we said hello excitedly with curiosity,
Already has been two days since we said goodbye reluctantly with sorrow.

What's in between?
mountains and oceans,
ups and downs,
once and forevers,
... ...
Time past and yesterday left.
Something is dazzling without rest.

All that between hello and goodbye,
will take me a long time to review and,
a lifetime to forget.

pizza picnic in Princeton

2008-08-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

-pizza with model-

All the memories about the trip is still swirling on my mind,i still have so many things to post,so many photos to share with all of you.

Princeton day is one of my favourite parts during the trip,amazing buildings,ice-cream on the bus(Thank you Mike!)and pizza under the tree...it was not very hot that day,the sun was shining brightly,without air conditional,some of us chose to have pizza in the shadow of the tree.i guess it's more fun to eat sitting on the ground and it's also the best way to feel this small but wonderful town,i was totally refreshed by the air and everbody enjoyed pizza so much.It will reminds me of Prinston when i go to Pizzahut in Wuhan everytime in the future,hahaha...

2008-08-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

There are no words to express how I feel about all of you. The words in the English language and Chinese language combined only brush the surface of the emotions I have experienced during these past two weeks. Seeing you off at the airport there was no goodbye, only "Hey, Whats up? See you soon good friends." I was not crying, I was smiling so hard that tears were squeezed out.

This is a summer I will remember for years to come.

li.738@osu.edu
iammarsh@gmail.com
qq: iammarsh@gmail.com
AIM: iamhunli
MSN: c_n_guy@hotmail.com

I will try to get on those as much as possible in order to stay in contact with all of you, and I hope you will do the same.

So Many Hours On The Bus, But Still. . .Things I Miss About the Bus

2008-08-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Hans, Lynda and I arrived back in Columbus tonight about 11 pm after a long ride home from Chicago. We slept a bit but also mostly talked so much about everyone who was NOT in the bus. And you know, it's all you amazing students who are right now still in the air to Korea, on your way home. I can't believe the program is over, and now that it is, I really wish it was NOT. I even miss the van driving and all the bus time!

Wow, today after we left you at the airport, the bus was so empty with just us in it. We missed the singing. We missed the jokes and laughing. The stories. The questions. The Mafia! ha ha ha, and how come the Killers always win?! The sleeping. The eating and snack breaks (wasn't that ice cream at Princeton good?!) Even the grumbling we miss! Mostly, we miss the voices, the personalities, and the great relationships we had with our friends from China, and for us three amigos coming home today, it made the trip home somewhat melancholy. But I'm so thankful for the time we had and I know it is just "see you!" and not goodbye for many of our new friends. I know that we really feel blessed to have had such a wonderful time with all of you students. We can't wait to hear from you here on the blog and in emails. I guess what I want to say just plainly is WE REALLY MISS YOU ALL. And we will continue to miss you because life is more special when our friends from China are in it.

So, travel safe, friends, and know that all of us (Ba Lin, Hans, Lynda, I) are home to Columbus safe and you are all in our thoughts and/or prayers.

No longer your Roads Scholar, but always your friend,

Mike Lohre

NY in my eyes

2008-08-01T04:28:00.001-07:00

NYC: With whom you can’t help falling in love

2008-07-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

Far from Columbus and just way north of Knoxville Tennessee, we finally made it here in NYC with Mike rejoining us today.

To be honest, it didn’t turned out as I imagined to be. I mean, the Statue of Liberty is not as tall and grand as I thought, the streets are so dirty that seem a little “China”, and I see much of the New York that was and will never be in the fancy movies. I had expected NYC to be the city which in the movie ‘I am Legend’ still glows as a metropolis after complete devastation.

But I must confess that New York is a city that you cannot turn your back on. From the moment I saw the bright ‘I Love NY’ T-shirt under the Statue of Liberty, to the moment that night fell on the brilliant Times Square, I must say, I LOVE NEW YORK! New York is such a city that you can list a thousand reasons that you don’t like it, but you just can’t help falling in love with it.

Next time when I get a chance to visit New York again, I wish I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to enjoy the love of this fascinating city.

Below is just a hint of the pictures we’ve taken:

I came up with this idea to do the O-H-I-O thing under the Statue of Liberty. Seems like we’ve made it unique and good-looking. Seems like we've been labeled as Ohio State already.

This is the ruins that the tragedy of September 11 left in Manhattan. With great grief and respect for the citizens of New York, I admire the courage and resolve to move on and start reconstruction.

This is THE most famous Times Square. It's most fascinating with the background of night. I've never seen more shining and impressive lights. The scene also reminded me of Spiderman fighting Green Goblin at the very place I was at.

Wise men say

Only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you...

The Big Apple:NYC

2008-07-31T19:59:00.002-07:00

Why is NYC been called "the big apple"?

Today with Shrine's help, I figure it out.It came from a old song in 1920s, which is popular in 1970s. It's ture meaning is that NYC is very complicated, contained all kinds of people and all kinds of things, just like a Mexico food which is been called "big apple".

Actually, it is complicated.

We only spend one and a half hours to walk in the street of New York city, and during that short time, I saw all kinds of people. Rich man, poor man, black/white/yellow skin, I saw someone selling bags and clothes in fake brand in the street, I saw a policeman ride on a horse, I saw a man wearing woman's suits stalking down the 8th Ave, I saw three people offering "free hug" and "free kiss" to whoever passed by, I saw some kind of stars are making MTV in the Time's Square and the fans just kept screaming.....

It's really wonderful.

Some day I'll come back here, at that time, I'll know more about NYC.

How big is the "big apple"? Next time, I'll figure it out.

Ohio--Tennesse

2008-07-31T19:59:00.001-07:00

Since my computer always have some problems with the wireless connection, I can't post the blog for a few days. Actually, I have many stories that I want share with you, but one's time and energy is limited, so I just put some pictures on the blog, and let the pictures tell the story...

(1) TV station! Beautiful news reporter Andrula told us many things about how to made a news

(2) How is the weather like in Columbus today? I'm Miss Weather!

(3)Moving pictures of the Plizer Price in history museum.

(4)P&G!

（5）We have an wonderful speech in Tennersee
(6)Smoky Mountain! It's really great, we've arrived the top of the mountain

(7)Frank, who help us in many ways in Tennessee.

the trip to the School of Public Affairs at OSU

2008-07-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

John Glenn’s School of Public Affairs

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 has always been one of my dreams. Fortunately, the WHU and OSU’ collaboration on this summer program helped me realize this dream. I am not willing to pretend myself to be tranquil, as even until now I am feeling a little bit surreal – surreal but nice.

During the ten days trip there are quite a lot of wonderful experiences that I have never had in my life, such as the tour in the Air Force museum and the visit to City Hall and State House, which helped me better understanding the American political system. Furthermore, I found out the serious reason that should mainly announce for some conflicts between Western world and Chinese government: the fundamental opposition between power-centralization and decentralization. Absolutely there are advantages and disadvantages in those two styles, thus it seems like a waste of time to discuss the controversy or about which type is superior to the other.

However, one point of commonality that I should have to mention and highlight is the special recent experience – the excellent lesson in the John Glenn’s School of Public Affairs at OSU.

Some history:
As a national heroic character, John Glenn is well-known for being the first American astronaut that traveled to the outer space in 1962. He was born in the early 20th century and now lives at the age of ninety. In retrospect, his whole legendary career seems like an introductive movie about how to become an American idol. During the WWII, John Glenn attended the U.S Air Force Army and was trained to pilot fighters. Then he was awarded for many times because of his supreme fighting ability that might originate from his desire of flying in his childhood. In the 1960s, he was selected to participate in NASA’s program of sending humans to space. As it is known to us, the program achieved success in 1962 and cheered up the citizens so much that they lauded John Glenn as national hero. Several years later, like many other idols, John was elected a Senator and started to focus on public affairs until now.

Although public affairs include manifold aspects such as economy, policy and welfare, its main subject is to distribute limited resources to maximize the utility of community as a whole. To achieve this goal, the department of public affairs should concentrate on working out some strategies and encourage people to get involved with the country “actually”, which means not only a member of the society but a host as well.

In my point of view, the core spirit of the public affairs investigation is that “everyone should contribute to achieve harmony”. Though the fundamental duty of John Glenn’s school is to do research to offer some efficient suggestions to the government, it seems more important and necessary to guide civilians to actively care about social issues. In modern society, while accompanied with the improvement of technology, we are facing more challenges and more new problems than before. For instance, wars happen every day in different areas on earth; new sorts of dangerous diseases appear; the exponentially increasing demand of fuel constructs an ironic comparison with the tremendous amount of wastrel (something that has not been properly used). On the other hand, drugs, violence, divorce and some other social problems jeopardize the origin of human virtues.

Thus no matter whether we view this from a material or spiritual perspective, our homeland is in serious crisis of which a solution can only be provided by all people’s effort. The country of origen is irrelevant. To protect our beautiful blue Earth and our bright, high-level and promising civilization, we will really need everybody’s effort.

One drop may not be powerful, but billions of drops together may become oceans; an individual’s effort may seem useless, but a whole community’s effort can create a giant wave of positive change.

Yisiwei Zhu
Francis 31/07/2008
posted from the hotel in Piscataway, New Jersey

Pictures sent tonight from Stucco Jones

2008-07-29T20:38:00.001-07:00

Conversation through Poetry

2008-07-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Jirayna Singleton
English 367
Professor Lohre

The group of Chinese students that Nadira and I had for the discussion was wonderful. The group discussion went smoothly, and I learned a lot from the students. I was amazed to see how each of them knew the Chinese poems by heart and could recite it without making a mistake. The person that I got to know best was Jerry because he was the one that explained what the poems actually meant, and he was very patient with me and Nadira when we were trying to read the poem out loud in Chinese. The only difficult part about reading the Chinese poems was when we had to say them in Chinese because it was hard to pronounce some of the words. The real challenge came when we had to read the American poems, because reading them was easy, explaining them was another situation in itself. The poem that we read was The Blessing, and when the students asked me to explain certain lines, Nadira and I had a hard time explaining and breaking it down because we weren’t exactly sure as to what the poem was about. Despite that everything went well and we had a wonderful time, and I believe that the students had an excellent time.
I learned a lot from these students. I learned that we (Americans) are ignorant about people from China, and that we need to learn more before we pass judgment. I found these students to be excellent examples of China, as they were polite, intelligent, and just absolutely amazing. I wish that I had more time to speak to them because there is so much that I could learn about them and their culture.

Social Mixer for US/China

2008-07-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Mike's note: in the picture you can see Amy and Esther, who are mentioned in Sarah's post. This post is one sent to me tonight for the blog by Nadira. Enjoy!

from Nadira:

Meeting the Chinese students was a funny and a very nice experience. My group did a good job working with the Chinese students. We both did a good job helping each other.

Hearing them speak their language was nice although I have Chinese friend who sometimes used to teach me one or two Chinese words, but it was nicer to hear them speak it, especially when they are reading the poems. They were reading with their hearts. I never saw anyone other then poetry teachers read poems like that.

I was amazed when Sue said her mother taught her one of the poems and that she knew from the heart since she was a child, like all Chinese children. Challenges we face while talking about the poems was that for the Chinese students it was so easy for them to translate the poems to us, while we had problems translating the American poems to them. They explained to us every word in the poems and how to say to what it means and it was kind of sad that we weren’t able to do the same for them.
Maybe the next time we will try hard. They were just amazing!

One thing that I learn from these students was that they have a hunger for the English language. They want to know everything in the poems. They were very serious about it and they try to repeat what they learn. Chinese students are serious about education! It was an amazing experience. I always thought the Chinese language was very hard to learn but after listening to them it seemed nice and easy (I may try it sometime). I love how they write, too.

Thank you all for the amazing experience and have fun here!!!

Nadira Ibrahim

The Social Mixer with Chinese guests at OSU-Delaware

2008-07-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

The Social Mixer

My group work with the Chinese students went great. There was a student named Sean that I really connected with. I first met him during the trivia game when he asked me who Jim Thorpe was. During the answers I joked with him that I should receive an assist for helping him with the question since he got it right. I felt that was a good way to ease the nervousness of us both. It turned out that he was in my group. The group work went very well. They had good insight on the poem we did about the moon and how the man missed his family. They said the poem lost some of its beauty during the translation. The students really didn’t get the 7-11 poem (the poem is called Capitalism, by Campbell McGrath), and I honestly didn’t expect them to.

I was very surprised about their love for poetry, and when the recited a poem as a whole group I thought that was incredible. There were no real challenges in the discussion about the poems. I had a little trouble explaining the meaning of the 7-11 poem, but other than that we had good communication.

I learned a great deal from these students, and especially Sean. He told me about his life back in China. He also told me about how most people in China never use cars to get around until they get older, as opposed to Americans who use their car for everything. We talked about his experience here in the United States, and what he thought of the American people. We talked about sports and the Chinese athletes here in the United States, such as Yao and Yi Jianlian. He was a very smart individual and was one of the nicest individuals I have ever met. We exchanged e-mails and I hope to talk to him when he gets back to China.

I came away with the perception that people all around the world are the same in many aspects. I think we are all inherently good people, and we all like to have fun. Even with the language barrier we could communicate and express our genuine like for each other. I think if societies had more interaction we would see that we all have more in common than we think. This was certainly the case with Sean and me.

Matt Dixon
Student in Mike Lohre's Ohio State English 367 class

See you, Ohio

2008-07-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Life in Ohio left me with excitement, curiosity and a little pity. We experienced the fast pace and independence of academic life in America. We felt the passion and meticulosity of Americans. Though we all felt tired after we went back to hotel, we are very thankful for what we saw, heard and felt in the day. Thank you, Best Western for your great room and breakfast. Thank you, RPAC for your modern facility. Thank you, Columbus Historical Society for the moving pictures of the Pulitzer winners. Thank you, Macy’s for your diverse commodities. And thank you, other places for widening our sights. And thank you Mike for your sincerity. See you soon!
Written on 27th, July

KFC in Kentucky

2008-07-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Great lunch in Kentucky. Original KFC. Nice and funny hats they gave us. I'm not sure whether it's a cook's or a pirate's.

American Ways

2008-07-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

Early this afternoon, we had a somewhat trivial, tedious yet endless lecture. So I was planning to doze-off when a pastoral poet-looking old man came into the auditorium.

Once he began, I was refreshed.

He gave us an emotional and inspiring presention on American Ways by connect the present and the past. Starting from the idea that today is the extention of history, he read a few sentences from some critical documents in the US history which could represent the root of US spirit. Concepts like "We the people","under the God","government by the people for the people of the people" illustrated the culture and conventions of America.

Govenment services the people, hence Americans seem arrogant;
Personal inner circle is well protected, hence Americans say "Excuse me" tons of times.;
Creator keeps watching, hence Amerians work hard for the "holly rewards";
... ...

I always believe that both expressing oneself and understanding others are great arts which call for specific intelligences. But without knowing and respecting the ways of people behave, none of the talents could work.
I feel lucky to be sober during Professor Accawi's lecture. I love it !

ps: Even though it is crucial to distinguish "friendly" and "friend" in the US, I will always remember Mike's saying"we our group will be family after this three weeks" and never ever stop to contribute to our great familyship !

learning the poem of Flash Cards

2008-07-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Finally we can get access to free Internet. Since Mike mentioned we still had no entries about teaching the Chinese poems to American students, I'd like to talk about it a little bit because since now I haven't found anything exciting here, except for a passionate cowboy teacher.

That lesson on exchanging views on poems really impressed me, maybe because our group worked with two brilliant students, Amy and Esther, who are good teachers at explaining things and also eager to learn about foreign languages and culture. First they chose the Chinese poem An Autumn Night, which is about Chinese Valentines' Day, and we told them about the ancient myth of the heart-broken stars that they really love. Then we transfered to English poem Flash Cards by Rita Dove. The first time I read it, I was totally lost. But they explained it word by word with great patience, and of course with help from Mike, I finally got to know the feeling Rita wanted to express in this little poem, that is a mixed and complicated emotion. On one hand, she wanted to satisfy her father and make him proud of her, not disappoined of her. On the other hand, as a ten-year-old child, she wondered why she had so huge burdens on her and so many stuffs to learn. I have to say many Asian kids have the same experiences and feelings because the environment is full of competition. Actually I did have this strong feeling when I was a kid. So when I read the poem again and again, I kept thinking that there are some familiar things in each culture.

A lot of thanks to Amy and Esther, and also to Mike, to let me know more about America. Here I put this poem, to let all people appreciate it.

Flash Cards

In math I was the whiz kid, keeper

of oranges and apples. What you don’t understand,

master, my father said; the faster

I answered, the faster they came.

I could see one bud on the teacher’s geranium,

one clear bee sputtering at the wet pane.

The tulip tree always dragged after heavy rain

so I tucked my head as my boots slapped home.

My father put up his feet after work

and relaxed with a highball and The Life of Lincoln.

After supper we drilled and I climbed the dark

before sleep, before a thin voice hissed

numbers as I spun on a wheel. I had to guess.

Ten, I kept saying, I’m only ten.

Rita Dove

Minding the Home Fort, and delicious Victor-recipe Cabbage

2008-07-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hi students and friends! Well, I'm mainly posting tonight to say hello to the students as I have to work a couple days here at OSU before I can rejoin the group on Wednesday in New Jersey. But I'll be offering Road Scholar tidbits, history and music through the gmail and can't wait to catch up with everyone on Wednesday. Students, I missed you today and hope you had a great, safe trip today on the bus. I'm sure it was a long day and hope you were able to catch up on your rest on the bus.

I went to church this morning and so many people asked how the group was and said they were delighted to meet some new friends from China. I'm proud of the terrific impression you made on ALL the people here in Ohio! Then I cleaned house like a madman today, did laundry and made lists for all the things to do tomorrow. I will try to meet all the requests you made for business here in Columbus before I rejoin the group and I will start first thing tomorrow morning.

For fun tonight, Bob's mom Claudine called and of course she wanted to hear all about our week. So if you have a feeling about something you wish to write about, make sure you catch up on your blogging in Tennessee when and if you can! Thank you! We still have no entries about teaching the Chinese poems to American students, the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, the Olympic Quiz event and mixer, the shopping trip, Tech Columbus, and the Ohio Historical Society and all those powerful and dramatic photos that won Pulitzer Prizes.

Okay, enough suggestions and of course I know you have a busy schedule there too!

Claudine showed me how to make the cabbage tonight, as she learned from Miss Guan and the great recipe Victor gave to me for the Rock and Roll lunch, and our cabbage tonight was VERY good! I love that stuff and ate about one huge full plate of it. We will get better each time we make it but I ate each piece up as fast as Loki can eat a hot dog from your hand, and you know that is very very FAST! ha ha ha. Claudine joked that we can open a Cabbage Deli near the OSU campus and start a new business together. What do you think? I think we would have a lot of customers from Wuhan, lol!

Henry (Bob's dad), Claudine and I then had a nice supper together, so here are some pictures of our efforts. Yes, that's a pork chop too, and I ate that done to the bare bone. Yumm!

One last thing: I also talked to Bob briefly, as he was just starting his day in China, and he's so happy to read the blog and hear that the program is going well. He wishes everyone a great trip to Tennessee!

Of course remember you are Buckeyes now, so don't get your loyalties turned upside down, ha ha ha. Go Bucks!

Have a great time there, seriously, and good night students and friends.

The Roads Scholar,

Mike

P.S. And some of you students who wrote me, don't worry, I will get at least 8 hours of sleep tonight. No more dark circles under my eyes when you see me on Wednesday!

I LIKE THE CHURCH!I LIKE AMERICAN PEOPLE!

2008-07-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-07-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

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！

2008-07-25T04:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Special day

2008-07-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

“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

2008-07-22T20:43:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

The American church

2008-07-22T02:54:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-22T02:23:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

America QandA

2008-07-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

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.

A family

2008-07-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Though tired today, we knew each other better through running, yielding and laughing on sports courts and the grass; though sun tanned, we experienced the real American life—cooking and eating like a family. The process was the best thing to recall. On the baseball diamond, everyone swung hard to hit the ball as far as possible, ran fast to touch the bases and cheered up for scoring. Nobody cared or even remembered their nationality; everybody, native and foreign, enjoyed the national sport of America. It is, in my opinion, the only way that we can really experience the American culture and to understand Americans life style. In addition, after today’s outing, we all found that we knew each other better and many people started to talk to people they never had a conversation before. This is a good start!

I Love Wendy's!

2008-07-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

I’ve always been longing for a chance to eat in Wendy’s, which has been in many movies and TV shows, but not in China. Actually, there was a time when my English name was Wendy, which was given by my mother. So it makes Wendy’s more special to me. What also makes this chance more special is the appearance of the journalist from the TV station. I do not major in hosting, so I didn’t get to interview the journalist, but I made the photographer take a lot of pictures of my eating and advertised for Wendy’s shouting things like “it tastes really good”. Appearing in Ohio TV sounds so cool, right? Well, it does taste really good, especially the potato chips. Besides, in the car, Mike told us about the story of Wendy’s, which I personally love. I do love Wendy’s, and it deserves to be honored as pride of Columbus.

WE OHIO YOU

2008-07-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

Funny experience in Columbus,OH

2008-07-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

I've been here for 3 days and having a lot of fun. Certainly the campus tour and the leture on US government system in city hall were interesting and informative, but somehow, the funny part of me is also interested in something else that shows the fun side of common American people. So, let's have some American style of humor.

No.1 : interesting card in supermarket
We were wandering around in Giant Eagle, then I ran into this "awesome" card, it says:
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can
spend. A succesful woman is one who can find such a man. :D

No.2: lunch chat in campus
We had lunch in OSU students dinning hall yesterday and chatted a little with 2 high school boys who were in a sports camp here.
me: So the US government has some sort of sensorship?
Joseph(one of the boys): Yes, it's just because of detecting terrorism.
me: like how?
Joseph: It's just like...you may be detected by saying "oh...my oven
just exploded and the chicken were all bombed up!"
:P

No.3: funny laws in US
We listened to the lecture in city hall this morning and got to know that the state legislatures can pass laws as long as it doesn't defy the federal law or the Constitution. So you can find some really funny state laws. Here are some Ohio state laws I find from the internet:
It is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday.

It is illegal to get a fish drunk.

It is illegal for more than five women to live in a house.

No one may be arrested on Sunday or on the Fourth of July.

Haha,so have you got some American humor? come join us and find some more!

Shelley's Excellent Collage

2008-07-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

reflection on a detail

2008-07-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Another great day with sunshine, a full stomach and heavy legs. Besides all our practice of ”O""H""I""O", we get to know something serious and political--the government of America. After our pretending to be president or mayor of Columbus, we know more about the organization of American government. How it is elected and how it functions. From the handout according to the lecture, I noticed that citizens were always at the very top of every level of US government--federal level, state level and city level. I did not ask the speaker the reason of this arrangement due to time limit. But as a personal guess, I think this is the implication that the government, no matter how big or strong it is, should be the representative of its citizens and serve the majority of its citizens; no matter how small or poor it is, it should say and act for its people . Our government, I think, has the similar goal with America in this aspect but we can never see such arrangement in China. And that it what we should learn in addition to fun and relaxation.

We Rock!

2008-07-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Today is a wonderful day. First, we acted like officials of Columbus and took a lot of photos sitting on their chairs with their names on. It’s really cool. Later we went to the Statehouse. To tell the truth, I’ve never been so close to politics before.
Then we went to Saint Maria to take the “perfect” photos of the downtown, where the “photo for fun” suddenly became a competition of our inspiration of posing “O-H-I-O” in different ways. Our group, as Group E, certainly had a strong desire of winning. After a variety of poses, we finally came up with an idea of picturing our shadows, which is really a work of art, showing the perception “simple is the best”. Thanks Effi for her original idea.
We showed our great work to Ba Lin and Mike, who promised us a grand prize. Ba Lin said, “You girls rock!” Yes, we really rock!

Hello, America! Here we are!

2008-07-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

After a long long journey on the plane, we finally arrived in Chicago, U.S.A. Though tired, we were exited about the tour around Chicago downtown and the Navy Piers. But not until our first day in Ohio State University, did we get to know a real American college life.
We really had a good time today, and we are looking forward to the next ten days in Ohio. Here are a few diaries concerning our experiences and feelings today from reporters of our group.

First day in Ohio: The most impressible stadium

2008-07-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today we have been visit the campus of the University of Ohio. The environment there is really beautiful. As I can not find any appropriate word to describe this amazing campus in this nice land, so I just use a simple “beautiful”, but I think all of us can really feel that “beautiful”. Teachers there are also nice too. They are really warm, giving us a nice talk so as to let us know more detailed of both the Ohio and their University.
But for me, today it is their stadium that impresses me most. To tell the truth, although I am from Beijing, the capital of China and it may be able to be one of the best place in China, their Big, modern, multifunctional, convenient but cheap stadium really make me astonished. I saw their boys and girls were happy swimming in the cute small pool and I also could think of the swimmers competing in another professional swimming pool. Although I miss the chance to swim in this fantastic pool, I am glad I have played basketball in their equally nice basketball court. Mike and Balin are really nice players: Mike are really strong and when he run he just like a Bull, fast and power. I believe when he was in my age, he may be the best player of the college. Balin is a good shooter and his pass is also nice. And all the other guys also did a nice job. And then we four guys were also playing with two American guys, one of them was so strong ( like a small tank! yeah,really) that I dare not to defense him.
Those are some of my feelings to share with all of you, and I wish you will join us and speak out your feelings that we can enjoy it together.

Some feelings for my first day in the OSU

2008-07-17T22:11:00.001-07:00

After a quite exhausting day, presently in the midnight, I’m staying in my bed and trying to recall this whole day exciting experience. Actually I do have a word to share with all you guys.
For the all day long, I just keep continuously meeting very great people around the beautiful campus of OSU. I talk with them, make really good friend with them all and unbelievably get much information. I think I’m now sort of know better about the US and inhabitants here. I’m happy indeed.
Guess what, people here are really curious about Chinese people, more or less the same way we are curious about the US and her people. In this way, when we have a conversation, surprisingly I find out that, for the most time I’m the guy being asked questions. That’s interesting.
tell you what, native people here, black and white, are really nice, warm, and kind-hearted. They tell me a lot about how their daily life goes and how they feel about certain international affairs. In this way, we change opinions and become good friends, joking around and having a lot of fun.
About my true feeling about the United States, just as I told a student of the OSU when we sharing lunch in the student dining hall, I think is different, everything and everywhere. I want ask questions about some stuff, I’m too confused to decide where I should begin. So I give up eventually, and just keep my eyes open all along the way and listen carefully to what people near me are talking about.
Culture is a really big word. So if you get some really useful information about the cultural difference, you must come down to details in people daily life and talk naturally with local people without just asking questions, I think that may be kind of impolite.

Great OSU, a great day

2008-07-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

If you allow me to conclude the first day in OSU in one word, I would suggest excitement. Other words came in mind just after are curiosity and OHIO! OH~~IO! ~
With all things about RPAC, the most memorable moment is when I asked another Mike the best question of the day. And as a reward, I got the Recky!
Thank you Ba Lin, Mike and other officers for your warm greetings and orientation! We are looking forward to the next 10 days in Ohio because of you guys and of our wonderful experience in OSU today.

Wuhan 46 arrive safely

2008-07-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

We were hoping to have the students themselves posting tonight, but problems with the internet at the hotel is keeping many of them from simply emailing their family and friends back in China, and that is the important task right now, to let everyone know that all are safe and well here in the States, despite Wuhan-like heat and of course, jet lag.

But we had a great first day and the students were troopers, who took a campus tour this morning, had lunch at the cafeteria on the campus, and then enjoyed some relaxation, sports, and swimming at the Recreation facility this afternoon. We ended the day with a trip to the movies and some small shopping and eating adventures before going back to the hotel. All in all, a good first day, and hopefully some of the students will be here tomorrow with more specific words, memories, and reflections, along with stories and photos of the long trip from China (via Korea)!

Good night, friends, it's already tomorrow. Know that we are happy and well here in America after a full first day in Columbus.

Mike

Some feeling for my very first day in OSU

2008-07-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

First day in Ohio

2008-07-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

As a girl, the most shocking thing I first realized here is that Americans never use umbrellas to protect themselves from the burning sun. It's really lucky that I brought a hat here, but I am ready to let myself get a sun tan and look healthy.

The sports facilities in the OSU are pretty good. Maybe a good environment can encourage us to do sports and keep fit. If I were a student here, I would go to the RPAC everyday, bringing a book and a mp3, just to relax.

When I had lunch on the campus dining hall, I went to sit with an American and chat with him. It feels good talking to native people, by the way, Americans are nice and friendly to us. I learned a lot about current American society and the local people's perspectives about China. The experience indeed benefited me. Maybe tomorrow, or in the following days, I will try to talk to different people to help me gain more information which I am always longing to get.

I am ready to welcome you in Chicago

2008-07-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

Hi all students,

I will ride the big bus tomorrow to Chicago, "My Kind of Town". See you all at the airport.

Have a safe trip.

BA Lin.

We are very happy to know you are coming!

2008-07-13T14:35:00.001-07:00

Hello, good students in Wuhan, China! I hope by now you will have met our esteemed leader, Dr. Minru Lee and his right-hand team leader, Bob Eckhart. We trust they will give you a tremendous orientation for the journey you are about to begin.

In just two days, team leader Ba Lin will be meeting you at the airport in Chicago . He is really looking forward to meeting you all, and as team leaders we are both very excited for your safe arrival and the excellent Summer Program we believe we will have for you here in Columbus, Ohio, and destinations afar.

One great thing we can do on this trip is to use this blog that I have created. In fact, I will be giving the students some small assignments from time to time to make sure that we keep a record and a reflection of our travel and education. We want to include our friends in both China and America in your journey and this blog will allow that to happen.

Here's your first assignment, and I'm hoping Bobby Eckhart and Minru can help you do this. To post on this blog, all students will need a Gmail account. This is easy to set up when you get here, but it would be EVEN BETTER if you could set up a simple Gmail account BEFORE you come. If any of you students can get this done, kindly e-mail me at mikelohre@gmail.com with your Gmail address. This way, I can get you all added to the blog.

Have a SAFE and HAPPY journey to Chicago, and see you later this week. We can't wait to see you and begin to BUILD BRIDGES between the United States and China, through travel, study, and friendship.

All best,

Mike Lohre