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July 06 美国国庆日终于到了美国国庆的周末--4th of July. 前一天下午就开始休息,去看了电影Wall-E太可爱了,可以跟功夫熊猫匹敌,然后又去了SAM美术馆参观...
国庆这天,我们去了vashon island.一个朋友和她美国老公住在这个岛上. 坐公车再转轮渡,这个岛就像与世隔绝一样. 但是有钱人都把度假山庄买在这里~~朋友的老公开着一辆新买的jaguar跑车朝我们奔过来,探出头来却发现是个小老头,说话貌似都不太清楚了...再到他们家转--靠海的房子,夏天都从来没有蚊子,家里的家具都是从中国ship过来的,因为那个美国老头喜欢中国的东西.靠墙的书柜上都是中文书籍,还有中文盗版碟子,仔细一看原来都是porn啊...这个老头///
Somehow I felt a bit depressed-or hard to describe my feelings. My friend is not young(but not as old as her husband), but she has a good job in china and friends and everything...then she met this man in china, when he was teaching in a university, and then they got marriad and she quit her job and came to the US. The man is rich, of course, so the woman doesnt have to work-although she wants to. So she spent the first year cleaning up and remodelling their house and started to learn English. That's how I met her, in the ESL class at UW. I have met so many chineses women like this here. However, their american husband are all divorced from their previous marriage, old and rich. I should say those people are kind and nice too, but I just dont know what life would be like for them...i guess they do love each other. but i do think those chinese women could find better marriage in china, but again, what "better" marriage means, really depends on what they think.
I know, as a woman, sometimes we tend to want to find a husband who is successful and rich enough so that we dont have to work. "marry a rich guy"---now I understand what you have to sacrifice-it's much easier to gossip others than doing it yourself. Independence. That first means being independent economically. If i have a good job, i really dont have to rely too much on a man. Second, to me at least, I cant imagine doing housework all day without learning new things.It is because of the education that i have got so far. That would be such a waste if I quit my interest and research...but i think all women, sacrifice a lot for the family, no matter if she likes it or not.
最后晚上10点,烟花表演开始.每年这个岛上的烟火都是一个富豪出资, 在一艘停在海中央的船上放的.第一次这么近看烟花,而且没有太多人在旁边,此刻gasworks park肯定人满为患...可是....
         June 26 暑假汇报暑假学期开始第3天了,我在学校language learning center的工作也正式开始,早上从9点工作到下午1点,然后1:10又要狂奔去另一栋楼上语言学的课. 累啊!不过学期开始都是这样,什么都是新的,随处都要勤问.
现在意识到这个Graudate Staff Associate工作还是挺爽的,虽然1天要工作4小时,但是这4小时可以自由安排,除非有ELP的老师要我在课上给学生orientation. 第1天完全没有什么事情,第2天突然有老师要来说要orientation,害的我1小时内又是印handout又是查语音材料. 不过给学生和老师orientation还是感觉很好的,其实就是讲怎么用2个录音和听音的program--Soloist and Audacity, 但是学生对technology的熟练程度真的相差很多--昨天Eng102(给TA的口语课)上明显几个中国学生不用我怎么讲就会用了,我还在寒他们是不是计算机系的....但是正如其他有经验的GSA所说，"just pretend that you know everything!" 对电脑技术这个事情我在国内一直觉得自己知道的不多，可是到了美国,尤其在英语系,尤其在ESL Program的老师中间,我竟然还成了懂的最多的...关于怎么利用网络和一些软件上英语课和帮助学生自学,我已经讲过好几次presentation.所以国内的盗版猖狂还是有好处的,我用过太多的免费资源而美国人都还没接触过...还有年轻就是接受快啊~~我现在讲的2个program也是最近才学会的...
虽然上学期一直研究technology and teaching, 现在才体会到到底有哪些实际的challenge. 要讲清楚怎么使用一个软件,也是十分不容易的事情,而且学生会有各种各样的问题,我都要当场troubleshoot, 真是有点stressful啊...
不过呢,这个工作经验还是非常宝贵，加上可以赚钱免学费还有保险, 我也没多想就留下来了.
再说说这个语言学的课,虽然在国内上过了,但是这里讲的有点不一样.最不一样的就是对于native speaker来说,他们学这些都是descriptive的,就是说他们先天生有了这个语言,然后再学如何分析描述这个语言的结构组成; 而对我们,习得英语的过程就是prescriptive的, 先知道语言规则,再知道现象. 更大的一个发现:美国用的IPA国际音标居然和我们在中国学的有些不一样, 比如i:和i, 这里写做i和I; 老师说2种都是IPA,只是前者给人误解是i:和i只有长度上的区别,其实他们更大的区别是质量上--舌头的位置. 非常有道理啊.中国的学生很多以为sheet和shit就是长短i的区别,其实根本就是2个不同的元音啊!
西雅图的夏天,果然是最漂亮的季节. 我十分惊叹太阳的力量,她出来的时候,整个城市就仿佛换新了一样,蓝天白云,草仿佛也更绿了, 路上的人好象也更fashionable了些,吊带墨镜都出现了. 灰天细雨低云飘咖啡香味的冬天终于过去了.
试图从routine的生活中,找到些乐趣.开始计划东部旅行计划了: DC--NYC--Boston--Buffalo--Toronto...其实,这里也有好多地方想去:bellevue微软, 很多的小岛like San Juan Island, Mt rainer and Helen, 还有坐greys anatomy里的ferry boat...
June 22 fremont solstice parade (PG13)solstice就是一年中日照时间最长的一天. 对西雅图人来说,这一天意味着漫长的阴雨天气终于要过去,宜人明媚的夏天开始的日子.
这一天全城的人都出动,聚集在最有艺术氛围最前卫另类的Fremont, 等待庆祝这个节日的花车游行和naked bicycling!
非常激动地等到了naked bicycler一拨一拨地出现.美国人确实开放...群众中笑声不断.(PG13+ plz see my web-album at picasa)
  蓝爸爸 一个警察也穿的相当可爱,一直很大声地烘托气氛~ 
花车也接着来了.
美女
吉普塞女郎
加勒比海盗
粉红女郎
僵尸
海盗开炮
鸵鸟大叔 三明治 
这个男的非常漂亮
可爱的小孩 
收捐款的小孩
这个最搞笑:在游行的终点, gasworks park 
naked tiger and his girlfriend 
June 05 graduation timeIt's the graduation time for Huskies!! These days you can see purple and golden stuff everywhere on UW campus, and the air is filled with husky spirit! Although the torch part looks like a candy cane, the flame part is very dynamic:) The guy told me I am the first one who asked for an olympic torch for the past five years that he has picked up this job:) so i could tell that he blanked out for a second:) Then I also told hime i want a Husky too!!
May 29 delilah and NYC"hey there delilah i know times are gettin hard but just believe me girl someday ill pay the bills with this guitar we'll have it good we'll have the life we knew we would my word is good..."
very nice song. very nice guy. very clean and sincere voice. almost make me believe what u said. however...how u gonna pay the bill with only your guitar while delilah wants New York City?!
 May 28 turing pointToday in our Content-based ESL class, we had a really cool guest speaker who shared us an activity he did with his ELL kids (those who dont speak English as their 1st language in high school). He asked us to do the same thing: write down three turning points in your life with picture illustration. And he modeled by showing his own "autobiography". There was one when he run away from home when he was 14...So we all started to write our own stories and got to share afterwards. The activity was great because it suddenly brought us together as a family and we get to share our life experience and the class became more intimate and emotional.
THe drawback is I was so obsessed with restarting writing about my own experience (which i love throughout the high school) and kinda of forget about the class...I was trying to think what are the three turing points in my life. Going to US is definitely one. Everytime when I looked back on this I was recalling the day when I sat in WUhan airport with my luggage as the only company and I felt so left out--seriously I felt I was abandoned...
But now I understand what it means to be independent. I know that there are different people who have totally different lives from mine--like they didnt grow up with their parents etc. I know that my parents are the only persons in the world who love me so selflessly without expecting any payback--well maybe my happiness would make them satisfied but that's all. I know what it means to be an only child--we are the special group. I know things are always more complicated than it seemed is. I know there is always an ugly side of a story. I know there is hierarchy in the society...I dont think all the things i realized are all negative. I took them as more "well-rounded".
What struck me is also that i couldn't think of another turing point in my life. Before I came here there were many changes in my life but I was not the one who made the changes. I was always passive. and my life was so smooth. till i got bored and really wanted to see the world. i dont know. maybe i am still to young.maybe when i am 60 i can think of another 2 turing points. ..
What are the turning points in your life, my friends? id like to hear May 26 travel mapMay 19 奇怪的美国2接下文:
几个对美国的普遍误解: 1. 美国人都很有礼貌, 文明素质高.
这个有点道理.我刚来的时候就发现,美国人走在路上不认识的也会对你报以微笑, 公车来了也不会前拥后挤， 到站了对司机都会说谢谢．．．很多美国人说话也很讲客气，"i am sorry to interrupt you..i am not sure if it is appropriate for me to ask here...first thank you for****....I was wondering ...i hope you don't mind" （事实证明，说只有亚洲人才拐弯铺陈提要求是非常不客观的，美国人照样）．后来我才发现他们这样做和说,其实并不是因为他们人品质好， 教养高等等．他们这样的反应纯粹就是无心的，this is how they talk, that's it. They didn't really mean it. 这个结论不是我一个人说的，我跟美国人也讨论过，他们就是这么说的．更郁闷的是，他们经常在分别的时候说"we should get together for lunch some time" 等等之类的proposal， 其实都是随便说说的，就跟说再见一样．对我这种什么事情都很当真的人，我经常很受伤！！还有更简单的一个例子，美国人再见的时候说"have a good day"， 我先还觉得美国人人是好，走的时候还祝你接下来的一天十分美好， 后来美国人才跟我说，那个就是"goodbye"的意思，他才不管你有没有good day...
２．美国环境好，环保意识高，不浪费资源．
环境确实不错，但主要原因是因为人少．在downtown有些地方，街道照样很脏．另外，美国人似乎很不讲卫生，至少学生是这样． 他们都是随地就做下，书包就扔在地上； 吃东西都在用手抓．他们的很多行为都是我小时侯才做的，就像爸爸妈妈没好好教似的－－不过他们的爸爸妈妈估计也是这样的．．．他们非常任性，想怎么做就怎么做，不论会不会生病． 比如大冬天的只要出太阳就穿短袖短裤， 然后感冒了还怪天气不好． 说到资源，美国人实在没有资格说中国人． 他们的暖气是一年四季都开着，不管外面多少度．downtown为了形象工程，高楼里任何时候都点着灯－－有的购物商场也是．诸如此类，不剩枚举．如果他们的人和中国人一样多，他们早把地球上的资源都用完了．
３．美国人都有钱， 有车有房， 穿着也讲究，都是世界名牌．
穷人显然是什么地方都有的． 有车有房是基本的，那是因为可以贷款啊，可以租啊，而有车是因为没车连买个菜都不方便....在穿的方面， 我土没有去过东部和加州，但是这里人穿的那叫一个随便！你穿条花裙子都有人问你今天搞什么活动啊？ 他们的衣服样式也非常单一，夏天就只有吊带，长袖就是很低领的那种，颜色更是只有蓝黑白深绿...他们见我最常说的就是"i like the color of your scarf/coat..."and then i will say proudly I bought them in CHINA!! 这里名牌是多啊，很多在国内的奢侈品在这里就跟真微撕在中国一样...
to be continued
May 18 奇怪的美国1不知道是谁在那里叫嚣美国的臭虫都是双眼皮. 昨天还看到腾讯网上有上海某校女生的日记"我就是要嫁老外",说什么国外什么都好,人人都彬彬有礼,环境优美什么什么的...真是幼稚!! 来这里差不多一年了,才发现国内其实有很多比美国好的地方,且听我一一分说. 论述以本人所在的西雅图为例. 背景介绍:西雅图号称美国生活质量最高的几所大城市之一: 大公司林立,世界首富及前所在公司都在这里; 环境优美, 雪山湖泊海洋森林; 艺术氛围浓厚,摇滚尤其出名; 人种多样性,国际化程度高....
那么美国有什么不好的?
首先, 与国内比(武汉), 这里极其干燥. 极其. 刚来的时候我就流了2次鼻血.整天要不停的喝水, 还干. 最奇怪的是西雅图这种一年下半年雨的地方,依然干燥得很. 总算明白为什么原来看到有些海龟女生就觉得怎么皮肤这么不好 , 现在我从来不长豆子的脸颊也开始长豆子, 非常郁闷中.
说到天气, 我总算明白为什么在国内学西方文化的时候,就说老外喜欢讨论天气----因为这里的天气太变态了!!也许在这个问题上西雅图是特例, 半年的阴雨天气刚刚过去(上个月还下了场雪, 我一件外套可以穿6个月因为一直很冷), 现在转眼入夏,比武汉直接多了,干脆跳过春天. 太阳是出来了,结果从早上7点到晚上9点一直高挂. 晚饭都吃的很不对劲. 这里的太阳光因为没有太多污染, 直接折射皮肤和眼睛---太阳镜对美国人来说真的不是装酷用的,是生活必需品. 太阳出来的时候美国人都疯了, 大家把学校的草地都当成天然日光浴场, 穿着裤衩比基尼就躺在草地上,还有更神经的拿一很大的录音机在那里放音乐, 还有玩中国小狗才玩的掷飞盘的游戏,还有滑板的,玩杂耍的,能想到的都有....到了周末的晚上,大家都在酒吧内外大声喧哗, 一直到深夜...总结:武汉的天气其实并不变态,潮湿但是很养人的,难怪出美女多列~~~~
第3, 美国人在吃的方面真的太可怜了. 他们对蔬菜的选择,只有土豆西兰花洋葱和番茄. 他们还有胡萝卜,但是他们把那个当零食吃,直接洗了(或者不洗)就蘸非常奶腻的酱吃. 他们对蔬菜几乎都生吃---上次我试了个同学碗里的西兰花,就跟吃草一样的味道. 他们吃的非常不健康: 他们喜欢吃肉,而且吃的很大块.如果是素食主义,也吃很多垃圾食品比如薯片和soda. 他们喜欢吃甜的,正餐之后一般都有甜点和冰淇淋(比国内的要甜), 还有cookie..他们还喜欢吃很多巧克力做的东西....他们很少有像我们步行街或者户步巷这样有名的吃小吃的地方. 如果有,比如今天是一年一度的university street fair, 也都是各国美食的集中,属于美国的大概就是hotdog....也难怪他们都那么胖. 他们对中国事物的理解大多仅限春卷(they say egg roll),炒饭, 和一些做的很甜的大块的肉....就这他们也觉得很好吃.
第4, 他们受的教育很奇怪. 数学差到一定境界,我算是见识了,基本在生活琐事上例如买菜或者吃饭平摊帐物都是不能正常function的. 要依赖计算器. 他们不怎么会考试,对老师提的要求也是理解有误,要不就是一直问,然后成绩不如自己预想的好就开始怪老师没有交代清楚,或者老师的评分标准有问题. 他们喜欢争论,喜欢分歧,喜欢试图说服他人.
未完待续....先睡觉
May 16 5.12earthquake这几天关于地震的报道铺天盖地, 无论是在中国的网站还是美国这边的新闻. 我一个美国同学给我写邮件说"sorry about what happend in china",今天工作的时候一个女生也关切地问我家里的人都还好么. 在灾难面前,大家不约而同地同情受灾的人. 在这个时候, 没人再争论tibet, taiwan和olympics. 一个台湾女生今天还跟我说她想放假去中国灾区做志愿者. 全世界的人现在都是一条心:帮助中国. 虽然美国的媒体在报道时候依然流露出依稀negative的味道 (他们更多针对着中国的one child policy, 意思就是看看这个政策实行的"好"把,一个孩子死了一代就完了, 虽然他们没有明说-"one child died in a family-that means the whole generation"--CNN)
网上的视频让人看了实在难过. 我还清晰地记得有一个中学生死的时候右手还紧紧握着笔. 我觉得教育和考试在这个巨大的灾难面前实在是个讽刺. 都生与死的时候了,一些无处回家在外面露营的高三学生居然还在灯下学习.......但是我也相信经过了生死考验的这些活下来的学生,都会对生命有新的体验和领悟.
Honestly I felt a little mean for staying comfortably and safely in the US. THere was sunshine and parties and Americans smiling here. But my heart went to China. I cannot imagine the situation there, and I cannot see the real massive tragic situation. When I heard about this earthquake on May 13, I was even quite worried about my parents because they went to some mountains in the countryside near Wuhan. It such a relief to hear their voice on the phone. I cannot imagine a life without them. I understand how sad those people are when they lost their family in the disaster--or maybe i dont. China has been through so much this year, I felt mean that I was not there standing with them together. I know we have weaknesses. But we have endless power too. The world is watching because of the olympics. I think we are doing good. And we will do better.
May 08 23rd birthday My first birthday in US. The 23rd birthday in my life. At first I thought that's no big deal, plus today is still a weekday, I still have to attend class and work. My parents sent me a video of them and yueyue and our home back in wuhan yesterday. Except the pictures i took in US were developed and set in our rooms, everything seemed unchanged. Like how I feel these days, no matter how well I speak the English, how well I get along with my American friends, how well I adapted to the life here, and no matter how much(or little)I tried and wished, I am still a Chinese. It took me several years to realize this, and i realized this when I am abroad. I guess ever since i was immersed in English I was imagining myself as an average American, or the stereotyped ones form Hollywood movies. Like what we read for MATESOL courses, this is my imagined community, the place where i wanted to belong to. I thought I did pretty well when i came here. I didn't even need extra time to try to think in English-cuz i already did. My new identity was soon formed, with the vast information here, and new friends from all over the world, although mostly from US. There have been two worlds for a while, both of which I live in. During daytime, it's an English world, or US world, more precisely, where i hang out with my American friends, work and study in an US university; at night when i got back home, it's China world, where i cook Chinese food with my Chinese friends. Sometimes my US world became so dominant and i started to forget where i am from. Once in a while when i talked to my old friends from college back in China, or read what they wrote on xiaonei, I had a mixed feeling that is hard to describe. Maybe its what the sociologists call the crucial point after 6 to 7 months in another culture. They say if you return to your motherland at this point you will soon forget what you formed in this new culture. I felt like something back there seemed very familiar, but on the other hand also distant. That distant feeling is so cold and creepy. What they are talking about there and what i am experiencing now seemed disconnected. It is the feeling that makes you wonder where exactly you really belong to. It is my birthday. In my world it's my day. To other people, it is just a normal day, nothing special. Americans are nice cuz when they know that its your birthday they will become excited and wish you happy birthday, hold parties for you, or buy you a drink. I really appreciated that. A guy that i met when working in the library just bought me a drink. 'birthday is once in a year" he said. I guess he is right. I should indulge myself, at least for today. Cuz it is special. For me. March 28 trip to hawaii-maui夏威夷之行It took so long to fly from Seattle to Maui, Hawaii. Literally if I count the round trip as one, I could be back in China. So for the first day and the last day the whole day I was riding the plane and watching blockbusters in the air. I found that I was not afraid of taking off and landing any more-cuz I experience those four times this week!!It's actually quite nice to fly-the view of honolulu is spectacular, and the sunset above the clouds is amazing. Then when the captain said "we have a little snow in Seattle" and when the steward open the door and said "ready for the cold air?" I know I was home. It's weird to have that feeling-since when Seattle became a home to me?
There is plenty of sunshine in Maui. Everyday. No rain at all except in the mountains. Hawaii is really a paradise in terms of travelling-when you wake up in the morning you can hear all kinds of animals' singing, mostly birds and deers. Flowers are everywhere too, and they are so exotic to me-so colorful and big and weirdly beautiful. You can see the breathtakingly beautiful sunset everyday, either on the beaches or in the valleys. All these tropical color: red, blue, green,white, yellow, purple, ivory, orange, pink...form a sharp contrast to the grey Seattle. Although we have got a few sunny days, Seattle is always black and white, or grey, or coffee-brown, or foggy to me, not only for the weather, but also for the cultures. The first day in Maui reminded me a lot of Wuhan too: so humid and hot at noon. So I could even smell my hometown in the air.
Celebrities like to visit Hawaii. There are many legends about them, either current or in history. I realized how life could be different if you have got money. The 6 star hotels along the beach are like palaces, with royal palm trees, pools, delicate food and shopping malls, fancy restaurants and live music. The chapel for special weddings is amazing. However, I can't think of myself walking down the aile with someone in the chapel by the beach. I don't know why. Isn't it every girl's dream?
We have been to the beaches. The sea is very tender and cheerful-so different from the terrifying oregon coast in winter. But they say the sea in Hawaii can swallow you too. And there are whales and sharks. Nature is the god that you need to respect.
We have been to the mountains. We drove all the way up the hill-mountain Hileakala, they call this kind of trip "up country".
We have tried several kinds of local food: mahi, ahi and ono (all fishes). They say "ono" sounds like a bad tasting fish cuz it got the name "oh no" when the first guy ate it. But in fact, in Hawaiin language it means "yummy". Sushi is very delicious too, since there is a large community of japanese on the island.
 
I have been learnng a lot about cultures. Now I found "american culture" is such a vague name. US is such a diverse place-each state, each city, each family has got different stories to tell. It's always interesting to hear personal stories entangled with historical events. WWI and WWII, chinese immigrants, pearl harbor, American navy, other norwestern states...For most time of the day when is was hot outside, Shirlye Peter and I were talking about their family stories. I also gave them Chinese names based on their names' pronunciation. Sirlye is going to make stamps out of them:) How interesting that would be! I have been cooking Chinese food for them too:) Because they are such nice people.
Today in the quad at UW the cherry flowers are in full blossom. The sun was there but it's nothing like Hawaii. I guess this is going to be another precious piece of memory.
 
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