I saw whales!

Animal World is one of my favorite TV programs. And of this program , I like to see the Sea World most. When I think of the Sea World, I always like to think of the whales——they are always very fascinating and interesting for me . Unfortunately , they are also very mysterious ,too. Maybe it just because they are too big and we don’t have a big enough pool to raise it. Or it because they are the animals who should born wildly and freely, it so cruel to take away their freedom. So ,although I had went to a lot of aquariums in China, I hadn’t seen any alive whale, only their bones.

But when I got to Boston, I saw an advertisement .It said I could see the whales by boat in the high seas. It sounds amazing! So I decided to give up some sights in my plan to see the whales without hesitate.

It took me one and a half hour to go to the high seas where we could find the whales. It just the constant route the whales will pass only in a period of the summer. And we were so lucky to find six humpback whales! Two mother whales and four baby whales. The baby whale were very active to jump out of the water . They didn’t even afraid of the ship and swam toward our ship. It just like they were doing a show for us, they were very cute and amazing!

The guide could even tell the name of them just by their tails! I couldn’t at all. It made me think I just a passer-by of these amazing creature and didn’t know them well at all. I was so envy about this talent of the guide. I hope one day ,I could also have more chance to contact with these amazing creature in the earth ,and maybe I can also tell their difference just by their tails!

be locked out

 I live in a single room in Yale . Although there are a lot of advantages for living alone， when you forget your keys and be locked out, you wouldn’t think like that.

One day , I remembered I had left the door open when I went to take a shower. But when I finished the shower and got out from the bathroom, I was astonished by the closed door. I was wrapped the bath towel, standing outside the door and felt very helpless, because it was already passed 3:00 am, I thought everyone should had slept.

I wanted to call the staff for help, but I didn’t have the phone. So I knocked the door of administrator, and there was no response as expected. But I found her key was just on the lock, so after a short time for thinking, I finally decided to open the door. Than I found she was sleeping on the bed but her phone was just on the desk. So I just took out her phone silently like a thief  because I didn’t want to wake her up. And I was very happy to find that there was no password of her phone.

I tried to found the paper which has the number of the staff. It used  to be stuck on the door. But it had gone in that emergency! Luckily, when I was worried, a man who came out from the playroom was just passing by my door.

“Are you locked out?”

“Yes” I said in embarrassment.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, do you have the number of the Yale security?”

“Actually , I do have!”

He said and show me the number. But because I didn’t have the glasses in that time, I couldn’t see the number clearly. So I stretched my arm to him with the phone in my hand and he laughed:

“Okay, I know”

 Than he helped me to put the number.

“I am so happy to be helpful, it really have a distance to go to the office.” He said.

Especially when I wearing like this! I added in my heart.

“Really thank you !”I said to him and called the staff.

Finally, a middle-aged man came and helped me open the door. I was so exhausted after the whole thing and hoped I could have a roommate.

Philadelphia and Washington DC

Last weekend, I went to Washington DC with a group of my classmates. We rented a car and a driver to take us from Yale to Philadelphia, and then to Washington DC.When we got to Philadelphia, we only had a little time to see Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. Standing on the street of Philadelphia, I could tell its history from the old buildings . But I liked it, as if the old days came in front of my eyes.

 Liberty Bell

standing on the street

We went to the Capitol in Washington DC in Saturday’s morning. The weather was warm and comfortable. And the Capitol was so beautiful . It had a white round dome , and a statue of liberty was standing on the dome wearing with a high hat.

the weather is wonderful

Stand in the Capital , you could see a long grass through the heart of the city. 

the long grass go throught the heart of the city

I spent almost a whole day in the Natural History Museum. I thougt it was even interesting than Metropolitan Museum of Art! In fact , there were a lot of children in the museum, maybe the children's things suit me.

see butterfly in the green house

There were a lot of interesting things in the museum. I even touched the stomach of a big mantis! And the most famous thing in that museum was the gem. Women all loved gem! I saw a lot of different and top-level gems in the museum and I do want to have one in my dream~

the Hope

the beatiful gems

the original ore of gems

the final impresion of America

I have spent a really busy month in America.

I still remember the first day I arrived, the car picked me up at Newark Airport after the long trip. But I didn’t want to sleep in the car at all. I opened my eyes to see everything passing by. When the car stopped in the service station, I walked into it. The station was full of people .I saw a big Golden Retriever sitting by his master, a lot of people were standing in the line to buy some ice cream or hamburgers whose brands I had never seen before. I picked a bottle of water which I hadn’t recognized. Everything seemed amazing to me .

When I got to Yale, I started the busy life of learning . In the first week, because of time difference, I got up at 5:00 am every morning .So I could take a leisurely breakfast and go to the class early. But as I adapted to the life here , getting up early in the morning became more and more difficult~

Beside the busy work days, I had even more busy weekends every week. I tried my best to see America and those was really amazing experiences for me to see the outside world  for  the first time.

Maybe for somebody, one month sounds like a long time. But for me , since I began to love it , I have to say goodbye to it now. Although I usually have to stay up late in the night to finish the homework and be bothered by a lot of trouble came in my life , I also got used to the brand of the water and ice cream, I learnt how to take the train or bus or plane to wherever I want to  go in America . I tried to learn how to live in an unknown city by myself.

But I know, what I have seen in this month is just the tip of the iceberg. I still need to learn a lot of things in America ,and I really want to have a try. Say goodbye but not forever, I am also at the threshold of the next period of my life, now. Life is continuing, I am growing.

Boston

I went to Boston by myself last weekend. Solo trip again, which I found I really enjoy .

Compared with New York, Boston is more fascinating in its easy life.

When I walked into Common Park, an instrument’s sound surprised me immediately. “ Is it an ErHu?” I thought. Than I found a Chinese old man was sitting there and playing ErHu attentively. He even played the songs of FengHuangChuanQi (a famous group in China which is widely loved by middle-aged people).With that sound, I felt I was walking in a park in China——it’s really weird.

walking along Charles River, I thought it was a really beautiful river. The most fascinating thing was ,people could swim just in the big river or rowed the small and narrow roofless boat used the oars . Some people were just lying on the platform built in the river, taking sunbaths and seemed very relaxed. I don’t know  exactly what the definition of happiness is,but I thought maybe one kind of happiness is just like this.

I was lying on the grass of the park, under a big old tree, enjoying the shadow given by the tree, trying to observe the people walking by. I found the sky was too blue to believe, it was just like the sky in the oil painting. Under the blue sky and white clouds , there were some houses with typical European style. It was just like I burst into a world which only existed in the Grimm’s fairy tales.Finally,I fell asleep on the grass,and dreamed deeply of the Grimm's world.

New York (part 2)

“Ok, I’ll return you half of the money” he said and tried to walk away.

“What? I just bought it one minute ago!”

As we were arguing, another group of people were coming and was interested in the tickets sold by the scalper. A girl who had heard what I said asked : “Why doesn’t she want this ticket?”

I looked at this girl and just smiled at her, I hoped she could know what I meant. The black guy wanted to walk away , but I just followed on the heels of him and kept speaking in a louder tone : “I don’t want this ticket!”

So , the girl kept asking the man: “Why? Why doesn’t she want this ticket?” The man began to fair I would ruin his business , so he said to the girl: “You heard ? She said her friends had bought a ticket for her!”

“I want $40 back” I added( he even have charged me the tips which I didn’t intend to give him).

He gave me $40 back quickly and I walked away.

I was so sorry I couldn’t tell the truth to the girl straightly, hope she could know what I meant in that smile.

So, I have a question in my heart. Why are the scalpers so furious in America .They even have the machine to print the tickets, who gave them the machine?

With these questions ,I got up to the top of Empire State Building. Thanks for the beautiful night scene, it comforted my upset caused by the scalpers and the long queue.

A talent makes me unusual

In China, there was a period that in order to encourage people to 

ask for a receipt from sellers to prevent tax evasion, the government 

issued a kind of receipt that was also a scratch prize. And the prize 

could be a little money ,for example 10 RMB which was about 

$1.6 , or a big prize which could be a lot of money.

Although there were a lot of people who got different receipts 

everyday, not everyone could win a prize .For example, my 

dad was the one who got the most receipts in our family ,but he 

never won a prize .

So ,here is my amazing talent——I can win a prize every time. If the receipts’ face value was 10RMB I would win a 10RMB 

prize. And if I have more than three 10 RMB receipts , the 

possibility of my scratching two prizes is very big.

People who have seen this all thought it was unbelievable , and I also 

thought it was amazing just like I could do magic and I didn’t 

know why. Many people have not seen the prize until they ate 

with me , and when I got the prize ,they all said surprisingly: “ 

why I have never found that it is so easy to win the prize? How 

did you make that?” and I just said “I don’t know, maybe luck?” 

 I often ate outside in restaurants with my cousin 

during that time because he didn’t have a girlfriend in that time. 

Once he got a girlfriend ,he abandoned me immediately and I 

couldn’t find him anywhere . He was very doubtful with this 

talent of mine .So, when I was scratching ,it just like gambling 

between us. He always bet that I couldn’t win a prize 

and he laughed at me : “why are you taking it so seriously “ 

and when I won ,he would say:” restrain yourself ,miss. Don’t eat at

this restaurant again .”

Some people joked that maybe I have the good fortune to get 

some easy money, and my mom said :”what easy money ,it's just a 

little luck to win some small prize.”

 I also don’t know why I always had this little luck. Why  can’t they

be saved up and become  big luck and a big prize ? I know it 

is greedy, in fact ,I was satisfied with these small prizes and felt 

very happy every time when I won them.

Unfortunately , the government found a new method to prevent 

tax evasion, so they changed the receipts and no more scratch 

area at all. It is nothing for most people except me. I can’t get a

discount anymore!

However ,I believe ,there is still a lot of luck in my life. Maybe it is 

just an on time subway or comfortable shoes ,but I enjoy them 

and appreciate them . And I still believe, I have a special talent to 

get luck and that makes me unusual.