Monday, October 30, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Short Hair
After keeping the same hair style for more than 5 years, I finally decided to have a change. I have my hair cut short today. Until now, only three persons saw me after the hair cut: my friend who did my hair, and two of my housemates.
My friend said I looked like a different person.
One of my housemates said it took some guts for a person with such long hair to cut it so short.
Another of my housemate said the short hair made me look more like an Asian.
I didn't start keeping long hair until my junior year in college. The short hair reminded me about my middle school and high school.
My friend said I looked like a different person.
One of my housemates said it took some guts for a person with such long hair to cut it so short.
Another of my housemate said the short hair made me look more like an Asian.
I didn't start keeping long hair until my junior year in college. The short hair reminded me about my middle school and high school.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Coins
I have been collecting coins since beginning of this year.
I want to buy a 30G iPod with video playing function. Yet, it's not something I have to have. Therefore, I came out this plan at the beginning of this year. I will collect all the coins I can find to get the iPod. It has been more than 6 months. I finally collected $50 coins! This Thursday after my lab meeting, I brought the coins to the bank. I changed the coins to paper money. I was very excited. With the rebate from the bookstore, I had almost $100. At least, it's half way to get the iPod. However, I guess I was celebrating too early. Before I left the bank, I asked them to check my balance on my debit card. I was told I owned the bank $3.76! I had more than $37 in that account! It turned out that I forgot to cancel the online pay bill service. The bank charged fee for that service! A very good lesson.
At the end, it seemed like I collected all the coins to pay the bank service fee........
I want to buy a 30G iPod with video playing function. Yet, it's not something I have to have. Therefore, I came out this plan at the beginning of this year. I will collect all the coins I can find to get the iPod. It has been more than 6 months. I finally collected $50 coins! This Thursday after my lab meeting, I brought the coins to the bank. I changed the coins to paper money. I was very excited. With the rebate from the bookstore, I had almost $100. At least, it's half way to get the iPod. However, I guess I was celebrating too early. Before I left the bank, I asked them to check my balance on my debit card. I was told I owned the bank $3.76! I had more than $37 in that account! It turned out that I forgot to cancel the online pay bill service. The bank charged fee for that service! A very good lesson.
At the end, it seemed like I collected all the coins to pay the bank service fee........
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Marriage Quotes
When I was using the free dictionary today, I saw a quote on marriage.
“A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing.” --W. Somerset Maugham
For my curiosity, I googled quotes on marriage. I found more. Here are a few I found interesting.
“Never trust a husband too far, nor a bachelor too near.”-- Helen Rowland
“After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.”-- Mark Twain
“My advice to you is to get married. If you find a good wife, you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher.”—Socrates
“A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing.” --W. Somerset Maugham
For my curiosity, I googled quotes on marriage. I found more. Here are a few I found interesting.
“Never trust a husband too far, nor a bachelor too near.”-- Helen Rowland
“After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.”-- Mark Twain
“My advice to you is to get married. If you find a good wife, you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher.”—Socrates
Thursday, September 14, 2006
5th Anniversary--Americanizing
September 21st, 2006 is my 5th anniversary coming to the US. I have been to the US for 5 years already!!! Gradually, I have been Americanized.
First year, when I was searching for housing, a landlady asked me “Are you from China?” just a couple minutes of the conservation on the phone. I was also quite often asked “Do you have culture shock?”
Second year, people could ask me “Where (here implying which country) are you from?” after a five-minute face-to-face conversation.
Third year, no one asked me “Do you have culture shock?” However, I was asked "Are you a native Amercian?" when I was visiting Boston.
Fourth year, no question on which country I was from was asked.
This year, I was asked "Are you a Mexican?" when I was in Paris.
First year, when I was searching for housing, a landlady asked me “Are you from China?” just a couple minutes of the conservation on the phone. I was also quite often asked “Do you have culture shock?”
Second year, people could ask me “Where (here implying which country) are you from?” after a five-minute face-to-face conversation.
Third year, no one asked me “Do you have culture shock?” However, I was asked "Are you a native Amercian?" when I was visiting Boston.
Fourth year, no question on which country I was from was asked.
This year, I was asked "Are you a Mexican?" when I was in Paris.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Europe Trip 1--Copenhagen
July 28th, 2006
Even though I slept a lot on the plane, I still slept in in the morning. By the time I woke up, my friend and his parents were all gone. My friend went to work. His parents went out to visit their friends in town. It was raining in the morning. After having breakfast, I started reading the guidebook lying on the coach. I fell asleep again!
Rasmus got back from work early that day. In the afternoon, he took me to the center of Copenhagen by bus and started sightseeing. First stop was the pedestrian shopping street. The weather got better. Rain stopped and the sun came out. There were full of people on the pedestrian shopping street. According to my friend, most of them were tourists. Locals didn’t usually shop there.
After the pedestrian shopping street, we kept walking towards the water, where we came to the famous scene of harbor of Copenhagen. My friend said it would be uncommon to walk along the harbor without drinking beer, so we bought beer from the store nearby. We sat on the bank of the harbor drinking beer. We watched people on the street, on the boats, and of course, on their bikes.
After a beer, we kept going along the water. Here came the new opera house of Denmark, queen’s garden and palace, and the famous little mermaid.
July 29th, 2006
Today was the highlights of my Copenhagen visit. In the afternoon, I had my first ever sailing. It was very pleasant. At the night, I experienced the nightlife of youth in Copenhagen. I was impressed how much Danes can drink.
My friend owns a quarter of a sailing boat. He was very nice to invite me to go sailing with him.
As a starter, I was given an easy tour. However, I couldn’t even get onto the boat myself (I’m embarrassed to mention this). When everything was ready, we sailed the boat towards the ocean! The clear blue sky, the blue water, and the warm breezes added to my pleasantness. It would be hard not go swimming in the ocean in this case. So we did. The water was a little bit cool. It was very refreshing to jump into the water. Well, I didn’t jump into the water. I went down into the water slowly.
By 5 o’clock, it was time for us to sail back to the shore. This time, my friend suggested that I could help to hoop up the boat to the shore. I thought it should be fairly easy. I said “sure” without any hesitation. When the boat was close to the shore, I took the hoop on the boat and tried to hoop it up to the shore. I failed the first time. At this moment, the boat somehow was moving away from the shore. My feet were on the boat, but my hands were still touching on the shore. My body started to stretch. I was about to be dropped in the water! Thankfully, I was able to manage to get onto the shore quickly. I did it so gracefully that two men on the shore who watched me gave me applause.
Rasmus invited his friends to an outdoor pub that night. After the nice dinner that he made, we went out to experience the nightlife of Copenhagen. By the time we got there, his friends were already there.
When there are more than one Danes together, they will speak Danish. Now and then, they would explain to me what they were talking about. This didn’t bother me at all, as this could be the same for Chinese, and people from other countries. It took me three times or more as long comparing to others to finish one beer. By the time I finished one small bottle of beer, others might have finished 3 or 4.
According to the law, no alcohol shall be sale outdoor after midnight. The outdoor pub had to close. We went to a bar nearby where they ordered cocktails and I had a glass of water. We went on to another pub afterwards. At the pub, they ordered a big bottle of gin. Four of them finished it in less than three hours! By this time, two of Rasmus’ friends left. I thought we would call it a night. I was wrong. My friend suggested that we should go to another bar! So Rasmus, and one of his friend, and me went to another bar. We ordered beers again. I was so sleepy that I left after I finished my beer. It was 3 o’clock in the morning. It was quite interesting to ride a bike when you’re very sleepy and half drunk. My friend stayed another hour! It was half pass 4am before he got home. I was indeed impressed how much Danes can drink this time.
An article on bikes and biking in Copenhagen
Even though I slept a lot on the plane, I still slept in in the morning. By the time I woke up, my friend and his parents were all gone. My friend went to work. His parents went out to visit their friends in town. It was raining in the morning. After having breakfast, I started reading the guidebook lying on the coach. I fell asleep again!
Rasmus got back from work early that day. In the afternoon, he took me to the center of Copenhagen by bus and started sightseeing. First stop was the pedestrian shopping street. The weather got better. Rain stopped and the sun came out. There were full of people on the pedestrian shopping street. According to my friend, most of them were tourists. Locals didn’t usually shop there.
After the pedestrian shopping street, we kept walking towards the water, where we came to the famous scene of harbor of Copenhagen. My friend said it would be uncommon to walk along the harbor without drinking beer, so we bought beer from the store nearby. We sat on the bank of the harbor drinking beer. We watched people on the street, on the boats, and of course, on their bikes.
After a beer, we kept going along the water. Here came the new opera house of Denmark, queen’s garden and palace, and the famous little mermaid.
July 29th, 2006
Today was the highlights of my Copenhagen visit. In the afternoon, I had my first ever sailing. It was very pleasant. At the night, I experienced the nightlife of youth in Copenhagen. I was impressed how much Danes can drink.
My friend owns a quarter of a sailing boat. He was very nice to invite me to go sailing with him.
As a starter, I was given an easy tour. However, I couldn’t even get onto the boat myself (I’m embarrassed to mention this). When everything was ready, we sailed the boat towards the ocean! The clear blue sky, the blue water, and the warm breezes added to my pleasantness. It would be hard not go swimming in the ocean in this case. So we did. The water was a little bit cool. It was very refreshing to jump into the water. Well, I didn’t jump into the water. I went down into the water slowly.
By 5 o’clock, it was time for us to sail back to the shore. This time, my friend suggested that I could help to hoop up the boat to the shore. I thought it should be fairly easy. I said “sure” without any hesitation. When the boat was close to the shore, I took the hoop on the boat and tried to hoop it up to the shore. I failed the first time. At this moment, the boat somehow was moving away from the shore. My feet were on the boat, but my hands were still touching on the shore. My body started to stretch. I was about to be dropped in the water! Thankfully, I was able to manage to get onto the shore quickly. I did it so gracefully that two men on the shore who watched me gave me applause.
Rasmus invited his friends to an outdoor pub that night. After the nice dinner that he made, we went out to experience the nightlife of Copenhagen. By the time we got there, his friends were already there.
When there are more than one Danes together, they will speak Danish. Now and then, they would explain to me what they were talking about. This didn’t bother me at all, as this could be the same for Chinese, and people from other countries. It took me three times or more as long comparing to others to finish one beer. By the time I finished one small bottle of beer, others might have finished 3 or 4.
According to the law, no alcohol shall be sale outdoor after midnight. The outdoor pub had to close. We went to a bar nearby where they ordered cocktails and I had a glass of water. We went on to another pub afterwards. At the pub, they ordered a big bottle of gin. Four of them finished it in less than three hours! By this time, two of Rasmus’ friends left. I thought we would call it a night. I was wrong. My friend suggested that we should go to another bar! So Rasmus, and one of his friend, and me went to another bar. We ordered beers again. I was so sleepy that I left after I finished my beer. It was 3 o’clock in the morning. It was quite interesting to ride a bike when you’re very sleepy and half drunk. My friend stayed another hour! It was half pass 4am before he got home. I was indeed impressed how much Danes can drink this time.
An article on bikes and biking in Copenhagen
Europe Trip
July 26th, 2006
Flying to Copenhagen
It took me a long time to finish packing. I went to sleep about 3am in the morning. Well, I didn’t start packing until the night before my trip. Literately, I didn’t get ready until the last minute. My entire luggage was a backpack and a rolling carry-on size suitcase for three weeks.
My flight to Copenhagen had two transfers, Chicago and London. I left Seattle at 2:55pm on July 26th, 2006. By the time I got to Copenhagen, it was 5:15pm on July 27th, 2006. All together, it took me about 21 hours from Seattle to Copenhagen. Fortunately, I slept most of the time. In fact I can fall asleep in almost all kinds of moving vehicles.
July 27th, 2006
Arriving in Copenhagen
My friend, Rasmus, who lives in Copenhagen, told me that he would come to the airport to pick me up. He saw me when I just stepped out of the luggage reclaim area. It was great to see him again. We haven’t seen each other for a year! He didn’t change except that he got tanned.
The train service had some problem. We took the taxi to his home. I did notice that there were not many automobiles on the street. I saw quite a few bicycles. As my friend explained, there was no traffic jam in Copenhagen. Rasmus lives in the northwest of Copenhagen, a pretty quite neighborhood. It turned out to be a visitor day for my friend. His parents were also in town to visit him. I have to say I’m the shortest among them.^_^.
I forgot to mention, the custom of Denmark was very fast. They just checked my EU visa, stamped it and let me in without a question.
Flying to Copenhagen
It took me a long time to finish packing. I went to sleep about 3am in the morning. Well, I didn’t start packing until the night before my trip. Literately, I didn’t get ready until the last minute. My entire luggage was a backpack and a rolling carry-on size suitcase for three weeks.
My flight to Copenhagen had two transfers, Chicago and London. I left Seattle at 2:55pm on July 26th, 2006. By the time I got to Copenhagen, it was 5:15pm on July 27th, 2006. All together, it took me about 21 hours from Seattle to Copenhagen. Fortunately, I slept most of the time. In fact I can fall asleep in almost all kinds of moving vehicles.
July 27th, 2006
Arriving in Copenhagen
My friend, Rasmus, who lives in Copenhagen, told me that he would come to the airport to pick me up. He saw me when I just stepped out of the luggage reclaim area. It was great to see him again. We haven’t seen each other for a year! He didn’t change except that he got tanned.
The train service had some problem. We took the taxi to his home. I did notice that there were not many automobiles on the street. I saw quite a few bicycles. As my friend explained, there was no traffic jam in Copenhagen. Rasmus lives in the northwest of Copenhagen, a pretty quite neighborhood. It turned out to be a visitor day for my friend. His parents were also in town to visit him. I have to say I’m the shortest among them.^_^.
I forgot to mention, the custom of Denmark was very fast. They just checked my EU visa, stamped it and let me in without a question.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Chinese New Year in July
I felt like it was Chinese New Year in July!
My very caring close friend, sent me a list of travel medicine and packing tips for my trip. One of my big brothers in the lab gave me money for my trip. Another big brother taught me useful French phrases. Another good friend of mine, also gave me money for my trip. A very sweat friend of mine, lent me her waist wallet for my trip. My very cute friend, lent me her alarm and reminded me to contact my cell phone carrier to active international roaming. My dear advisor gave me contacts of one of her colleagues in Paris.
I felt like it was Chinese New Year and I was getting lucky money and cares from brothers and sisters.^_^.
My very caring close friend, sent me a list of travel medicine and packing tips for my trip. One of my big brothers in the lab gave me money for my trip. Another big brother taught me useful French phrases. Another good friend of mine, also gave me money for my trip. A very sweat friend of mine, lent me her waist wallet for my trip. My very cute friend, lent me her alarm and reminded me to contact my cell phone carrier to active international roaming. My dear advisor gave me contacts of one of her colleagues in Paris.
I felt like it was Chinese New Year and I was getting lucky money and cares from brothers and sisters.^_^.
The Columbia River Gorge
I went to the Columbia River Gorge with two of my friends on the hottest weekend this summer. The temperture reached more than 100 F.
Third Hike of the Summer 2006--Mt. Dickerman
I like Mt. Dickerman so much that I came back this year again. Mt. Dickerman is considered as a strenuous hike with 3,900 feet elevation gained for 8.0 miles round trip. At the summit, you'll be rewarded with wonderful 360 degree views of the surroundings such as Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, Big 4 Mountain, Forgotten, Twin Peaks, Devil's Peak, Devil's Thumb, Vesper Peak, and Sperry Peak.
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