Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and my friend Dave and I were invited to Alex's home in New Jersey. Weather yesterday was horrible, and so was the traffic. It took Dave and I almost three hours to drive there from St. John's. When we got there, Alex and her parents were already waiting. Then, we started chatting and eating the snacks made by Aunt Sandy (Alex's mother). Here I want to explain our relationship. Aunt Sandy, her husband Mr. Cale and Dave's mother Aunt Melissa are my mom's old friends for more than 28 years. Dave, Alex and I have known each other since we were very little. Dinner started at 6 pm, and it was my first American traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had almost every traditional food and the turkey last night is the best turkey I have ever tasted. On the table, we still talked a lot! Well, the only problem was language barrier...See..Mr. Cale, Alex and Dave are American and Aunt Sandy who has lived in U.S for more than 28 years...so the official language last night was English. All English! I tried my best to understand their conversation, but sometimes I still could not follow. However, it WAS a great opportunities for me to practice my English. Mr. Cale and Aunt Sandy went to bed early, at about 10 pm, and left us three in the living room. We watched Alex's favorite series which I forgot what it exactly called together. Its about something like hospital and surgery. After that, we watched "Shakespeare in Love." Dave's major in Brown University is English, so he knew a lot about Shakespeare. In the film, Shakespeare crushed his failed writing into a ball and threw it away...but Dave said that the real Shakespeare would never do that. Last night was an interesting night and I really enjoy being there. Mr. Cale and Aunt asked both Dave and I to make ourselves at home. They also said we are always super welcome to visit them...

Advanture in Manhattan

Yesterday, I met my old friend, Alex, in Union Square at 12:30 on 14th Street in front of the Whole Foods grocery store. Then, Alex took me to a lovely restaurant called Friend of a Farmer to have brunch. The restaurant is so well-regarded that there were many people waiting in line. Fortunately, the line went really fast so we didn't wait very long. I read the menu...everything looked delicious. So I let Alex order. At last, we had pumpkin pancake, egg grow and fantastic coffee for brunch. The area around Friend of a Farmer is very cute! I love that feeling! Its quite, peace....not like Time Square, full of people, ..too crowded, too noisy. After the brunch, Alex took me to a big Barnes & Noble bookshop near Union Square to look for The Lord Of The Rings 50th Anniversary Edition, my dream book! Finally we found it! Aside from my giant LOTR book, I also bought a Mamma Mia soundtrack for my mom, I know she'll love it. Then, we went to shoe shop to find snow boots for me. Actually, shopping was not what I cared most, the most important thing was that we talked a lot yesterday. There were so many things to talk about! I was really nice to see Alex yesterday! This Thursday is thanksgiving, and I'm going to her home in New Jersey. I'm really looking forward to meet her soon!

What's wrong with us?

I had a very good girl friend (not girlfriend). We used to be very close. L could share my feelings and thoughts with her. We almost met each other every day. She was one of my best friends in U.S. However something has changed lately. I have no idea why this happened. But it did. We are not that close anymore, we even have some stupid fights. Sometimes, I heard the words she said, and just became angry. This has never happened before. When I was mad, I shouted at her and this made her unhappy, too. I don't what is going on with us! Now I'm trying to find the answer and fix this problem. Sometimes I feel abandoned! I think that her new friends have stolen her from me! But I don't know what to do. Sometimes I feel that now she cares about her new friends much more. I tried to get use to it, but I finally find that I cannot do that. She is my best friend! I'll keep doing my best to fix our relationship! Also, I want to mention that its all my fault, not hers. I think I have been choleric lately...

I'm sorry Mom!

What I an going to write today is also about the overnight retreat last weekend. We got on the bus at about 6:30 pm. On our way to Frost Valley, my dad called (From Beijing, China). However I didn't answer it because everyone on the bus was sleeping (except the driver of course). I was thinking about calling back when we got there. We got Frost Valley at about 9 pm, and I found something horrible: there was no cell phone signal there At All!!! I was worried because I knew that my mom and dad would try to reach me again and again. Three - day overnight retreat passed. I called back as soon as we got back to school. It was 5 o'clock in the evening (when was 6 o'clock in the morning in Beijing). My mom answer the phone and almost cried when she heard my voice. She told me that my dad and she tried to call me every half hour, but could not reach me. They were so worried that they could even sleep at all! I was really sorry about that! I told here that I won't let this happen again! I promise! Next time, if I have plan to go somewhere far, I'll definitely call her in advance.

Wonderful Retreat!

This weekend, I participated in the Project A.I.M. Mentoring Overnight Retreat. It was a wonderful experience! This retreat provided a great opportunity for me to meet lots of new people and become very good friends with each other. In addition, I liked the Teambuilding held by YMCA. I enjoyed cooperating with friends to accomplish our goal! During the retreat, everything was perfect except that people who lived in Margetts Lodge (including me) did not have heat and hot water at the first night. So we could not take a shower and sleep well all night. Fortunately, the heat was fixed in the second night. Actually, I was considering not going before the retreat because I didn’t think that it would be this much fun. However, after the retreat, I was really glad that I came. Also, I learned how to throw an American football during this retreat. We even had a really match with six people. Well, I was not a good receiver and I dropped the ball often…but I will practice more and I believe I will become a good player J

What Should I Post On My Blog??

Lately, lots of things happened. These things made me upset almost every day. I don't know how to get through it. Every night, when I close my eyes on the bed, these things appeared in my mind. Sometimes, I really wanted to write down my feeling on my blog to show my friends. However, I changed my mind. I am kinda afraid to post my real feeling on the internet. I don't want everybody to see it. Well, here's the problem...I always thought a lot and had many idea to write on my blog, but I always decided to write something else at the last minute. To be honestly, I had never writen things on the net before I went to St. John's. I'm still trying to get used to the blog thing. Maybe next time, I'll try to write something in my mind on my blog~sharing my feeling with other people, not only with my best friends.

My Air Max!!!

Today I went to a outlet in New Jersey with lots of friends. We boys spent a long time in Nike Factory finding shoes. First of all, we focused on basketball shoes. Surprisingly, I found Scottie Pippen shoes on the shelf. I couldn't realize which model they were but I clearly remember that they were absolute classic when I was in high school. Then, four of us tried them on. The appearance was definitely great. However, they were not fit well. So we started to look for something anyelse. All of my friends bought their new shoes, except me. Finally I found the shoes that I loved - a pair of Nike Air Max. Unfortunately, the shop assistant told me that they did not have the size I wanted. This was terrible news! Before leaving the outlet at 6:30 in the evening, my friends looked them for me in almost every sports shop and still couldn't find it. On the way home, I was still thinking about my air max. I want it so bad!