Always Something Nice

Always Something Nice

            Last two years I was not fully happy when I founded my desired shoes at an unexpectedly nice price. I believe that feeling comes from my feeling of missing my home city. Before I moved in Chicago, I lived all my life in Ulaanbaatar. Two years ago, I left my home country with many exciting expectations about the United States. When I landed in Chicago, my friends picked me up at O’Hare airport. Then, they stopped by Starbucks to get their morning coffee. In Mongolia, there is no Starbucks. That is why I tasted that coffee with so much curiosity and anticipation.  Despite that great moment of landing in Chicago, that feeling still has not stayed with me until now. It changed because, in the last two years, I recognized the difference between Chicago and Ulaanbaatar more and more. I miss my home city especially because the physical surroundings are contrasting. Ulaanbaatar has a natural environment, a small-town feeling, and has mountains for hiking.  

            My first day of school was orientation day, and the international advisor showed us the school campus. My school campus is so close to the lake. When I saw that beautiful lake Michigan for the first time, it mesmerized me because I crave a natural environment so much.  Last two years, I lived in Edgewater which is so close to the lake, and I really enjoyed walking by the lake. However, even as I am enjoying the lake, there is something missing. Ulaanbaatar is surrounded by four mountains. Those mountains have green grass and trees growing on the land. I could see those mountains from my apartment. Now in Chicago, I can only see tall apartments or the lake.  Every summer when I went back home for my summer break, the first thing I did was to take a deep breath while I was staring at the beautiful and huge mountains. That air was different from Chicago because those mountains have birch forests. One of my favorite exercises is walking. After the rain, I would prefer to walk a lot. That air and view make me happy and energetic, and I feel so fresh and clean. Those natural resources make my life happy, not huge buildings. 

       Another a hole that I feel is my weekend hiking in the mountains. When I was in Ulaanbaatar, most weekends I preferred to hike because I was driving from my apartment for twenty minutes, and I can start hiking. My grandmother told me if I walk thirty minutes between birch forests our lungs can be cleaned. That exercise can clean my head and lungs. Hiking in the mountain has a different feeling. When I get to the top of the mountain, I can totally feel I have accomplished something and feel filled. In Chicago, I can walk by the lake, but the other side of view has many tall buildings and cars. I cannot clear my head fully as I did in Ulaanbaatar. Even though there is someplace to hike in Chicago, those places far from Chicago. It is not easy to access that place because I do not have a car here, and it is far from Chicago a least one hour.

In addition, I really miss Ulaanbaatar’s small-town feeling.  In terms of that population, Chicago has a double population. For example, I went to for dinner in Ulaanbaatar, I might see someone I knew from my school, work, or someone from my family members. I like that because people are busier than ever, so they prefer to use technology to communicate and to contact one another. Nevertheless, in Ulaanbaatar, we have more chances to meet and to see each other personally. After living in for two years, I have made many friends. Because I am social a person. I prefer being surrounded by people I know. In Chicago, I still I cannot feel that small-town feeling. It is the almost opposite side of Ulaanbaatar. In Chicago, most of the places I do not recognize anyone around me which I can feel freer, but I still miss my small town. It makes me feel more comfortable and safer.

In conclusion, all around the world, every city has advantages and disadvantages. Because of globalization, people are more likely to move or travel all around the world. That is why I realized everywhere I go I have to adjust to everything around me. If I always judge surroundings, I will never enjoy my time. Now, I have stopped missing my home city. Although my home city has a small-town feeling, beautiful mountains, and my preferred exercise. I have found many nice places to enjoy my time in Chicago. When I will go back to Ulaanbaatar after my graduation, I will miss this amazing and cool city.

Destiny 1978

 Destiny 1978

               In 1978, one of Deng Xiaoping’s meetings in Beijing had affected tens of thousands of families, and my family was one of them. Before 1978, China was in a state of economic isolation,  and the economic progress was slow between 1949 to 1978.  Reform and opening up had made the market in mainland China grow rapidly, and it changed my family’ Lives. My grandmother was born in a small village, which had a small population and few jobs. After 1978, my grandmother moved to a big city called Foshan. That was a big city with a lot of development. In this new place, my family conditions have been greatly improved. My grandma’s decision to relocate and influenced my family and me.

             The first benefit of moving to the big city for my family was good health care and easier access to the hospital. In my grandma’s hometown, there wasn’t even a regular hospital, but only a few small clinics with poor medical conditions. The doctors only had a little bit of medical common sense. In addition, the environment of the clinics was poor. They didn’t have the sterile operating rooms, and medical equipment is scarce.  It was dangerous to operate there. When my grandmother moved to the city, she was pregnant, so she gave birth to my father and uncle in a proper hospital.  A few years later, I was born in the same hospital as them. We were fortunate to have the benefits of urban health care. In those years, it was dangerous to give birth in villages and there was a high death rate for newborn babies. Furthermore, the other thing that influenced my family was the improvement of traffic convenience. Before 1978, there was no complete roads or highways connect villages and towns. When people got a serious illness, it would take them a lot of time in traffic. In many cases, the best timing of treatment was delayed. To this day, my family is still grateful for the benefits of reform and opening up to protect our health.

            Another important affected of the reform and opening on my family was that it enabled us all to received a better education. After the reform and opening, China began to popularize nine-year compulsory education. A lot of people started getting free for school. In the old village, there was no school. People did not have a chance to accept education, and they only knew a few words, even didn’t know their own name. After reform and opening, my father could go to a good high school to study. He also went to college. There is a saying in China, that is “knowledge changes destiny.” I believe it is true. After my father graduated, he found a good job in a big company. It was not only affected our family’s income because receiving a good education can change one’s attitude,  Speech and character. Fortunately, I could also enjoy the educational opportunities by the reform and opening.

           After moving to the city, my family got better job opportunities and higher income. In the small village, it was difficult for people to find a job to support themselves. People grew vegetables in front of their houses and sold them at the market. People generally had low incomes and poor living conditions. In Foshan, my grandmother found a job about accounting for the government. It was enough for my father and uncle’s tuitions and lives. When they graduated, they both found a nice job and made good money. The effect of this is that we all have a high quality of life. We bought a house, a car and beautiful clothes. My grandmother said she never thought she could have these things a few decades ago. My family and I should be grateful for the improvement of the quality of life brought by the reform and opening-up policy.

           There were many important events have happened in Chinese history to affect the development of the country. There is no doubt that the Reform and Opening have had most deeply influents on my family. It gave us better medical care, good job opportunities and a better quality of life. This policy has also led China to prosperity and rapid economic development. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if my grandmother hadn’t made that decision. I am proud of her decision and also proud of Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening. It has not only brought benefits to my family but also led China to prosperity. Our destiny changed in 1978.

Old Hobbies

 Ati                                                         

                                                                     Old Hobbies

            The last month before I came to the United States, I spent most of my time with my family and close friends partying, visiting old places, visiting museums, going to cafés, and camping in nature. When I was in Iran, entertainment was a big part of my life. When I graduated from the university, I had more time to have fun, so I used to hang out with my family and friends. The people of my city, Shiraz, are famous for knowing how to enjoy themselves. However, since I came to the United States, I have not had entertainment as much as I had in Iran because I do not have any close friends or family here to accompany me camping in the nature, visiting old places, and family gatherings.

            One of the most interesting forms of entertainment that I had in Iran was family gatherings. It is customary in Iran that families gather with each other almost every weekend. I miss it a lot because my family that I used to spend my holidays or weekends with are not here. Although several times nice American families invited me to their family gathering for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Passover parties, and I had nice times there. Howover, none of them gave me happiness or feeling that I had in Iran because my English is not good enough to speak with them easily about different issues. For instance, they talk to each other about something and laugh at jokes that I do not understand, or yet, sometimes I think they are not funny at all and all of these are because our cultures are different. 

            My friends and I also used to spend our time visiting ancient places and museums. Iran and Shiraz have a lot of museums that gave my friends and me many choices. We used to hang out in our free time in these places. Here, in Chicago, I have gone to different museums such as the Oriental Institute Museum, the Art Museum, and the Museum of Science and Industry. I liked all of them, spicially the Oriental Institute Museum because it has beautiful and important archeoalogical objects from Iran. Although this museum is beautiful, compared to Egyptian and Mesopetamian galleris, the Persian gallery dose not have as many objects. It makes me a little sad because my country has a lot of ancient objects that could be displayed in the museum.

            The last and the best entertainment that I had in Iran was camping in nature. The nature that my family or friends and I chose to visit are usually close to our city. Sometimes other family friends joined us. Our mothers made food on the fire, and after that we accompanied our mothers to pick the local herbs that we knew. I really miss those days and I would love to try it again here, but I am not familiar with the nature of this region. Also, I do not feel safe because of the bad things that I hear from news that happen to some people on camping. Therefore, it seems that I cannot enjoy the same experiences I had in Iran.  

            Although Iranians do not have a lot of entertainment compend to the people in free countries have such as going to a bar, biking for females, shopping with boyfriend or girlfriend, dancing in conserts, and going to the dance club, the entertainment they have such as spending their time with family, visiting old sites, and enjoying nature are very important to them. Though I hope that dictatorial regime in Iran will change one day, so Iranians can experience freedom they deserve. I also hope that I can find more friends with common interests, so I can begin to explore the new hobbies with them, and have party such as I had in Iran with my family and friends. 

Street Food Lover

           Talking about culinary habits is never ending, starting from street food to five stars hotel food. Focusing on street food, most countries have their own characteristics, both in terms of presentation and the food itself. Besides Hong Kong and Bangkok, I believe that Jakarta is one of the paradises for street food lovers. However, when I am in Chicago, I have to forget about street food because I miss the food cart vendors, food vendors on the sidewalks, and the ones in the traditional market. It is hard for me to find street food like in Jakarta. Therefore, I have to hold back my desire to enjoy street food for a while until I go back to Jakarta.

In Jakarta, during the day, there are many food cart vendors that approach customers to sell food. They use carts or bicycles to carry the food. They sell many kinds of food such as soto mie, ketoprak, siomay, fruits and many more. My favorite ones are chicken satay and meat ball soup. Every day, they usually move around in the same area and at almost the same time.

Therefore, I can estimate when they will come to my place. In Chicago, food trucks usually stay in a certain area, so I need to go there to get food. Food cart vendors also help me to get food if I do not have time to go out. When they are selling the food, they use various kinds of sounds to catch their customers’ attention. They usually use horns, play music, or they yell their jingle to customers. Even though most of the food that they sell tastes delicious, the price is cheaper than in the store. This is because they do not need to pay rent. Additionally, they usually work by themselves.

            Moreover, in Indonesia, when the night comes, it is easy for me to find food vendors along the sidewalks. Their operation time is more flexibe and most of them are open from the evening to midnight, but some of them stay open until morning. In Chicago, I saw only one or two booths that sell food on the sidewalks, and they only sell limited food such as crackers and fruits. They also only do their activities during the day. In Jakarta, these kind of food vendors are spread out through the city. The famous ones are at Pecenongan and around Gajahmada street, which are in the old city. I like their noodles because Indonesian noodles is different from other countries. I have tried many kinds of noodles from different countries, and I think Indonesian noodle is the best. They also sell some unique food that I cannot find in Chicago. They serve turtle soup, snake soup and crocodile satay. I have tried them all, and I like turtle soup the most. Some people believe that turtle soup is good for people’s health. In addition, some people like to eat snake’s bile and drink the blood. They believe that snake’s blood is good for your skin.

            Besides the two types of vendors above, Jakarta also has street food that is located inside buildings. One of them is in the traditional market. When I got there, various type of food caught my eyes, from Indonesian food to Chinese food. Indonesian food itself has many kinds depending on which area they come from. There is laksa from Medan, pempek from Palembang and gado-gado from Jakarta. They also sell various kinds of Indonesian cakes. Those are typical Indonesian cakes that I can only find in Indonesia. People call them kue basah. In Indonesia, I usually went there every weekend to have breakfast or lunch. Besides having noodles, I also like to go to kedai Ibu Jum. They display many kinds of Indonesian cuisine, and then I can choose what I want. Since they sell the food at the store, they are usually healthier than the ones that are sold on the street. Even though I have been living in Chicago for four years, I only found one place like that here in Chinatown. However, the stores there are not as many as in the traditional market in Jakarta, and most of them only sell Chinese food.

            Since I am studying in Chicago, I have to forget my street food for a while. I need to sacrifice my habit from buying street food. There are no more food cart vendors that come to me to offer food. Now, I need a little effort to reach the place where the food trucks are. It is also hard for me to find street food vendors along the sidewalks that stay open 24 hours. Consequently, I sometimes cook my meal myself late at night. Even though Chicago has Chinatown with many restaurants, I do not have many choices because most of them only sell Chinese food. I think, I should adjust my eating habits to where I live. I hope Chicago will have more food trucks and have more places like Chinatown and open 24 hours with various kinds of food.

Collision and Fusion

Collision and Fusion

For cultures to blend，people have to start by letting cultures bump into each other. They have to discover the differences, and then they can decide which is the right direction. Different cultures influence the way people get along with each other. I have lived in China for twenty-two years, and I got used to the way to communicate with Chinese people. I know that it can be difficult to communicate with people in the United States. Being exposed to a new culture has made me lose a lot of things that belong to me. When I came to the United States, I was not used to communicating with the people here. The integration of the two cultures has been a long process. I would not say the American way of communication is bad, but I am still adjusting. There are many reasons that make me miss the Chinese way of communication.

The first thing that makes me nostalgic for family communication. American families are more like a family than Chinese families, but also less like a family. I feel like I lost some space of my own. In American families, they have a lot of family day and families party, usually once or twice a week. However, I do not like this atmosphere. Because in China, I only get together with our families on important holidays. It gives me more time to devolve my hobbies. In contrast to the strong family atmosphere, American children face a lot of pressure at a young age. When they become adults, they usually have to pay rent for the houses and pay some tuition for their colleges. I have to pay three hundred dollars of rent to my aunt every month. I feel that while making the children become independent, it also make the family lose the atmosphere of family. That is why I miss the way of Chinese families communicate. It is perfect for me.

I also miss being in Chinese social circles. When I started to go to college in Chicago, I miss Chinese university even more. The reason is I feel it is much easier for people to get along and become close friends in Chinese schools. I lived in a Chinese school dormitory for nine years. I liked that atmosphere very much because I could stay with my classmates all week. We studied together, ate together and lived together. That made me know a lot of real friends, like real brothers. In Chicago, we all go home separately when school is over. It makes it hard for me to communicate at school. The second reason that makes me miss my Chinese social circles is I can easy to find some places for fun with my friends. When I had free time in China, I used to go to the Internet bar to play computer games with my friends. The Internet bar also server drinks and food. There is a perfect place for me to communicate with my friends. I could not find any place like that in Chicago, and I also lost friends in Chicago.

Furthermore, it is hard for me to use Chinese ways of socializing in the United States. The culture affects a lot of the ways a person thinks and speaks. The first thing that makes me feel weird is the “small talk”. I cannot get used to doing the small talk with foreigners. In Chicago, almost every conversation starts with “how are you?” or “how is it going today?”. Then people will talk about the weather or news. I know is a kind of like etiquette, and I would not say it is bad. I just feel like I lost my way of talking in America. Another thing that bothers me is language. It is difficult for me to express my true thoughts with my second language. Many times, I have a lot of Chinese words in my brains but could not come out of my mouth with English words. I like to make jokes with my Chinese friends and usually make them laugh, but I lost this skill in Chicago. That has made me became a silent man. I miss being the one who communicates with people in China. I think I lost my sense of humour in Chicago.

Today, I am still trying to blend the way of communication in two different cultures. It will be difficult for me, and it will be a long process. I think I am slowly getting back the things that I lost. I am learning English to make me becomes a humorous person again. English can also let me meet more friends in Chicago, and let me have a deeper understanding of American culture. In the future, I will not lose my Chinese way of communication any more because I would blend it in the American way.

The Avila  

      I always thought that every city in the world had something special, and
that something identifies not only the city but also identifies the people who
are from that place.When people read or talk about The Himalayas, the first
thing that comes to mind is Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world,
for example. If people dig in the identity of each city they will find out the
habitants in that place are tied to that symbol in many ways, spiritually, mentally,
and physically. Caracas the Capital District of Venezuela is surrounded by a
green, beautiful and huge mountain called Avila. Most of my life I lived
surrounded by this natural environment, fresh mornings, the songs of the birds,
that scent of trees and fertile earth. I used to wake up early and my mornings
were silent and peaceful. I remember how I heard and understood my thoughts
and my feelings. I always want to take advantage of everything that The Avila
had to offer. I remember that before work, I stopped a few minutes on
my balcony to stare at the landscape. That was how began my day
wrapped by wet, green and tropical rainforest.  

   My meditations started while I was hiking up the mountain. That land full of
leafy trees gave me shadow when sunny days were inclement. After a
long walk, I sat down on a bench or whatever place on the top of the
mountain to look at that fascinating landscape. The mingle of blue, green, white,
brown all perfectly together amazed me. Being above the clouds, and feeling
that fresh soft breeze gave me kind of a sense of calm and let my mind rest. 
Moreover, my concentration levels were high enough to heal my mind of
problems or negative feelings. In 2017, I moved to Chicago and one of my

firsts thoughts was there are no stars in the night sky. This city is too flat,
and the cold winter is killing me. Indeed, the woodland around here is
almost totally plane except for some hills. At that moment, I already knew
that I would probably never live in Caracas again. Much less, reassure my stress,
my tiredness without the environment of my city made me feel nostalgic
like everything was missing. 

 For me weekends were my moments to be outdoors, and frequently I chose to stick
around because in Caracas there are a bunch of things to do and activities to enjoy.
The variarity included beaches, mountains, and restaurants with new organic food and
drinks. Considering, The Avila there was pretty close by my house, was easy
for me  to do some outdoor exercise there. When I didn’t have enough time to go to
the beach,  I used to stay on the north side of the city and check if the ground humidity
on the mountain was too high or dry to decide if I was going to hike up or climb
up, to avoid falls. Even though I was doing something for my body, those
activities helped me to keep the balance, and my stress levels went down too.
My body, my mind and my soul learned how to build walls against negative
thoughts and feelings, and develop tolerance and patience. Here in Chicago, my
outdoor activities are limited by the weather and seasons. In spring and summer,
for three or four months I am capable to stay out without freezing. I’m a more
warm and sunny day woman. Despite this, I enrolled in a gym with pool,
basketball and tennis court, yet after two years in Chicago, I became a swimmer
and my workouts switched. Now I lift weights and run on machines too. I settle
down my mind and bring my calm back after long days of work, noise and
crowded streets with indoor activities most of the year.   

How I socialized changed as well. I never did my activities alone in Caracas. I
was always with my friends; we used to start our exercises before 7:00 in the
morning, so when we went down The Avila it was time to eat breakfast. Actually
at the beginning of the mountain  there are small bakeries adapted to the nature
of the place. The brown wood and greens all over the place. There are large
terraces with panoramic view over the internal areas of the rainforest, and outside
of the city, those bakeries didn’t need any decorative painting held on the walls,
the view was enough.  Enjoying small talk with a burning bread, eggs and
strawberry or orange juice was a perfect way to forget everything and relax.
Since I arrived in Chicago, I started a new and cold life full of work and weekend
days were more for making money than relax. Most of my friends that I have
here work on weekends the same way that they work on Monday or
Wednesday. Unfortunately, it's hard to make new friends because the language
is an obstacle. Those breakfasts in my hometown Caracas surrounded by
rainforest with fresh and homemade food have ended. My friends emigrated
too, so our small talks, how we listened to each other, how we advised each
other, and how we fixed our country is over. I really miss them all so much.  

   These are  two different experiences in two different places. I have been through
giant changes in my life over the last two years.  However, the process of clearing my
mind, throwing away negative emotions, and stress is still hard work for me, yet
I discovered when I was driving along Lake Shore Drive how immense, and
beautiful are the sunrise and sunset on Lake Michigan, and also there are
many activities that I can do during the summer. This makes me feel positive
and full of energy, so this new perspective of Chicago has gained space against
negative thoughts. I have been adjusting to my new life, so usually I call
my friends, I usually swim two times a week, my friends and me make traditional
Venezuelan dinners with a couple glasses of wine, these are a few of the changes
that I have done. Regarding this, I know that I will never forget my beloved and
beautiful Avila. That symbol will always be a part of my life in many ways,
despite the distance between us.

Missing Nian

Missing Nian 

According to ancient Chinese mythology, Nian is a beast which lives under the sea or mountains, and it comes out to villages or cities to forage once a year during the end of the year. However, the Nian is timid, so it is afraid of the sound of firecrackers. Therefore, it is a custom in China to set off firecrackers every Lunar New Year to expel the Nian. Because of this, Chinese people also call the LunarNewYearNian. It is the most important festival and also called the Spring Festival in China. The Spring Festival is one of the most traditional holidays which has a history of 5000 years, and it is celebrated for over a month celebration in China. I lived in China and experienced the lunar new year for eighteen years. However, since I moved to the United States, I have not prepared or experienced the spring festival as I did in China.

The Spring Festival is the most ceremonial traditional festival that Chinese people prepare for a month from the beginning to the end of December in the lunar calendar. When I was in China, I used to buy food, clothes, gifts and poetic couplets with my parents during the week preceding the holiday. Then, my family had a ceremony to worship the god of the kitchen in order to please him to protect us in the kitchen on December 23^rd. I usually did a spring cleaning after that, which aimed to sweep away the bad luck and bring in good luck in the coming year. Furthermore, on December 28^th, I wrote and stuck red couplets around the doors with my father. I have not stuck couplets or worshipped the kitchen god since I moved to the United States. I still prepare the spring festival here in Chicago, but it is much simpler because of the busy working and difficult grocery shopping. I also clean my house but not as hard as the spring cleaning. Although it was so complex, I miss the busy but nice preparations for Spring Festival now.     In addition, family reunion is very important on the first and last days of the year. This day is celebrated grandly and brilliantly in my home country because it is the connection of two years. When I was young, all my family members came together from different cities regardless of how far it was, and we sat around a big table to have dinner together at the night of December 30^th, the end of the year. It meant we were all together. After dinner, we sat around the living room and talked about the interesting experiences while watching the Festival Gala Evening Party over the night. All of my family members stayed up all night, and all lights had to be on overnight. It was armed to welcome the coming of the new year, which was the custom called shousui. Then, I dressed in new and nice clothes to give great greeting to the elders of the family and get lucky envelopes from them in order to have a great start on the next day, the beginning of the year. I watched the spring festival party online in recent years in Chicago, but it was always rebroadcast because of the time difference. I could only meet and have dinner with my father and sister instead of all family members and did not especially wear new clothes in the first day of the year. As a result, I felt my house and heart deserted and missed the exciting family reunion and the great time shousui. 

Moreover, the rest fifteen days of Spring Festival is the time to meet friends and visit relatives. In my childhood, I was so happy to visit my relatives with gifts, but I had to wait for the dinner of the second day to go around and meet my friends. Also, I used to have fancy parties and great meetings with my friends and classmates when I was in school. We went out at night to watch the firework shows which the government sponsored for four days in order to have fun with the citizens. Also, I joined the wonderful temple fair and had a lot of fun. Instead of the temple fair and firework shows, Chinatown in Chicago had parade event and other activities to celebrate Chinese New Year. However, I seldom join the activities and feel different. Thus, I miss my friends in China and feel thankful having great time during the Spring Festival with them, whereas I was lonely in Chicago. 

The spring festival is the most important festival in China, and it represents a  very important part in Chinese culture. It is also my favorite traditional festival. However, I lost it in translation and celebrated it more and more simply. Although Chinese people also celebrate the spring festival in the United States, I don’t think it is the same with my memory. Maybe it is because of my changing feelings. Celebrating the spring festival is called guonian which means the New Year in China. It means to leave out the old year and go into the new year. It is not only having fun celebrating traditional festival but also great wishes to the coming year. I hope I can go to China and experience the lunar new year with my family and friends this winter. I want to relive it to be great and meaningful. 

 

                                                          Culture Shock

                                                                   

An airplane landed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. A woman looked like college age girl carried a suitcase slowly walking down the airplane. She looked at around in surprise as if this was a new world to her. That girl was me, and I always longed to experience a different culture. I was curious about a western life. Therefore, I prepared one year for this exploration. However, my fresh year here disorganized because I had to confront different food culture, inconvenient transportation, and unprecedented solitude. Because of these reasons, I had to face the intense culture shock in Chicago.

The first thing that I had to bear was different food culture. Specifically, since I came from Hunan province, Hunan is known for spicy food. In Hunan, I used to go to a restaurant which is called Shan Shui Ren Jia. Every dish there was spicy if there were levels of spiciness, I believe that could be hellish spicy. My friends and I went there every week, and we all so enjoyed the food. Thus, we had a lot of enjoyments there. However, Chicago, I could not find real Huan cuisine because many dishes have adopted the that many Americans desire. Finally, I’ve found a restaurant in Chinatown named Hunan Family, but I was disappointed. It was not the real Hunan cuisine that I had expected because the sauce tasted too sweet and greasy. Afterwards, I decided to explore some local food, so I went to a couple of local restaurants. I observed that most of the dishes had cheese and sugar in it. However, high-calorie food is my less favorite one because I prefer keeping my body in good shape. Due to this reason, I missed my hometown food even more.

Beside the food culture, the transportation facilities in the suburbs of Chicago are inconvenient. Living outside of the city of Chicago is not like downtown Chicago because in downtown Chicago, people can easily take trains or buses to many places. Because of this reason, it was very difficult for my daily life. Some people usually say that if you do not have a car, you do not have legs. I thought that was very true for me. When I went to work or a grocery store, I had to take a cab. Sometimes, the cab took so long to come my apartment, so it caused me occasionally to be late when I had work. Especially, when the winter came, the lack of public transportation made me feel even more painful. In China, however, trains, buses, and taxis are everywhere. A bus station to next station is only walking distance. Sometimes, people only have to wave their hands, and they can get a cab right away even if they are in a small town. Hence, people who live in China do not need cars, and they can easily go anywhere as they like. As a new immigrant in Chicago, I believe that was the one of inconvenient issues for me.

In Addition, I had to face the intense solitude. In China, I have a lot of friends. When I got off from work, I often hung out with them. We have explored our city, and we knew where to find a good place to enjoy our spare time. However, everything had changed since I came to Chicago. My first year here, I lived north side of Chicago, it was difficult for me to meet some Chinese friends for most of them living on the south side of Chicago. Furthermore, due to the language barrier and different social etiquette, I could not meet any of native speakers either. In China, despite that there are many local languages, people all also speak mandarin and making a friend is much easier. In the United States, the social etiquette is totally different. There is word that exists in the united states, call “privacy”, but it is not common in China. For instance, In China, people can talk about their personal lives without causing offence anyone, but it might not apply to American people. For American people, everyone is an individual, and people rarely talk about their personal business unless their family or friends. Therefore, during that time, I had no friends, and no one I could talk to. I felt extreme loneliness, so I really missed my friends in China.

To sum up, looking back those days, even thought I had to overcome the different food culture, difficult transportation, and extreme loneliness, I survived after getting through these unexpected culture shock. During that time, my stomach from the strange food. Meanwhile, I felt that it was like as if I was living of a city under siege. In addition, I had to face the solitude alone, and it was the most difficult thing that had experienced at that time. Despite that there were some inconvenient situations, I still live here since I understand that every place has its own special features.