7/17
     Today was the day that we were going to leave Taiwan. I was so excited, because it was not only my first flight but my first time head to America to start a splendid journey for 25 days. First of all, all the students and teachers were gathering at school, then we took a bus to the airport. On my way to the airport, I feel so strange, I never left that far from home, but I decided it consider it to a test. One day, we all had to leave home. Like birds, needed to fly away from their parents. Presently, we arrived in our destination. Then we spent a few times handling something. After that, we started to board. We were going to spent 11 hours on the plane. Frankly speaking, I thought it would be longer. Besides, I enjoyed the wonderful service that they offered. It was really considerate and flawless, like free movies and delicious meals. What's more, I liked the feeling when the airplane took off so much. It felt like taking the roller-coaster. Afterwards, we landed. For the first two days, we were going to stay in Los Angeles. Because of the time zone, there was still 17th. Surprisingly, our first meal in California was famous IN AND OUT. It was so famous that a lot of people said that we had to try if we went to the US. It turned out to be good, but I am not a burger fan, so it was ok. However, I like the French fries. After we finished the supper, we went back to the hotel and saved some energy for tomorrow.

 

7/18

Today we were going to the happiest place on earth, which was Disneyland! What a surprise. We were too old to go there. However, I still feel excited for it was my first to Disneyland. Actually, my friend and I both felt disappointed in the facilities and the price tags. We were excited at the first time. Then we both felt down and tired. We spent most of time on the souvenirs. We did play some facilities, but we both felt lame. In the afternoon, we just sat on the chairs shared one turkey leg and watched the parade. I've also seen some children wore like a little princess and waited for the princess to sign for them and took pictures. Deep down, I really appreciated those parents. One day, when I became a parent, maybe I would also take my children to the happiest place on earth. Through all day, we both exhausted. However, we've seen the most beautiful scenery that night. The fireworks!!!!! It was so amazing and breathtaking. It was so worth it. I never regret that I spent whole day walking and sweating. It was a fantastic day.

7/19

I would ever forget today because I went to the famous Universal Studio. It was a place where every movie fan would want to go. I was there and I couldn't explain how I feel. I just know that I had no regret, and I could die right away. First, we straight headed to the movie Transformer 4D roller-coasters. It was so real and excited. You could feel the water spraying and the heat when the fire came out. Afterwards, we went to a scar one named Mummy. It was a name of movie and it was my first Hollywood movie. It was an important key to make me become a movies fan. Anyway， this time was much more scare but shorter. However, the ride was really thrilled and I loved it. Then we went to the last excited ride called Jurassic Park. It was a well-known movie and the only facility that can make you wet. Basically it didn't. In fact, there were a lot of facilities that we didn't have a chance to play. Like The Simpson and Despicable me. We've also played Shriek, but I thought it was for children. Furthermore, we went to the Studio tour, which was so fun because you could see the buildings they made for movies and experienced earthquake, King Kong fought with dinosaur. That was so cool. When the couple minutes left, my friends and I went shopping, and we bought a lot of things!!!!!

7/20

Today we were finally heading to our school in our rest of days. However, it was a very long trip. We all slept on the bus. Before arriving to our destination, we stop in two different places called Solvang and Pierce 39. We arrived at the Solvang. It was a really beautiful place that all the building was looked like from the fairytales. What’s more, we could smell the wonderful scent that from the bakery. My friends and I wandered around and look some stores. There were so many stuff that related to the Christian. I’ve heard that this little town was built by the Church. No wonder this place looked so ancient and Christian style. After we left Solvang, we kept heading to the north. Then we stop at the Pierce 39. We’ve seen a lot of beautiful scenery and also a few sea lions, which were so cute that I would like to see more. And then we went to a Chinese restaurant to had dinner, then we straight headed to the school.
　

7/21

Today we were going to have a school tour, we were going to know every building, tree and places that we would spend 25 days to live in. To be honest, I really love the environment around here. I love the air and the dorm. But still I didn’t like the food here; I’ve already started to miss my home cook. After the school tour, we attended a test that would divide us into two groups. Actually, I was really looking forward to my whole new school life. I believed it would be really fun. It was too shame that we couldn’t take classes with foreigners.

 

7/22

Yesterday we did the test to divide us into two groups. We have two different teachers in each week. The first one was a male teacher named Ben, the second one was a female teacher named Victoria. In the first day of class, Victoria wrote down some question like sports, movies, music…….we had to write some our favorite movies or music on the board. Then Victoria gave us two paper to practice our pronunciation. Then Victoria showed us the history of California, and watched some clips of the movie “Zorro”, who was a true hero from the history of California.

 

7/23

Today was Ben’s class, I thought the things that he taught were really helpful, and it also worked on teamwork. We’ve learned the importance of English. It was so different that we’ve learned from Taiwan. We’ve also learned how to discuss and conversation practice. We did some tests and pronunciation test. In the afternoon, we went to the Oakland museum; we’ve seen the beautiful statues, pictures, antiques and old transportation that were from the history of California. Afterwards, we went to the K-mart to buy some daily supplies.

 

7/24

Today Victoria gave us more fun classes, like guessing movies and showed us some clips of movies. What’s more fun was that we watched Shrek 2. It was so hilarious and funny that I couldn’t stop laughing. It also was good for us listening and speaking. As long as you understand what they were saying, you could hold a great conversation with them. After watching movies, Victoria let us pick some songs to sing. We chose hallelujah and I need a hero.

 

7/25

Today we took Mr.Ben's lesson, and reviewed the idiom that we've learned the other day. It was some kind of competition, and I won!!!!!(Clap for me)
Furthermore, we also played a game called pronunciation maze. I thought it was a little difficult for me, because I basically did not know how to play it. However, I realized it in the end. After we finished our lunch, we were planning to play soccer, and the playground was extremely far away from our school. I was exhausted, and it was super-hot outdoors! Surprisingly, Warren bought three boxes of ice cream for us, and it was delicious!!! Later night, we watched the movie called step up3. I've watched this movie like 15 times, but still I like it. I expected every single movie night~~~~~

7/26

Today we've been to a lot of places! We went to the Stanford first, and it was really big. What's more, we walked into the university, it was a mission impossible for me, but I made it!
I bought some awesome cards that could make sounds and with superman and Spiderman on it. It was really cool! In addition, we ran into some a wedding that I heard that only graduated students could hold a wedding here!
     After Stanford, we went to Apple, but unfortunately, we only stayed for 15 minutes, so I didn't get off the bus. Then, we drove to the Intel museum. It told the history of technology and also realize that the importance of Internet.
     Later, we went to eat some doughnuts named Crispy doughnuts!!! It was good but a little too sweet for me. Actually, I prefer Japanese doughnuts named Mr., doughnuts, and it was really delicious! And last, we’ve arrived at our temporary destination, and that was Google!
    In fact, it was a little boring for we spent too much time on bus, and we were not allowed to go inside of apple and Google. After all, it was a nice trip for everyone.

7/27

We were going to the Sanfrancisco trip today, and it was so exciting and playful! The first stop was Golden Gate Bridge, and the weather was so cold. I am really excited, because I love the movie called ''rise of the planet of the apes". It was shot in the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was so cool that I almost couldn't breathe. However, the next stop was the most beautiful art in this dreadful world, and it was Palace of the Fine Art. That was really gorgeous for 100%. The artist carving was really exquisite and the statue was  so delicate that I took so many pictures. Afterwards, we went to the fish man Warf. It was so crowded. Besides, KK and I entered a chocolate store and I bought a Mexico vanilla ice cream (yummy!). I bought a Marvel bags and I loved it so much! Next was beautiful lumbered street.  The road was really steep, so my legs were so sore and hurt! However, it was worth it, because the flower was really beautiful. I wish this place could exist longer and longer! The last stop was famous City Hall, and basically we just stop by and glance its solemn. It was a substantial day! 

7/28

Today was Ben's turn to teach us! We still learned value from Ben's lecture. First of all, we reviewed the idiom about conversation. Second, we were learning how to react when somebody telling a story! Through learning it, we can correct our pronunciation. This afternoon, we went swimming but I was too scare to swim. The reason was because I was afraid of water. Later night, we played an awesome game named jeopardy. I believed that was my favorite game so far, because I was a competitive girl. 

7/29

Today was Victoria's class, and finally we watched a movie named Zorro. We also sang the song that was from Zorro, it was called I will spend my lifetime loving you. I thought it was a beautiful song. It's not just the lyrics but the wonderful melody. The movie itself was pretty awesome as well. It's plot was organized and exciting. They were all good actors and actresses. Afternoon, we experienced a mini experiment. Balloon war!!!!! In the beginning, you have blown the balloons, and tape them on the line with a straw. When you let go the balloon, the straw will forward. Then two balloons will collide, and which stay on the straw will be the winner!!!!!! That was really fun, but the balloon exploded a lot, and that always freaked me out. What's more was that I can practice how to blow the balloons. After that, we played another game. It was like a guessing game, and we have to divide into four groups because we needed to pick a card and put on our forehead, and what's more important was that we couldn't see the card. You had to start asking questions and you only said yes or no! After finishing the game, assistants asked us to pick ten people to the outer space within thirty people, and then we needed to discuss with our members to do the final decision and explained why we choose them for!

 

7/30

Today was Ben's class, and we do the presentation today. However, we play the English Monopoly first, and KK was the winner! And then, Ben divided us into four groups, and separately gave us four blank poster and different topics. We had to choose several schedules for tourists. After finishing the poster, each group should send a member to introduce their topic, and the other people should score for them.
     In the afternoon, we went to a small amusement park, it was really small. The first thing that we played was boomer's thunder roads, which were Go-cars!!! Due to I was too scared to play, so my friends and I play the double one. It turned out so exciting and crazy. However, it was so small that we basically spent our time at the restaurant. Before backed to school, we went to the Livermore outlet that we were going to this Sunday. It was so big, but I've already figured out what I was going to buy. I thought it won't be a problem to me!!!!! I was worried that I didn't have much money to satisfy my lust! (ha-ha)
     Then we arrived at school, finishing the dinner quickly, later was my favorite: Jeopardy!! However, some of us split up so that our power can be equally in different groups!

 

7/31

Today was our beautiful teacher, Victoria's lecture. We finished the movie Zorro, and it was a happy ending that hero saved the beauty, then bad guys were all dead! After the movie, Victoria thought we needed some fresh air and energy, so that she brought us outdoor to play a game named Shred. The whole point of the game was that we need to be divided into two groups, and then the teacher would give a topic, and two teams needed to discuss what they were going to act, as soon as the other team guesses it right. The other team had to run as fast as they could to avoid catching. It was so fun that I feel so refresh and energetic! After the game, Victoria played another game indoor! We divided four groups and each of us should tell a story then we needed to interrupt him, and then we could get the fake money. In the afternoon, we played a lot of games, and it was look like a little Olympic. It was called The blows. It was fantastic and amusing! I hoped we could have more chances to play something like this!

8/1

The date reminded us we only have a week to stay here, so we needed to cherish the days we left and seize the opportunities to create more memories. What’s more, it also showed that we didn’t have more time to prepare our presentation. Today was Ben’s class, we reviewed the idioms and then we all worked on our presentation. The topic of our presentation was “What we learned from America”. We tried record every detail that we’ve seen, experienced and learned from America. It was just like everyone’s journal, but we were willing to share ours. Through our discussion, we’ve already had our outline. Next step was to make the power point. After the class, I’ve also had another work to do. We had to interview three foreigners by ourselves. I thought today I might found one, and then it would be easier for me to do the rest. The my best buddy KK introduce me to a Brazilian group, and I met this baby-faced boy named Will. He was very nice and kind, and we shared a lot of things in common. In the evening, it was my favorite activity, which was movie night. Today’s movie was recommended by me, it was “Step up 4”. The reason I chose this movie was because we finished the “Step up 3”, so I think why not watched 4 as well. It was a fantastic movie and I enjoyed it a lot. In addition, our assistants were so considerate because they would buy chips and coke. It was really nice for them to do this!!

 

8/2

Today was the most exciting day for me, because we were going to Six Flags! It was the most exciting place in east bay. Everyone who loves rides would definitely recommend this place!! Today’s weather was so cold but it couldn’t extinguish my flame, and I am ready to challenge all the rides.  It was a really big park, so our teachers asked us to divide into groups. Our group was half brave and half coward. In the first beginning, we showed our brave side, we went to play the “must play” number 2 called V2. It has the disgusting trek that was kind of upside down that could make you want to vomit. I screamed the whole ride, I even called mother. I thought I just miss her too much. After that amazing ride, we went “must play” number The ROAR, the whole treks were made up by wood. Honestly, I thought this one was less excited than the first one, but a lot of friends of mine said The ROAR was the best one.

And then, we went to the scariest one called Superman. It was the “must play” number 1. We didn’t play it, the treks were so curved that we had no dare to look at it. Although I love Superman so much, I still couldn’t risk my life to play it. At noon, we found a restaurant where sold fried chicken. Surprisingly, we met two clerks who were from Taiwan as well. It was so nice that we could meet someone from our hometown. After we had lunch, they decided to play a facility that looked like UFO. When they got off, they all wanted vomit. And then we wanted some break, so we went to see the animals, like elephant, penguin, giraffes and lion baby, monkey baby and some reptiles. We’ve also seen the dolphins show!!!! They were so talented and smart that made me wanted to keep one. Today was really fun. If I got a chance, I would like to come here again, and I promise I would play Superman.

 

8/3

I believe today was the day that we had to repay or parents’ hardship, so they could afford this trip to America. That was Outlet! However, we were going to the different place first. This was Berkeley University. This school was the second famous university in East Bay. The first one was Stanford. The whole campus was so magnificent. It was also shooting in a movie once. The buildings looked so majesty. It would be honor if I could go to school there. Outside the campus, there was a main street where people went shopping. We spent 40 minutes to go shopping, I bought two T-shirts. After that, we were straight forward to the Livermore Outlet. We’ve got three hours that we could use.

First of all, I went to the Calvin Klein to buy my father’s wallet. His wallet was so filthy that I wanted to buy a new one for him. It was not just a father’s day gift, but also a repayment that I wanted to fulfill. As for my mother, I would like to buy a bag for her. She loved bags so much. Actually, I wanted to purchase Coach for her, but it was so expensive that I couldn’t afford it. However, I chose another brand named dooney and bourke. I believe my lovely mom would like it so much. Consider that I have some money left, so I decided to buy pants from Levi's for myself. It turned out I only purchased three items today. It had a reason: I wanted to save my money to last day, because we were going to the mall. And I really want Vans.

8/4

Today was one of my favorite teacher Ben’s class. Today was the same, we played some games about idioms and then we worked on our presentation. Today, we simulated one time. However, I thought we needed more time to practice and be more active. I corrected some flaw and added some action for them. In the end, I thought they didn’t have to memorize so many things, so I remove the action part, because every word was unmovable. I just hope that they could memorize every line. What’s more important was they needed eye-contact.

This afternoon, we need some sound effect for our activity, which was Karaoke! We were going to sing some songs. I did sing one songs by myself. That song was from my favorite band fall out boy, named young volcanoes. I felt shy at the first time, but I thought it could be the last time I sing in front of my friends, so I grab the microphone and sang. After few minutes, everyone started to pick songs and sing. Well, that was really fun and hilarious. One of our assistants HEE-JUNJ actually was the first one that sang the songs and warmed up the atmosphere. Johnny also danced like a girl to make us laugh. In the end, we started to choose some Chinese old songs to recall some memories of our childhood. Later night, we played Jeopardy. Well, we won!!!

 

8/5

Today was Victoria’s class. Instead of practicing on the presentation, we chose to watch movie to clear our head for a while. But first in usual, we needed to sing some songs. Once again, we sang a song named “I want to spend my lifetime loving you”. It was really a beautiful song that I love the most recently. After the song, it was our favorite movie time. She gave us some choices and also played the trailers to let us choose. We have Princess Bride, The fifth element, The Knight’s tale. After the discussion, we chose The Knight’s tale. The story was about a peasant boy wanted to change his stars, so he pretended to be a noble prince and attend every joust, and he won a lot medals. The movie was so fascinating and hilarious; it also included the fight and romance. I thought it was a great movie that everyone should try.   

In today’s class, we didn’t finish the movie. In the afternoon, they were going to hold a scavenger that we would compete. Every group would have two pieces of paper; each paper has photos on it. The rules were you had to find the location of the pictures, then you needed to take pictures by the rules they’ve mentioned. I thought I was a brilliant ideal, because it showed the teamwork of every group and it also could help us to memorize every place in  school. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the first place, but it was a wonderful memory that no one would have. We’ve also could keep those strange faces photo, every time I miss the school, I can take my phone and look those photos.

In the evening, we played Jeopardy, at first, our group was left behind, but we caught up very quickly. And finally, we became the second place. Today, Brain introduced me his friend Holly, she was a girl who just like me. We both obsessed with Superhero and detective stuff. We talked a lot that night, and I decided to make her become my second interviewer.

 

8/6

Today was Ben’s class; we spent whole time on presentations. We practiced over and over again. I hope we could show our best on August 8^th. Before the class off, we worked on some idioms that we’ve learned so far. It was the last time that we went to Ben’s class. I felt sad and we also took some pictures. After the lunch, we took the school bus to the downtown, and we went to the market named Lucky’s. Actually, it was so small that you could spend 5 minutes to finish it. However, I bought something for myself and my sister, my sister was a big fan of Spiderman. I bought a box of cereal that contained its figure. I’ve also bought a plastic cup for her. As for myself, I just bought a Superman scrape book which had stickers and poster inside of it, and that was really cool. And then we took school bus back to school.   

Oh, we were planning something really evil. Due to it was the day of Cindy’s birthday, Brain told us if we had some plans or not. KK and I thought we could prank Cindy, then Monica and KK were going to have a fight to scare Cindy. Actually, KK and I bought a birthday card at the market earlier. Then the fire burned up. Cindy thought they were really having some problems. Then KK started to cry, Cindy panic and wanted to take him to the classroom, where we all be there. Then we shouted out “Happy Birthday”, Cindy burst up tears. That was what we looking for. Then, Jerry took out the cupcakes that Brain bought earlier. Then we celebrated her birthday happily.

After that was our last movie night. We’ve watched The Expendable 3, it was a movie that didn’t come out yet. KK, Allison and I decided not to watch the movie; we wanted to seize every opportunity to spent time with our assistants. So we went to the next door room to chat. I thought it was the memory that I could cherish for a long time. I’ve also got the presents from Cindy, Brain and Cera.

 

8/7

Today was beautiful Victoria’s class. Although today was the last day, we still insist to finish the movie The Knight’s tale. Actually, we still had a lot of time after we watched the movie. We spend that time working on the presentation. However, most of us felt so tired that Victoria decided to let us play some card game like Solitaire, it was a game you would get five noun cards, then a person should show one Adjectives card, and the other people should show their the most satisfied cards. Then who’s been chosen would be next person who pick the cards. It was a really fun game that could not only improve your English but laugh like crazy people.

In the rest of our day, we spent our time on our presentation. Brain, Cindy and Cera took us to the computer room to let us practice our presentation, we could also modify something. We took like 4 hours to finish the whole thing. At night, we still worked on our presentation, but this time was a little different. We need to practice the whole process to the Cindy on the other room. It was really nice that could watch it first and they would spent more time with us. Before we leave, Cindy told us to stay for a while. She’s going to give everyone presents. She gave each one of us a notebook, but she purposely forgot KK and Monica’s. Then both of them started to cry. Finally, they still got their presents.

 

8/8

Today we were finally leaving, and we’ve already packed up yesterday. I felt so excited for going home, in the other hand, I felt sorrow for leaving my new friends. It was a dilemma, yet I missed my family so much. Before leaving, we had one more thing to do, it was presentation. We had to use power point to express our feeling of this journey here. It was fun and little nervous. After finishing the presentation, we both had a wonderful meal with our friends and teachers. Maybe we were leaving, but I believe one day we could see each other. Then we were heading to the mall, to do some shopping stuff. I spent almost my money to buy clothes, pants, shoes and shirts. Well, I loved shopping. After shopping, we went to a Chinese restaurant, it was not bad, but my friends and I were starving. I ate two bowels of rice. I just miss it too much. In the end, we were really leaving, we all waited for the flight. It was so excited for everyone. It was a meaningful journey for me, I hope one day I can have chance to go there, and meet my friends.