A lot of people have diaries. Maybe people living thousands of years ago had been composing diaries in their own ways. But my diary is still a unique one and a perfect time capsule for me. th I use a notebook my best friend gave me on my 17 birthday as a birthday gift to write
my diaries. It is a hardback, green and cute notebook. Before giving it to me, my best friend asked a lot of my friends together and each dropped a few lines on that notebook. She said they just wanted to give me their best wishes and they hoped me to bring it with me all the time. Then the notebook became my diary. I write about my life, about my feelings of the new life in a different country: my wonders, my fear, and my dream. It is a witness of my life as an international student leaving home alone and experiencing the dramatic transfer of life. Most importantly, I think, it is the culture shock I’m undergoing and the comparison between the two countries, one is where I come from, another is where I’m living in, that make the diary not only unique but also representative for me. the di
About a thousand years ago, in Tang dynasty, Chinese and Japanese governments had been exchanging scholars to communicate in culture, literature, politic, religion and even technology. Chinese people have the tradition of going abroad to hunt for more advanced knowledge and skills, like at the end of Qing dynasty, Chinese government sent hundreds of little kids to the US to learn science and engineering, who later went back to China and became most important persons in many fieldseducation, industry and military. Though unable to save the
Qing dynasty at last, they significantly changed China in many ways. They built the first railway, established the first university and changed the thoughts of people towards science and technology (before that the majority of Chinese people regard these things as monsters).
Hundreds of years have passed since that time, Chinese people are still going abroad to study, are we still expecting the same thing as our forerunners? Yes and no, is my answer for this question. We are still looking for the technology and skills, we want to acquire the latest and most advanced skills to help us to get good jobs and earn decent lives. Some of us may even want to go further in scientific studies. Maybe the experience of studying and researching in a foreign country will lead them to the Nobel prize one day. But in other ways, things are quite different now. Besides the knowledge, we are also looking forward to new and different experience and a more complete concept of the world to reshape our values. These experiences are meaningful and unique for both our period and myself.
I have written a lot in the diary about my personal experience different from what I experienced in China. For example, when crossing the street, we directly walk ahead and the cars will always wait for people to cross the street here in the US. In China, if there is no stoplight, we will hardly have a chance to see any of the cars in the flow stop or even slow down to let the pedestrians go. Another thing I noticed is that everywhere on campus, we have facilities for disabled people’s convenience, which is still not easy to find in China. Personally, these are far more important than what we learn in lectures. We develop our economy, politic and industry, but a nation can never be really strong until it knows how to be considerate to disadvantaged group. Apart from these serious issues, fun staffs going on all the time in my life is also a unique and valuable experience. I wrote about the parties and balls on campus in my diary one day.
“Girls are dressed up with beautiful dresses and high heels.