My daughter studied at California State University

California State University﹐Sacramento


When I see the photo﹐I smile﹒There are lots of persons in the photo﹐Peter﹐Rachel﹐John﹐Yumi…my dear friend﹐is there anything OK after backing to Taiwan？We have a great time in United States﹐which I will never forget！

This winter vacation﹐I joined in the program undertook by Tunghai University OIEP﹒This program is about going to CSUS（California State University﹐Sacramento）in order to make some culture exchange and to learn English. It’s not my first trip to United States﹐but it’s my first time to study abroad.

In the beginning﹐I was so nervous﹐I was worried about I couldn’t communicate with foreigners（Maybe they don’t understand what I say）or something like that.

After having gone going to United State﹐I knew I was wrong﹒This trip must be the best trip(It was a wonderful trip in my life)﹐and I got many special experience from it﹒

I got some different culture impact from United States﹐comparing with Taiwanese culture﹐they are so distinct and unusual﹒I made a list about that ﹐including food﹐clothing﹐residence﹐traffic﹐education and entertainment, etc… as follows: I want to show you︰

1.Food

We know﹐there are so many food stands﹐night market in Taiwan﹒You can eat a bowl of hot beef noodles even in 11p.m. But in United States﹐You (you)had better go to the restaurant in(during )6：00~8：00 p.m. After 9：00 p.m.﹐except the beer bar﹐I think there is no restaurant were open﹒In California State﹐I found the Mexico food is(was) so(more) popular with(than) American﹒I also ate a taco and some corn chips﹒I didn’t like the Mexico food﹐especially the sauce （You can dip corn chips into sauce）tasted too spicy﹐and the beans in the tacos smelled queer﹒But this was a special eating experience﹐I thought.(anyway!)

Our teacher, Leanne, taught us “American Culture”﹐one of this class(topics) was about “American food”. She told us most people associate(consider) American food with(as) “McDonalds” or “Burger King”. It’s a mistake﹒In fact, there were so many kinds of foods in America﹒

I agree with her﹒In CSUS Student Union﹐there were various restaurants﹒For example﹐pizza﹐pasta﹐Chinese food﹐Indian food, and so on. I found a unique scene﹐they put two microwave ovens in(at) Student Union﹒The CSUS students would bring sandwiches or frozen food﹐they put it in(into) the microwave oven﹒After a few minutes﹐they had a delicious launch﹒It was so cool！We brought the sandwiches（We made by ourselves）﹐too﹒Brought launch from dorm was the best way of saving money.So we made the sandwiches by ourselves at dormitory because it was the best way of saving money. Convenient America﹐right？

2.Clothing

The most exciting part of our trip—went to the outlets！We went to two outlets﹐one was Folsom outlets﹐the other was Vacaville outlets﹒I loved Folsom outlets than Vacaville outlets﹐because Vacaville outlets was too big﹐we didn’t have enough time in there. It’s(It was) very crazy for(of) us﹐we spent much money in outlets﹐we seldom see(saw) so giant(huge) outlets in Taiwan﹒And a lot of famous brands like Coach﹐Vans﹐America Eagles﹐Levis’…﹐you could get these commodities in cheaper price. I found the clothing in United States was simple and colorful﹐a(the) same T-shirt would be(with) yellow﹐pink﹐white﹐black﹒On the contrary, the clothing in Taiwan was dressy and various﹒We have(had) a(all kinds of) diamond studs T-shirts﹐vertical stripes shirts﹐and polka dots skirts﹒These stylish clothing in America is(are) expensive﹐but in Taiwan is(are) common and cheap﹒

3.Residence

Taiwan is crowd and small﹒We have too many(are overcrowded) people﹒In Taiwan﹐Only rich man’s home is villa(Only the rich people can enjoy the villa)﹐many(most) people live in high-building like flat. Around(Outside) our windows﹐we have(are accustomed to making window frames with) metal railing to protect us(for protection).

The house in American is so different﹒Their high-building is in the city center﹐just for business﹒American don’t live in there﹒American land is wide﹐so they can reside in suburb. Their house is(are) villa﹐so beautiful！There must be a front yard in their houses. You can plant flowers and green grasses in the front yards﹐it’s good for American to be close to nature﹒And the air in suburb is fresher than city center﹒The living standard in United State is the superior quality﹒

4.Traffic

“Do you have a motorcycle？”In Taiwan﹐the answer of most people must be “Yes”﹒The motorcycle is common in Taiwan﹐riding a motorcycle to school﹐office﹐super market or anywhere﹐becoming the part of Taiwanese life﹒

But in United State﹐we seldom saw the motorcycle﹒American went to anywhere by “cars”﹒

I think that is because American land is so wide﹐the distance between a shop and a house maybe 10 km﹒It’s too far to get there by(on) foot﹒And most American is(are) richer than Taiwanese﹐their GNP is(are) higher than us（GNP—gross national product﹐the total value of all the goods and services produced by a country in one year﹐including the total income from foreign countries）﹒So everyone in United State has a car﹒They depend on cars﹐it’s very convenient for them﹒

According to the last(latest) paragraph(report)﹐American hardly take the mass transit tool such as RT（Regional Transit）or bus﹒I remembered once we took the bus to the outlets﹒I saw many Blacks but few Whites﹒I asked our host﹐“Why？Why so many Blacks but few Whites？”Our host told us﹐in United States﹐the buses were took by low-level people﹒It’s amazing﹐isn’t it？ In Taiwan﹐most people take MRT﹐no matter who you are﹒The public take the MRT﹐the mayors take the MRT﹐the rich people take the MRT﹐the poor people take it﹐too！But in United State…it’s a big cultural difference！

5.Education

When I see the American movie﹐I always want to be the child in America﹒Why？Why can they go to school so late and go home so early？In American elementary school﹐students go to school in(at) 9︰00 a.m.﹐go home in(at) 3︰00 p.m.﹒they have a lot of free time﹐they can do anything they want﹒

However﹐in Taiwanese elementary school﹐students have to arrive in school on(before) 7：30 a.m. ﹒We need to study in school until 4：30 or 5：00 a.m(p.m.)﹒I f you’re a junior high school student or senior high school student﹐after dismissing the class﹐you will(usually) go to the cram school﹒In order to get better grades in exam﹐we have to study further lesson（Math﹐English﹐Physics…）in(at) cram school﹒It’s the hardest time in your life﹐you will have to read lots of books, textbooks to read and do homework to finish﹐only for exam and test﹒You feel tired every day﹐but all of Taiwanese junior/senior high school students are the same﹒The ultimate goal is to go to the best senior high school or college…God﹐it’s a crazy life﹒

But American education is different﹒They don’t like exam﹐they think the express ability is more important﹒Teachers let students do research﹐deliver a speech﹐attend some activities﹐teacher through these to know the personality of a student﹐knowing their interest and other ability﹒

6.Entertainment

I think this part is the biggest difference﹒American usually give us “Natural” ﹐“Healthy” impressions﹒Yes﹐they are！On their weekend﹐they usually do some outdoor activities﹒For example﹐go camping﹐mountain climbing﹐swimming﹐to be close to nature and help their body become more healthy﹒But Taiwan﹐although not everyone﹐most people stay at home on weekend﹒What do Taiwanese do？Nothing！Maybe watching TV or sleeping all the day﹒The newest entertainment between(among) teenagers is surfing the Internet﹐use the MSN﹒Teenagers can sit in front of the computer all the day﹒That isn’t good﹐but it’s Taiwanese teenagers real life﹒

There is a special entertainment in Taiwan—KTV（karaoke）﹒KTV is a music video with a song﹐but no(without the) singer’s voice﹒You can sing it in(with) your own voice﹐imaging ypu(you)’re a singer﹒It’s a nice entertainment for those people who love singing﹒Especially for college students﹐they enjoy going to KTV in the midnight﹐singing songs through all the night until 6：00 in the morning（Because from midnight to tomorrow morning﹐you can sing KTV in cheapest price）﹒So crazy﹐I know﹒But﹐who’s college life isn’t crazy？



Now I miss there﹐beautiful Sacramento﹒The people in Sacramento were so kind and passionate﹒I never forgot﹐first time when I went to the grocery store to buy a few food﹐the salesman talked to me﹒“How’s going？”he said﹐and smiled to me﹒They’re were out-going﹐too﹒When I took a picture with an American﹐she put her hand on my shoulder﹒What they do make me feel so warm﹒I love them and miss anything(everything) in United States﹒However﹐United States is also dangerous﹒Some people have a guns﹐junk and dope﹒There are too many races in United State﹐it’s too complex(complicated)﹒

We also went to the famous college—Stanford University﹒How giant(huge) university it was！At that day﹐sunshine was so warm﹐we felt comfortable and relaxing when we walked in the campus﹒The students in Stanford University was lucky﹐not only Stanford’s graceful scenery﹐but also Stanford’s celebrity rating﹒Stanford University was one of the best college in United States﹐except American﹐I also dream of one day I can study in there﹒Tunghai University Alumni led us to sightsee Stanford campus﹒It’s wonderful to interflow with alumni﹒I wouldn’t forget this Stanford trip﹐and our kind alumni！They all were good people！

I want to talk about our dorm—Loft﹒This is the most luxurious dorm I have ever seen﹒We had a bathroom﹐a little living room（with a liquid crystal TV﹐ a soft sofa）﹐comfortable beds and desks﹐a great(spacious) kitchen—with a microwave oven﹐a toaster﹐a gas range﹐a refrigerator﹒It’s useful(convenient) to cook pasta or make some sandwiches by ourselves﹒It’s so cozy that I wanted to live in there forever﹒

Finally﹐I feel like saying “Thanks” for all supporters﹒Especially my parents﹐they encourage me to join in this program﹐and pay airplane tickets for me﹒I really thank for my parents﹐I love them！Thank for Tunghai University Oiep﹐and English Language Institute College of continuing Education﹐CSUS﹒They give me an opportunity to study﹒

Thank for everyone！