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.