Journal #13

My Holiday
I am so sad to have a fever in the vacation, so I did not go to anywhere far. But on this Friday I and my friends got up early in the morning, waited in the long line for the deal.
I did not buy anything, just went with them to feel. It was crazy to wake up earlier than the sun to buy things. Then in the afternoon, we went to see the sea. It was so cold on the beach, but I had fun. We also bought a bottle of fish from the fish man with a very low price. Although I did not feel good when I got back from the beach, I still love the sea.

Journal #12

This year is very important in my life. Now, I am here in the US to study. This year is the new start of my life. Actually, this is my own decision of gonging aboard to study. Whether it will be good or bad, I will try my best to keep going on. Just as what I said, this year is a significant year of my life, and many things happened. However, there are three people that I really want to say thank you to them.
First of course, I want to thank my parents. Because of my decision to study abroad, a lot of things changed in our family. At first, they are worried about me to live in a foreign country by myself. I insist on it, so they agree with me at last. I hope they can forgive my willfulness, and thank them for support me either in spirit and economics.
Then, I want to thank my best friend in China. Before our graduation from university in China, we had a long talk. We talked a lot, deeply and profoundly. We aid anything that we wanted to say to each other without mind. We talked about each other’s advantages and disadvantages. We talked about the people and the future. We also talked about the different point of view about love and marriage. After that conversation, we really felt we were much closer than ever before. I also have a lot of benefit from that conversation. As a result, I really appreciate she can talk with me so honestly and frankly. I got a lot of different views about the life during the talk, and this kind of talk is truly helpful.
Everyone told me that it is not an easy and comfortable choose to go abroad, and I never consider this will be easy and light. However, I never expect troubles to come so early, even when I just arrived at the US. When I first arrived here, someone here should have already found a place for me to live. However, things changed. When I arrived here, I was told that I have no place to live. Then, the person who picked me up left me at his friend’s house for three days without any message. It was so far from school, and I could not go to school without a car. He should find another place for me to live because I have already paid him. Anyway, he did not show up. I was so worried those days, so I bought a mobile phone by myself, and called my parents for help. Just at that night, I received a phone call from the house where I live in now saying that they have place for me to live and can pick me up to school every day. It was just like the light in the dark, the fuel in the snowy and cold weather. Until now, I still appreciate they can offer me the place to live, even though I also have to pay them.
These three people are the people I mostly want to thank in this year. I wish they can have a nice time during the rest of their lives.

Journal#11

"Familiarity breeds contempt." --Aesop

The more familiar we are with someone, the more things we will ignore between us.

For example when we are with our parents, it is ok to say anything or do anything, because we are so familiar with each other, and we are used to the ways that we get along with each other. Gradually, we find more and more disadvantages of parents, we always feel shamed when they do something wrong. We always have no patient to teach them one thing again and again. Sometimes when we see someone else’s parents do something, we will think it would be good if our parents do the same thing to us. We always see things that they do insufficiently rather than to see all the things they gave us.

Also, when we make friends, the long we get along with one person, the more drawbacks we will find from him/her. Sometimes, at last, we will think this person is not worthy to be friend with.

Because nobody is perfect, we always can find shortcomings from one person. We will find more if we get along with him/her for a long time. This is why we may have contempt for people that we are familiar with.

Journal#10

Prop 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)

Now, In California, except the presidential vote, the most important proposition is the Proposition 8, titled “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry”. And the text added to the constitution was: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
This topic is so controversial, and always people who have their own opinions will insist in their opinions whatever other people try how hard to convince them.
In my mind, first I think it has no influence on me, and I do not care if they can marry to each other illegally. But now, I have changed my mind, I think the Same-Sex Couples can live together, but they should not require marrying to each other illegally. It is such a challenge to the original opinion of culture. Many things in our lives will be changed. Same-Sex Couples Marriage also cannot be accepted by many religions. And, I think this is the most main reason that people oppose Same-Sex Couples Marriage. Anyway, it is not a beautiful picture for me to see two gays or two lesbians kissing each other or doing some even exaggerating motion in front of me.
Now, it is not the quite right time to allow the Same-Sex Couples to get married legally. Any significant change in the society needs time for people to accept it. Now, people do not understand the marriage of Same-Sex Couples, but maybe 20 years later, people can easily agree with such thing. For now, this kind of thing overturns many people’s religion and the old culture in the US.
Now, to allow Same-Sex Couples to marry has too many blockages on the way ahead, so just keep the Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry, and raise it 10 years later, and maybe it will get a better result.

Journal #9

All-purpose Notebook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP-reW1eLYE

The website above is a video on Youtube.
In this video, you can see the person use this notebook to do everything. You can draw anything on the notebook and it will become true. The people use it as a computer, play guitar, scan the face, use it as a toaster and take bread and cheese from the book. It just like Dolamon’s magic pocket, you can use it do everything in the world. The video looks like a magic and happy fairy tale, and to own a notebook like this is the dream of every child. However, even though now I am an adult and I know it is impossible that this notebook can exist, I still wish I could have one.

Journal#8

In this 8 weeks’ study, I have improved a lot in composition. I used to have a big problem in writing an essay, and I always did not know what to write. Now, I know more about the structure of the composition. Things are much easier when I follow the outline. It is also very useful to learn all the things about the research paper. Now, I can well organize the composition, use the transition signal correctly, and write an essay much more easily than before.

However, I still have to improve my vocabulary. I should use the difficult words instead of the easy words. I also have to practice more about the time writing. I always could not finish the time writing in the class. As a result, in the next 8 weeks, I will remember more words, and do more practice on the time writing. I will do the time writing on the computer to raise my typing speed for my coming test.

It is not easy to do well in the composition, there are too many skills acquired. But I will try more practice, so that at the end of this semester, I can write a wonderful essay easily.

Werid Themed Restaurants

Some of the reataurants are strange, some of them are scared.

http://weburbanist.com/2008/08/10/15-of-the-strangest-themed-restaurants-from-buns-and-guns-to-cannabalistic-sushi/

Journal #7

My Favorite Movie - The Butterfly Effect

This is a good time travel movie. The film was directed by the team of Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, and this is a dramatic movie.
Evan (Ashton Kutcher) is the male leading role in this movie. He had an ability of going back to the past and change things that had happened by reading diary or seeing videos. At first, he knew nothing about this ability. He always had some periods of memories for blank when he was a child. As a result, his mother took him to the doctor, and the doctor suggested him to keep a journal to help him to remember things. Evan had a difficult childhood, and after a terrible thing happened, his mother decided to move to a new place to live. Evan had to say goodbye to his little girlfriend Kayleigh (Amy Smart), but he promised to come back for her. Then many years later, Evan was already in the university, and he did not keep touch with Kayleigh. One day when he read his journal, he felt like he went back to the past. And then he went to see Kayleigh, but he found that she did not have a good life. On the second day after he saw Kayleigh, her brother Tommy (William Lee Scott) told him Kayleigh died last night. Since then, he began to go back to the past to correct the mistakes, wishing to make a better life for Kayleigh. However, every time he changed one thing, a series of things changed after that, and the trip only made matters worse. Therefore, at the end, he used the video to go back to the party where he met Kayleigh, and he threatened Kayleigh at the party, so they never knew each other.
I like the last scene that he was in the hospital and tried hard to go back to the very beginning with the video best, because he at last decided to go out of Kayleigh’s life to let her happy, and everybody had a happy life in the end. He loved Kayleigh so much, but he knew she would not happy to be with him, so he let her go. It is so hard to make a decision like this, but also it is hard to realize that you do things wrong.
From this movie we can find that you cannot change the past even though you have this ability. We always want to go back to the past to correct the mistakes, but we cannot, so the more important thing is that we live a life without regret, even though we may make mistakes, we have to accept them and never make these mistakes again.

Journal #6

Shadow Wolves
The Shadow Wolves are a group of people in the desert of the American Southwest. They are all Native Americans. Their main task is finding and stopping illegal drug dealers. However, sometimes they are asked to help rescue people who become lost in the desert. They can use the ancient skills, tracking. They always say that, “In brightest day, in darkest day, no evil shall escape my sight, for I am the Shadow Wolf.” Anyway, the Shadow Wolves do not only use their ancient tracking skills. They also use modern devices. The Shadow Wolves also share their skills with other countries. They traveled to foreign countries to teach police, guards and officials the ancient methods of tracking.
The job of the Shadow Wolves is dangerous but important. They are protecting the country from the drugs.

Journal #5

If tourism is an important source of revenue to a country, it means many more people visit this country every year, and people always cause problems.
To clean the garages that tourists produced will be a big project. In some tourist spots, it is impossible to put dustbins everywhere. For example, on the mountain, the path is very dangerous, so there is no space to set a garbage bin. Furthermore, it is also quite difficult to clean the dustbins. And in some certain scenic spots, it will be strange to set a dustbin there. Consequently, it will be a big problem, if tourists throw the garbage everywhere.
To protect the environment of the scenic spots will also cost a lot of money. As I just mentioned, if tourists throw garbage everywhere, a huge amount of money will spend in employing people to keep the scenic spots tidy. People also need to clean the dustbins every day.
If there are lots of people gathering in the same places, accidents will occur easily. We always can see the news that people get hurt in the famous tourist spots on holidays because of the overcrowding. And if the foreign tourists get hurt in tourist spots, complicated international political problems will occur.
As a result, while we are developing tourism, the problems caused by tourism cannot be ignored either.

Journal #4

California is a wonderful place to live, study and visit. I like where I live, Rowland Heights. And when I go to LA Downtown, I also have fun there.

In Rowland Heights, you can always see the houses around, and you can hardly see tall buildings here. So I was a little bit of disappointed when I just arrived here. But then I find it is interesting and comfortable to live in place like this. It is quiet and clean, not crowded. On the other hand, in LA Downtown, there are tall buildings all over the city, and more people in the city. It is always lively and busy there. You cannot feel lonely there because you can see people around you.

In Rowland Heights, if you want to go shopping you will drive for a while to get to the place. Shops here are more like supermarkets, and there are few malls in Rowland Heights. As a result, if you are crazy about shopping, you cannot be satisfied here. However, in LA Downtown, there are malls, private shops and shopping streets. I really like to buy things in private shops for their own unique styles. I always get surprise in such stores.

In conclusion, these two places are both nice in different aspects. Rowland Heights is comfortable for living, and LA Downtown is a nice place for shopping and playing.

Journal #3

Hi, this is Jin Yang Liu, and you can call me Elva. I am from China. I want to enter the graduate school after the ALP program. And my major in China is pharmacy, so I want to continue to study it in the USA. My hometown is Shenyang, a city in the northeast of China. It’s also one of the co-host cities holding the football games for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I like shopping, if someone of you want to find someone to go shopping with, you can tell me. And I am crazy about all kinds of food, so you also can ask me if you want to try some new food. I also like to go out to travel or just go somewhere near to have fun. I love misic and movie. I have so many hobbies except studying.

I just have been in the US for 3 weeks so everything is so unfamiliar and fresh to me. When I just got to the airport in LA, I felt a little of strange. There were all people around you saying another language. But what is the most uncomfortable thing to me is that a man was staring me all the time. Anyway he was kind, because he smiled at me, I still could not used to such this thing.

And it is quite different between cities in China and here. There are all houses here, but in China they are mostly flats for people to live in. High buildings can be seen everywhere in Shenyang, but they are merely to see here. The weather here is also not like my city that I used to live in, as it is too dry and has too much sunshine here. I always need to drink water.

There are really some things that seem weird to me. First, when you are going to walk across the street you should press the bottom that is set beside the street. There is no such thing in China, so I am not used to it at the beginning. Second, when I go home, I can see hills along the road, but the grass on the hills is yellow. Why? I mean it is summer now. And then people here tell me that the grass will turn green in winter. However, I still cannot understand things like this. And the traffic code here is different from that in China as well.

But in a word, I like to study here, and I will try to get used to things around me as soon as possible.