Flying solo in America 
　

After being in America for almost a year, I cannot deny that I still miss Hong Kong a lot.  There is nowhere else where I can be as comfortable as home – Hong Kong. Wherever I go, if there is a Chinatown I always go there at once and have Chinese food. After a whole year away from home, I realize that food is the first thing I miss on the list, and then come my family and friends.  
　

Let me tell you something about my life in America. The first semester I lived on campus; all activities, from study to doing laundry, were done in school. I did feel like living in a concentration camp. I remember once Amanda and I went back to the room after doing laundry, I told her “Hey, do you feel that we are in a concentration camp?” Every day, I met almost the same people from walking around campus to in the dining hall. Well, I should say every day I could meet the same people 5 to 10 times, and we still greeted each other. Hmm…It was very boring. Talking about the dining hall, all types of American food which can make you put on weight: burgers, lasagna, cheese, sodas, ice cream, deserts…You just cannot stop walking around all the booths and taking a bite of the food. Can you believe that I gained 10 pounds in three months?  
　

For the cross country season, we trained after school every day plus Sunday morning. 20 something runners jumped into vans and headed to the trails. We were clean and energetic, but by the time we returned, all of us were dirty, smelly and tired. At the very first of the semester, the van was fresh. A few weeks later, all the vans were smelly. We did not want to get into the vans at all. Oh! So stinky!  
　

Living on campus costs a fortune, so I moved off campus in the second semester. Yes! It is much cheaper. Can you believe that I share an apartment with a Chinese couple for which I only pay $100 per month? Is it cheap? Well, it is the cheapest I can find in this town; however I am the only one to clean the house. The day I moved in, the house was like a garage, I needed to tidy the house on my own. There are butts everywhere. My landlady is too nice; there is no pet control at all. One thing applies to all people; do know your roommate / boyfriend / partner better before moving together! Also a good landlord is very important.  
　

As the school is around 1 mile away from the apartment, I have to walk or bike back to school every day. From January to April, the weather was so chilly, every time when I returned home (downhill), the wind blew into my face, went through my thick clothes, I could not stop swearing. It was such an unforgettable experience in my life. It was ten times worse than running in the snow.  
　

Finally, I want to share some thoughts about the education in America. Honestly, it is not difficult, once you master English. Professors look for your own inspiration and ideas more than how much information you can remember from the text books. When I talked to some of my friends in college in Hong Kong, they told me that even though they are in college, professors still use the old fashioned requirement for schoolwork. What a pity!  
　

Well, there are too much to share. One letter is not enough to tell everything…So to be continued!