start of something new~
leaving without saying gd bye is not my style. but why not?
don't come back~ Xanga~a place full of sadness for me
hehe, just leave today's diary as saying something other than "bye". a subtle way of saying GD bye~
Jan 5th, 2009
On Amtrak—California Zephyr
Car 532, Room 13
Cloudy in the morning, will the sun come out later? Hope so.
Inter-cultural talk—by the way, I don’t like this title……..
Dining on Amtrak is not only to get full but also a social event which is really an unexpectedly fantastic experience. Each meal you went at different time slot and sat at different table and met different people.
The animal ecologist and his grandson who loves dinosaur—dinner on Jan 3rd, 2009.
After saying hi, they sat opposite to us quietly. It is reasonable as people expected scientists to be less sociable. Although we did have several nice eye-contacts, I did hope we can somehow break the embarrassing silence. But I am a passive person who only responds to other’s moves.
Luckily, in the end we turn out to have a little small talk. It maybe American culture that people seldom talk about/ complain bad things to strangers. So though it seemed to me that the ecologist was not satisfied by his routine, kind of boring, and poor-paid job, he claimed to us it was his dream job without passion. It may be that he liked the job but not its salary…….
The Californian guy who is talkative and humorous, a French woman who can speak many kinds of languages—Breakfast on Jan 4th 2009.
I got up late and late for the breakfast. Kenneth came to ask me for breakfast--unexpected and moved~. But I knew soon after that the waiter would not serve him without my presence…..anyway, I don’t end up in eating breakfast on my own.
Hey, babie! It’s not that bad. You can do it and do it in a fun way. You can always find out the most and the most beautiful out of the world. even that's your boyfriend or husband or whatever, There is no such thing that you can’t live without somebody. So don’t pretend that way though it’s sweet. But you know, we can be sweet without being weak. Not a big deal. Cool.
Ann and Bill, who are a lovely and sweet couple, they are easy-going and nice—Lunch on Jan 4th 2009.
‘Good afternoon, I am Ann, this is Bill’
A nice and simple introduction is followed by handshaking and a long and pleasant conversation between us. Thanks so much for telling me that how easy to be nice and to start a conversation. And how nice people can be and how lovely the world is. We don’t need to be self-protected and self-contained. We can open up ourselves and share and appreciate each other’s cool life.
They are polite and kind. It was such a pleasant experience to chat with them. But I did wish I can learn how to talk in a more polite way (I always tried to interrupt other’s talking and divert the conversation into another topic—which I think it’s rude)and know more(most of the conversations are focus on the surface of two cultures and big issues in the world. But I can still lose myself sometimes. I wish I have had much better understanding of my own culture and country that I can tell them more, and I learn more about the American culture, history, geography and society. So we can have better understanding). It was so nice that they think high of China and like China, no discrimination against Chinese which I expected although I definitely believe the communication between different cultures are easy but important for understanding and getting well along with each other.
Sarah and again the Californian guy again –dinner on Jan 4th 2009.
Sarah, a Canadian undergraduate major in geography?, travels on her own in US. Her boyfriend is too busy to travel along with her. Busy he is~ Maybe~. They will work it out hopefully. Or not. Then kindly say goodbye and get over it. I’m sick of torturing myself and others on love issues.
The dislike look from the sophisticated Californian guy told me that sometimes, I act like a child. Yeah, inappropriately~ grow up. You are 22 already. So act like an adult. Be mature and responsible. It’s not cute to act like a child but foolish and naïve.
The Californian guy is a teacher in the colleges. He becomes interested in me when he knew that I am studying in Berkeley, sorry for Kenneth. Yeah, being a researcher in medicine seems a respectful job. And being a doctor is well paid but unbearable? It may not be true as this is only casual talks so find more concrete evidence and try out yourself.
Bill and Lorry—Breakfast on Jan 5th 2009.
Bill is a republican (wow~surprise~I had thought the republican were sophisticated, arrogant, strict and hard to get along. On the opposite, Bill is humble and nice and talkative. So have more understanding instead of going too far on stereotyping people.) And a big fan of history (thanks for telling us a lot of stories of exploration of the west by the pioneers in the early American history and also the mysterious disappearance of the humble river).
Lorry is an elegant lady and a good helper and supporter of her husband’s career. They are both travel back to California. They used to own a software company. And I guess they are a host family for foreign exchange students. And they put a lot of effort into educating their children and the students who stay at their lovely home. They make their children well aware of the outside world by accommodating exchange students from all over the world and persuading their children to go on trip around the world and discuss the history and developments of other countries in the world outside USA.
Another thing that touched me is that they love each other deeply, not passion but you can definitely feel it all around, in the air.
One of their sons is the vice chancellor of computer in Berkeley? Really? Hehe, a small world. (sorry, I stole too many opportunities to talk from Kenneth. Most of the conversation is occupied by me. Don’t do it again).
Strange~ when being asked ’where you are from?’, Chinese or HK people would feel more proud to tell they are from “Hong Kong”. But on the contrary, the American will respect and admire you more when you considered yourself coming from “China”. This is all because people in China or HK focus on the present living condition and unreasonable superiority in their places and foreigners are concerned with the rise of Great China in the near future.
Without doubt, China is going to be the central stage of the world in 21st century. They love china and travel a lot into china, I bet even more than me………which I shall thanks for their efforts into understanding an exotic and backwards culture but I shall also feel ashamed that I have so limited understanding of and contribution to my own country.
Not only travelling, they also compare the places (HK before and after 1997) and history of China and the western and also aware of the current situation of China and the rest of the world. Well, there are still a lot of Americans who have no interests and knowledge in the places other than US. You can tell this from the newspaper and media as they only report news in US and Israeli~ Asia is non-existent and they don’t care about what European think as they consider the European are past tense.
What I will do? What I will contribute to the rise of china and what I can make use of this to facilitate my own personal development? I am glad that finally I realize this issue. Shall I go back to china? It seems a lot of opportunities for me. But how, where and when? Or never? I definitely appreciate the fact that I have the chance to go abroad to see the world and understand other more and myself more. But it is maybe the time to focus back onto my own country to seek the opportunity.
We did talked about the medical issue and issue of an aging world later
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