Big Fish & Begonia

Compared with Japanese animation, Chinese animation slways stay in an embarrassed period. Though it never lacks of creative artists and materials of stories in China, it's too difficult for Chinese animazion works meet the standard of Chinese audiences. Plagiarism also exists widely.

It attracted the attention of us when it was reported that a Chinese animation called Big Fish & Begonia concerning the Chinese legend will be on in July. According to the introduction, two young directors came up with their ideas about a movie demonstrating Chinese traditional culture 12 years ago and the short film made in 2004 showed their full preparation for this movie. There is no doubt that all factors above ignited Chinese audiences' desire to watch this movie as soon as it appears.

(http://www.bz55.com/yingshibizhi/33367.html)

Though honestly, I am not a crazy fan of animation before, I look forward to some Chinese elements such as traditional legend and architecture in this movie. As a result, when the day comes, I went to the cinema but unfortunately... I can't give a full score for it concerning all aspects including the scenario, the aesthetics and the charaters.

1. The aesthetics

    Nobody can deny the artists' endeavour in depicting an ancient and mysterious  Chinese world. The traditional Chinese habitable space，the starry night above the sea and many other symmetrical sceneries made me feel comfortable. Mixed with Chinese ancient element, such as mahjong，Chinese flowering crabapple， Phoenix，paper umbrellas, cranes, stone lions, the movie do have a Chinese style.

2. The charaters

    The names of the charaters all represent the jobs they have in the heaven or their values. For example, Chun means the girl who masters the growth and death of Chinese flowering crabapple, in addition to Qiu means the boy who masters the wind in human's world. However, only the name reflects their value in the movie. The artists don't shape their characters vividly but only leave us audiences an impression that the heroine is capricious and irresponsible. As a god, her pure but unnecessary love for a human boy almost destoried all her family and the place she lived. And the supporting actor lost his mind to the heroine crazily and even broke with his family. That's unrealistic and immoral, just as a kind of love between kids.

3. The scenario

    This movie can't express a clear clue for audiences and makes us confused.

4. The music

    The lyric is moving.

In conclusion, I think it's the introductions and the recommendations for this movie before this movie was on that provided the audiences with too much expectation so when the movie can't meet the standard of the audiences they felt disspointed.

But I still hope there will be more excellent Chinese animation movies in the future.

An amazing exploration near the campus

Yesterday after dinner, we accidently heard of music of an orchestra. Being attractive by the music, we decided to walk out of the campus following the direction of music. It's surprising to see a group of students playing the Tuba,the trombone, the drums which was shining at dusk. A man showed us some videos of baseball as well as told us that these senior students were practising for the baseball opening ceremony of Ohio State.

Continuing walking, we went into the woods. The sun rays smoothely through the leaves. Little bridges were scattered over the grass. Red and bright flowers demonstrated its beauty to the passers-by.

 Far away from the campus, the sign of WIFI is less and less. We changed a direction towards an artificial lake. Nobody walked by but you can hear some strange sound which created a spooky atmosphere and drove us away. A car passed by and the warm-hearter driver thought that we were lost in the wood so he greeted us but was unpurposely ignored by us:(  

Running away at a fast speed, we surprisingly found an art museum  surroundedw ith meaningful sculptures,such as a wooden deer, two waterpipes linked together. It was the Miami Art Museum that we always didn't have time to have a visit in. This special museum was built on a small hill.

 

Behind the museum was another wood. It divided into two paths gradually. Though there was some track of cars on the paths, however, for the fear that there existed bears or snakes, we chose only one of them and had a superficial exploration. 

It reminded me of a poem. You must have heard of it.

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The end of this amazing trip by chance was the discovery of a twisted road. Pink clouds decorated the sky and the road seemed like a ribbon linking the sky and the campus.

A description of a peaceful place

Unlike the dim dusk in China at this moment, the way to the Navy Pier was accompanied by bright sunshine and pink clouds in the sky. It even attracted people to pick up one piece of cloud to decorate your dinner. Thanks to the sunshine, trees with bare branches transformed into a beautiful silhouette in my camera. Seen from a distance, the Ferris wheel, called the eye of Chicago, slowly rotated, seemed as slowly as it never worked. The surface of Michigan Lake was as flat as a mirror and waves only appeared when breeze blew softly. The lake was flickering like glitter on the surface. Just standing near the lake, a strange sense would occur to you that you are the last person in the whole world. Only when seagulls flied over the lake with shrill sound did this illusion disappear.

With sunset began at about 8 o’clock, the yachts which went out to further area now came back to lie alongside the wharf. With the wave’s shaking the yacht and sailors’ retracting the canvas, lovers went ashore hand in hand to continue their stroll in the fading light and sailors came back home to share their tales with their children. A family of ducks paddled on the water, starting at as just as if it was possible for us to feed them. People after work came to the outdoor restaurant, chatting and enjoying their hot dogs together with tomato sauce or onion rings, as well as beers. At another side, the moon raised up, shining with the sun together, as a result both of them conquered half of the sky. Simultaneously all lights on Chicago’s tall buildings turned on in an orange and gentle color, in addition to a carousel near the lake which collected lot of children’s laughter.

Staring up at the stars, it was not until 10 o’clock did the black completely master this whole night. Now only the lighthouse illuminated a bunch of light on the lake. There is no doubt that it is a great subject of photography. A seagull stood on a store, waiting for me to capture its lithe image. The only thing I could do is to whisper with my friends for the fear that the bird would be frightened and fly away. Actors in Shakespeare Theater moved their stage outdoor, performing an opera with strange make-up and ancient clothes, in spite of the fact that few audiences noticed them. Melting in this smooth atmosphere, I couldn’t help closing my eyes, stopped my pace with the adjustment of my breath, and imagined the soft smooth sand beneath my feet comfortably which made me forget all the worries in reality.

The flatter the Michigan Lake was, the noisier the square was. Children’s happiness inspired by the Ferris wheel, the carousel and the snack stores in the Chicago Children’s Museum mixed with their parents’ easing from burden of work in the whole day. People waited in line with lemonade in their hands for the opportunities of having a bird's eye view over the whole Chicago from the Ferris wheel, on which there is a slogan, announcing that it was the 100th anniversary of the Navy Pier.



Every city has it various sides. Actually, this is another side of Chicago. No matter how noisy it was in the daytime in downtown, it left with only peace atmosphere and quiet lifestyle here at the moment. In the morning, I enjoy the busy streets, the smell of Starbucks coffee and observing passers-by hurrying to the subway stations and turning themselves into tons of sardines allocated to different office buildings, then they will bury themselves into work with endeavor as hard as they could in their work time. I also admire them who drown themselves into those relaxing nights and endless entertainment, not as crazy or luxurious as the scenario in the Great Gatsby though, but as if they totally solved all of the problems in the reality accompanied with the comfortable wind from the lake. You can’t judge American as a group of people with capricious character simply because this is another American value, work hard and then play hard.

EQUALITY

    The passage The Values Americans Live By lists thirteen most common values in American society. I have some personal experience with the fourth value: EQUALITY/EGALITARIANISM. The author points out that it’s the ignorance of rank, position, intelligence, physical condition and economic status that distinguish American from some foreign people who only show respect to the renowned. I decided to compare the difference in equality of occupation and living places in America and China.


    Equality can be seen in various American situations. In the popular animated movie Zootopia, some young animals claim that they want to be firemen when growing up. The rabbit Judy in a small town also realizes her dream with effort and successfully becomes a member of the city. However, her parents think it is better for Judy to earn a living in the countryside and inherit their field. Totally these phenomena are unbelievable in China.


    To begin with, people’s attitudes towards occupation are obviously different. In China parents always encourage their children to study with endeavor then work in high-class field such as economy or law. It’s not common to see Chinese parents allow their children to speak out that they want to be a fireman or a driver. No matter whether children’s ambitions will come true in the future, their parents regard it as a representation to enter the central part of the society.


    The phenomenon reflects the reality that hidden discrimination of occupation still exists in China. However, just as the author says in the passage, Americans have an aversion to treating people of high position in a deferential manner, and, conversely often treat lower class people as if they were very important. Attitude towards jobs is one of the different points in China and America.


    What’s more, the life states in people’s minds in the countryside and cities in America always interest me. No matter people lives in town or city, they look satisfied with the lifestyle at the moment. Some of the young will not feel shamed when they go back to countryside without attaining great prospect after graduating from universities because they know what kind of life they want in the bottom of their heart. It reminds me of the experience that when we were in Chicago, our guide told us that he enjoyed metro regions because it provides convenient facilities while David said he preferred life in the countryside for the reason that it’s quiet and peaceful for him to do research. I once thought this attitude came from the equality of life quality in both areas but in the process of searching for information I found a passage online saying that the Gini coefficient in America is 0.450, which shows that U.S. still have inequality life levels. That is to say, the facilities in these two areas are not exclusively equal. To sum up, it’s not their life quality influence their choices towards the city and the countryside but their own belief of which region will provide them with a more suitable platform or habitat to lead a living.

    In conclusion, people with various culture from all over the world make America an equal, free, open and pluralistic country. There is no doubt that it’s a virtuous cycle. It is the equal atmosphere here that contributes to their more acceptable opinion to various culture in the society.

The Harry Potter 8th

“I know he will.”

The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.

                  ——Harry Potter Ⅶ 

This is the last chapter Nineteen years later in the Harry Potter 7. Closing the book the scenario left in my brain for about 9 years. Chasing J.K.Rowling’s pace from 1997 to 2007 constantly, every fan of Harry Potter grow up with a dream of attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learning , flying to your destination with a broom, playing a round of auto-moving chess with your friends and watching the renowned professors talking with you in their portrait drawn hundreds years ago. All of us have imagined shouting “Accio book!” to get your textbooks and speaking out “Deletrius!” to be invisible among people immediately. In addition, listen to Severus Snape’s lessons and try to get good grades for a prize for Gryffindor. But reading the scenario that Harry Potter sends his children to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the King Station to Hogwarts School with Ginny, his wife nineteen years later, we have to accept the ending and say goodbye to this series.

Recently, after a farewell to Harry Potter series for almost a decade, an eighth book called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child published the day before yesterday, the day that is not only Harry Potter’s birthday but also J.K.Rowling’s birthday. I was so excited and felt very regretted after I know I missed the book being sold in Kroger Supermarket that day. However, my friend, another HP fan comforted me that this book not as pure as the previous 7 books because it doesn’t belong to Rowling’s works strictly. As a loyal fan of J.K.Rowling, he defined this book as a Posterior Plot and refused to buy it. It seems that this book is to him what Muggle to the pure-blood wizards.



Different from him, I am a fan of HP but not a loyal fan to Ms. Rowling. Maybe if it was 2007, I would refuse to buy this 8th book because only can the original series gave me a pure feelings of magic. However, 9 years later, anything that is related to Harry Potter reminds me of the simple but meaningful memories of reading magical novels as a child. I cherish every moment, everything that is relevant to HP now, igniting my desire of imagination. Just as a piece of news I read yesterday, fans don’t care.

(cited from http://movieweb.com/harry-potter-8-cursed-child-play-story/)

Photography

I always wonder what the main stream style of photographs in America.
When I input Modern Photography in Google, the page turns into...

(I even thought that the color system of my computer broke out.)

With the development of filters and retouching softwares, more and more photographers choose filters or adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and so many other even more advanced settings to decorate their photos in order to make them more vivid.

As is known to us, colorful may not equates meaningful. We can evaluate a photo just from the level of aesthetic and come up with the conclusion that it's good, about the color coordination, about the composition, about the depth of the focus...But maybe there is not any stories in it.

Yes, that requires high skill of the photographers but aesthetic value can be created after the process of capturing the moment.

It seems that the tendency may turn into Minimalism reflected from the result of research. Actually, the tendency of Minimalism requires photographers to focus on the theme expressed by the photography.

That's hard to judge which one is better. You can't deny the pleasant feelings you feel in the bottom of your heart when you watch a photography in high aesthetic level. 

But I still remember one sentence I had read

"Steichen introduces Lisette Model, who was too nervous to read her own introductory speech: a moment is captured that never was and never will be captured again. " (cited from http://www.wnyc.org/story/what-is-modern-photography/)

I think the thing, the feeling, the reality situation contained in the moment you press your shutter can not be replaced and created by any retouch software or any excellent photo editors. So the story hidden in the photography ranks before the asthetic value, in my opinion.

Anyway, make use of this blog to send a photo just taken by mobilephone. The pixel is not very good. It happened when I visited St.Mary Church last Sunday with my friends and this couple sit with their children. Their young boy and the girl played with each other and made noise during the whole process of praying for the god. Although the father felt a little ashamed, blamed the children in a little strict attitude and said sorry to us but during the whole process, he hold his wife's hand with a shining ring gently. And they seldom looked at each other in loving eyes as there was no crying children and other prayers. It moved us, and fed us single dogs with a bag of dog food, too:)

Different Ways to Relax

American's enjoying bar life as well as sports on weekends always leave an impression on me. In Grey's Anatomy, every time when they are frustrated, they go to Joe’s Bar, ordering two cups of beer for themselves and another stranger, chatting with others who have the same feelings. But something can't be described always happen after that...for example, one night stand.

（cited from http://m.kekenet.com/video/201003/100298.shtml)

Last weekend I went to a bar at night(Shhhh... (*///▽///*),a different one from the one I saw in the soap opera, a more modern and enthusiastic one. The young craziliy shaked their bodies on the dance floor according to the rhythm of the loudly pop music which beat our hearts and even made us deaf. Lights are flickering. It created a situation that you can only talk to another person when you shout near her ears. The person who stood like a wood surrounded by people looked like an alien. Right, that is me.

To be honest, how can I resonate with something I don't have the same feeling? Seems like the feeling that you have to laugh when you can't get the point of a joke. Resonance is something similar to your experience that really enables you to participate in it. To be honest, I am not a conventional girl who refuses to have an access to modern lifestyle but I can't really understand their choosing an explosion of music as a way to relax. In China,maybe we prefer to order a cup of drink or a plate of dessert and talk with friends in a quiet restaurant as relaxation. That is one of the cultural blocks, actually:)

Compared with bar, I think sports and concerts including baseball games are the very things that make me feel relaxed. Participating in a baseball games and a bowling game before, the feelings of victory and unity really impressed me that I could't help screaming out and jumping.

Different people from different background choose various ways to release themselves from high pressure. Maybe if I move to western country in the future, I have to accept the fact that my children dance crazily in the bar as well. ( To be honest, I hope not.) My principle is that it's not ethical to judge whether other's lifestyle is good or bad because you are not one part of them.
As a Chinese proverb goes,“子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？”(You are not a fish, how do you know exactly its happiness?) It reflects the same idea.

Peace is also a gift.

Last Sunday we visited the Freedom Center Underground Railroad Slavery Museum.

Most of the visitors in this museum are black men. Black parents bring their children to the museum and told them about their ancestors' history.

"Whether the history is good or bad, it should be told and that is why I am here."
The voluntary guide’s word moved me a lot. She is an old lady with shining wisdom in her eyes.
Although the introduction of this museum and the slavery history are similar, all guides have their own thinkings of slavery, and try to use their own way to make us chinese student understand the history.

As she said, this museum made a large pillar with thousands of marbles in it. Each marble represents a dead soul of black man during the voyage to America. Most of them are women, who were raped by the doctor on borad and were pregnant. The hermetic environment accelerated the spread of disease.

When I was 8, I read the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was thought-provoking for me although I was young at that moment. Not only the miserable experience of slaves but also some white gentlemen's conscience left an impression on my heart. Slaves couldn't be free without the help of some advanced white people.

Among all sections I give my preference to the photography exhibition.
I once thought that as the guide says, slavery all over America has been dismissed, so do the situation all over the world. However, slavery, abusement and force still exist in other corners in the world nowadays.
In this picture, the littile boy was released from force several days ago and it was the first time for him to have a shower. It can be seen from the picture that he was so delighted. However, he was only one of the victims. Thousands of flower-like children are still being tortured instead of enjoying their childhood in sunshine. All of us should take action to help them.

Yesterday was a history, tomorrow will be a mystery.
Present is gift. Peace is also a gift.

High Anxiety Happening to Me

High anxiety is one of the cultural stumbling blocks asserted by LaRay M Barna. Different from other four blocks, it is not distinct but underlies and compounds the others. It means that both the native and the foreigners feel threatened when they talk with each other for the reason that they can't understand each other in various aspects.

It's a common phenomenon happening in every cross-cultural place. Just serve my experience in the Armstrong Canteen as an example. When ordering my meal on the first day, the staff asked what kind of rice and sauce I would like for lunch. As a newcomer here, I asked what choices I have. Explaining in a quick speed, the staff told me that there are white rice and brown rice, Teriyaki sauce and sweet and sour sauce and shrimp blablablablablablabla...(Yes, it shocked me at that moment and my brain was blank like this guy.）

Then I asked her about the meaning of brown rice. However, the explanation beyond my understandings. What's worse, I only catch the word Shrimp. Noticing that the waiting line was longer and longer, I was in panic and misunderstood some other words according to the staff. In order to avoid being regarded as an fool and waste other people's time, I pretended to smile confidently without asking for detailed explanation and ordered brown rice and sweet shrimp sauce for my lunch immediately.

When I get my meal, I found that brown rice was not suitable for my digest system according to my doctor. But I had no choice but to be responsible for my tension.

In conclusion, high anxiety is a vicious circle. The more culture you can't understand, the more threatened you are when you are communicating with local people. What's more, the more tensed you are, the harder you can understand their words and explore further culture.

Maybe the only solution to this inevitable phenomenon is to keep calm and do enough research of local culture before you talk to local people.

The Navy Pier

MEMORY IN THE WINDY CITY   
Vol.1

Among all the tourist attraction in Chicago, I prefer the Navy Pier most. From the angle of an amateur photographer, it is really a great place to capture the scenery of Chicago in dusk or at night.

You can enjoy the whole process of sunset above the Michigan Lake. 
You can see the boat anchored alongside a dock. 
You can just sit on the bench and whisper with your friend, for the fear that speaking loudly will disturb the quiet moment.

For the reason that the sunset in our city always finish before 7p.m. so it shocked us when the sky was bright until 9p.m. in Chicago. It's an amazing experience to see the whole Chicago turn into lights in the same color.

Fortunately, from the slogan on the ferris wheel, we known that it's the 100th anniversary of the Navy Pier.

However, there were numbers of people waiting for the ferris wheel, as a result, we left with the pity of missing the oppotunity of see the scenery of Chicago from the eye of this windy city.

The Navy Pier expresses another side of Chicago. The atmosphere here is peaceful, different with the fashion, modern life in downtown Chicago.

Maybe every city has its two sides, which wait for us to explore them and to explore the stories in them.It's really enjoyable to take a camera with you and then take photography in a unfamiliar city.