HW1 revised

Being Happy Walking on A Thorny Road

Another end of the world had always been attractive, but like exploring the green land in a desert, underneath curiosity and enthusiasm was fear. Life was not easy all of the time. Contrary to what scientists said about us changing the environment, we are the ones who have to adapt to changes most of the time; for it would be naive to restrict the world in its course of actions. What we could do is being happy on the way of fitting in the world.

My first days in the U.S. were tough with respect to food. Before coming to the States my friends, who went to high school here, told me that the food was horrible. Because of this, I brought a suitcase of Chinese snacks with me. I had no idea what was ahead of me. I knew there would certainly be difficulties getting accustomed to American food and my experience with Brittain dining hall gave me more than I ever expected.

It’s time to eat. Unlike its old-looking outside, neat tables and chairs, soft light and polite food servers picture a warm atmosphere as I walk in. The Food there is shining, smiling at me, and waiting for me to call its name. I am impressed. I want to say its name loudly and have it. But all of a sudden, I find myself at a loss of words…

The first challenge I confronted was to get what I want. I didn’t know the names of food in the Brittain dining hall. I wanted to call for things but didn’t know how. I tried to listen to what others called the food, but the names went away so fast like a shy girl saying her name. Even though I heard it many times, I still couldn’t figure what it was.

What should I do? If I couldn’t speak, what would they get me? Nervousness occupies me and I begin to look around. Every line is moving forward smoothly with plates full of food. I stand there helplessly, wondering which line to follow. A word from distance abruptly solves the puzzle, but I still have to find a better solution…

I heard somebody yelled “hamburger” and I caught it. I got a hamburger for my first meal here. While not a terrible beginning, I couldn’t just have hamburgers every day so I started to learn. I was really embarrassed to ask around about names of food, especially when people were so nice to tell me many times, but I still couldn’t say it properly.

I wish there is a hole for me to bury myself in. However, ostrich’s way couldn’t bring anything better. I keep crawling forward and see some weak lights coming out of the gash of darkness…

After some a month, I learned a lot of new stuffs and was able to get what I wanted, eventually. It was not easy. Sometimes I even asked others to spell and write the names down for me. Life was not easy and it would not be. Another big challenge was coming quietly.

It is about dinner time. Surrounded by all kinds of noises, I sit by myself at a corner of a long table. Nobody is talking to me and I don’t really hear anything, either. My mind stops working. My body is like floating at the middle of nowhere, with hands and mouth mechanically moving up and down. Five bowls, filled with raw vegetables, wake me out of my quiet and stationary world. I feel people I know sit around me. I lift up my head, but only see five rabbits…

Another challenge for me was that I had to eat salad every day, just as a rabbit does, as this was the only vegetarian food that did not taste strange to me. Other cooked vegetables simply extended my imagination and reversed my definition of food.

Perfect appearance, freshness revealed by bright colors, how lovely it is. I’d better get a lot of it since it would probably be out soon. But I am fooled…

There was no question about the attractive looking; however, the taste was another story which had absolutely nothing to do with how it looked whatsoever.

What did I swallow? There is no taste. No salt, no pepper, no sauce, it tastes like colorful solid purified water; it doesn’tt even taste like a vegetable! I hope this won’t happen again…

I had tried again but only received disappointment time after time. I turned to salad. At least it had taste due to Thousand Island sauce that I put in it. After few transitional days, I managed to swallow one bowl of it every day and decided it was the essential in my diet since that’s the best I could have in the dining hall. I did not realize what I was doing until some day I was talking about my pets with my Chinese friends.

Why do these green leaves and carrots look so familiar to me? I must have stories with them some time in the past. Right! That’s exactly what I feed to my rabbit! I am a rabbit myself now…

I thought it was just me. I was wrong. Walking around the dining hall, almost all my Chinese friends ran out of choices but to become rabbits. More and more of them had already overcome the struggle of being rabbits. I thought they were doing this unconsciously, but when I asked “don’t you feel like a rabbit”, the answer was “what’s wrong with being a rabbit? If being a rabbit is the only way to survive, be a rabbit.”

There was nothing wrong with being a rabbit. Moreover, I would make the effort to be a happy one. Learning and making changes to fit in the new world was not easy, but that was what the strong do. Even knowing there would be a thorny road ahead, I still tried to go forward with a smile on my face. It was that kind of will that accompanied me coming to today’s position and I believe it would lead me to where I want to go.

Picture:
http://hiphotos.baidu.com/dovecs/pic/item/060e14aff66907e97dd92a77.jpg
http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u15/Happiness_1.jpg