Christmas in Cleveland, Ohio

Niagara Falls welcome us. The falls are amazing~


Two lovely girls in Erie Lake on Christmas day.

Beautiful lake near Case Western Reserve University campus.

My Christmas holidays are quickly gone, and I am now back to NYC again. Oh, I still felt that I was in Cleveland. I spent 4 days with my friends there. The trip was awesome. I went to Cleveland on the 24th, Christmas Eve and we had nice fish, duck and cheesecake that night. I visited my friend's campus (Case Western Reserve University) and Cleveland downtown on Christmas Day. Cleveland is pretty, similar to Boston, and well-organized. I love that quiet, neat city.

We drove to Niagara Falls on the 26th. The weather wasn't that good, but it didn't ruin our trip. Niagara Falls are beautiful, difficult to describe. It is just amazing. 3 different falls get together and show us the beauty of nature. I got so excited when I saw the falls. Unfortunately, the sightseeing boat wasn't running that day for the safty reason, but we still got chance to go to the bottom of the falls, where we could get very close to the falls. In order to take pictures of the falls, and enjoyed the nice view, I got completely wet for my body. The water was freezing cold, and I nearly took a shower with iced cold water. Pictures will show up soon. Oh, I love the nature. I hope I could see the summer view and night view of Niagara Falls in future.

Maybe I got too excited that day, I fell asleep when we drove back to Cleveland, but nice Korean barbecue woke me up. On the 27th, I went to Outlet with my friends for shopping. Girls like shopping, that's the general rule. Got some nice clothes for myself, together with some kitchen utilities. It is weird that I like kitchen utility a lot and always buy a lot, although I seldom use them, and as everyone knows, my cooking technique is awful. Oh, my silly friend in Cleveland is good at cooking, I love her food. We also went to Little Italy in Cleveland, and had hot chocolate with Tiramisu. I love Italian sweeties, especially Tiramisu and some Italian pastry.

I came back to NYC yesterday although I hope I could stay in Cleveland for the rest of my life. Happy time is always short. Well, New Year will be around the corner. I don't think I gonna go to Time Square to celebrate New Year Eve together with many New Yorkers, but I guess I should make some plans at NYC either. Wish all my friends, parents, and myself have a nice 2007. Hope some good things happen to me next year. Thank you, silly Jing, you gave me a wonderful Christmas. Happy birthday to my Dad, you will receive a lot of unpaid bills from me as your birthday presents, lolz~ What a terrible daughter I am.

One year anniversary

Just a short post to memorize at the same time last year, I did the most stupid, funny, brave thing in U.S. I've ever done in my life. Time passes so fast. It is already a year, and I am still proud of what I did at that moment, although I hope I could do it earlier.

Don't judge people based on their nationalities~

Usually, we have some stereotypes about people from different countries, such as we normally think Americans are more open and talkative; French are romantic; Russians like drinking Vodka; and etc. Well, it is not always the case.

Most foreigners here I knew all thought Chinese people are quiet and shy. Yes, some Chinese are, I admit, but not all, such as myself. Chinese are vivid and funny if they are with their friends, but not with strangers. Compared to Americans, Chinese are generally shy and quiet. It is a nice trait from our history and culture. Unfortunately, it never happens to me and some of my friends. We just could talk 24-hour a day even with strangers. How about shy? Yes, it did happen to me sometimes when I met a person for the first time, but not always.

What do you think about Germans? Most people will give me an answer like humorless, serious, etc. I sadly realize recently that it is not always the case either. I had a German friend (or acquaintance maybe), he is far more funny than me. I even failed to make fun of him or fool him. So my conclusion here is that don't judge people based on their nationalities, otherwise, you will always make mistakes or even make yourself stupid.

Christmas is around corner, this is the third Christmas I spent in this country. Each Christmas is quite different for me, this time, I am heading up to Cleveland, Ohio. Oh, time flies, I can't believe 2006 is nearly gone. Woo~ ~ ~ Merry Christmas to all my friends.

Fall season TV Shows~

This season's TV shows are disappointing. It doesn't mean those TV shows are bad, but the Broadcasting companies are sucks. Fox announced that they gonna stop showing Prison Break last Monday without any reason. Second season of Prison Break is awesome, but Fox only showed half of the season and promise to show the second from Jan.22nd, 2007. I don't understand why Fox always did this kind of stupid things. They showed half of season one of Prison Break last fall, then showed the whole season again last spring. Now they repeat the same story. It is only on air once a week. For all the fans, we have to wait for a week to see only one episode, now they completely stopped. When it comes to next spring, who gonna still remember what they are talking about in the first half of season two? It is just ridiculous.

Besides Fox, ABC is sucks too. They showed previous episode of Desperated Housewife and Brothers and Sisters last night. It wasn't a mistake. I don't understand why they did that on purpose even without an announcement. At least, Fox announced the decision on their website. I even don't know whether they gonna show the new episode next week or still previous one. Moreover, they did a great advertisement for Six Degree. You even could see its advertisement inside the subway, now they stop showing Six Degree without any explanation. They completely messed up this fall season.

First birthday out of campus!

We had a dinner in a Greek restaurant called "Uncle Nick's" in Manhattan right after Thanksgiving. The food there was so good, especially Greek feta cheese, and we all love Greek food.

It is my birthday again. I can't believe that I am already 26. Woo~ ~ ~ sighing. Many friends asked me how I gonna celebrate my birthday, actually, I have no idea. I was so tied and overwhelmed during Thanksgiving and before Thanksgiving. I hung out with my friends everywhere in NYC during Thanksgiving, watching broadway musical "Phantom of the Opera", having all different kinds of food, and etc. I also organized a party at my home for them. We drank a lot and went to pub to enjoy the light music. We had so much fun together. Now the result comes~ I had a bad headache. Today is my first birthday after I got out of school, and I have a headache. What could I do? Lying down on my bed, dreaming a good future, hopefully. By the way, I am a terrible party organizer, and I will never organize a party anymore. But I will join the party if someone invites me. lolz~

Busiest weekend ever!

Oh, gosh, I had a busiest weekend last week, traveling to 3 states within 2 days. It was a non-scheduled trip. I just decided to go back to Boston with couple of my friends last Wednesday, and then many things happened suddenly, but the result was awesome.

I went to Boston on Friday night around 7pm, then we had a party at one of my friend's house that night in Waban. It was a nice party. We had Tai food, Italian pastry, red wine and beer. We stayed up until 3am and went bed before we got drank. The whole Saturday, we were hanging around Boston, having dim-sum as breakfast, window shopping at Prudential Center, having coffee, Italian cake, ice-cream in Little Italy until late afternoon. However, this was just the beginning of the long day. A sudden party invitation lead us back to Dover, NH. After hanging out whole day in Boston, we drove nearly 2 hours back to Dover, then we just changed clothes, and went to Lee for the party. It took another 30 mins to drive from Dover to Lee. The party started at 7pm and last until 1am, Sunday morning.

Saturday night party was wonderful. 8 people from 7 different nationalities attended the party, American, Scotish, Australian, German, French, Japanese and Chinese. We even didn't know each other before. It was the first time we had so many nationalities get together in one party. Then on Sunday morning, we drove back to Durham campus and walked around until noon. Finally, I came back to Boston in the early afternoon, then another long drive back to NYC. I was exhausted for the whole weekend, but it was the happiest weekend ever. We learned a lot of things from different people: Scotish guy showed us his Scotish kilt without wearing underwear inside the kilt (it is the traditional way to do that); American girl showed us Japanese sword she bought from Ebay (she told us that we could buy everything from Ebay, which is actually true); German guy showed us his Chinese dictionary; American guy told us good Chinese and Japanese movies, directors. It was so funny. Foreigners knew more than natives. Those 8 people all went to UNH or still at UNH. It is amazing how the world connected.

Paste a Chinese post!

NYC was raining heavily yesterday. I got a Chinese post here to match the chilly weather and grey sky. Maybe we all experienced the same thing before, did you?

昨天看了友人的一篇短篇小说，突然也想写两句，感觉好像只有用美丽的文字才可以记录我内心最深刻的感受和感动。虽然人还没有衰老，为什么最近心确变得僵硬了呢？不再轻易的感动，不再有往日的笑容，不再有导演恶作剧的心情，不再有昔日的活力。即使是只睡3，4个小时也能精力充沛的工作20个小时的我，为什么现在每天都如此的累？好像即使是连续睡上24个小时也无法恢复的劳累，我到底怎么了？

一年前的记忆还那么清晰可见，就像一切还停留在昨天，可是已经转眼一年光阴。他的脸，他的声音还有那快乐的笑容还那么的真实，可惜已经远去。有时觉得那一切只是一场梦，总想紧紧的抓住，永远不要醒来，可是过去的终究还是要过去，生活还是要继续。好想一切从来，因此兴奋憧憬的回到初次遇见他的地方，希望能够再次听到他快乐的叫着我的名字，可是发现一切都已不在。总是不断告诉自己要把他忘记，可是为什么越想忘记越记得深刻呢？是啊，他是个不值得我喜欢的人，可是为什么放弃之后泪还是不停的滑落？即使是分开一年后， 心还是忍不住的痛呢？从来没有如此投入的去爱一个人，从来不愿意放弃自己的自尊和骄傲，从来不会这么无私的去照顾一个人，希望他快乐， 一切因他而改变。到现在也不知道怎么会对他有了感觉，而且这种感觉还如此的刻骨铭心。我不知道这一生还会不会这么去爱一个人，但是爱过还是觉得满足，毕竟我曾经这样的爱过。

Is that nice? Are you touched by reading it? Chinese is a beautiful language, really!

Birthday month ~

NYC Central Park in fall, 2006.

"Happy birthday to my favorite friend. I hope you are happy today and enjoy your birthday party somewhere in this planet, not like last year. However, I still enjoy the way we celebrated your birthday at the same time last year, although you were frustrated for your life at that time. Anyway, enjoy and all the best wishes to you. Hopefully, you can get it."

This is a birthday month. Except the one mentioned above, two of my best friends from different countries will celebrate their birthdays this month. Although both of them are far away from me, my wishes still could fly over Atlantic Ocean and arrive at their hands. Please note that when you celebrate your birthday, eat less cookies, otherwise, your faces will like mine, more and more like pancake. (sighing) Now we all reach the golden age of our lives, although we still didn't get a lot of money or settled down, we still enjoy our lives in our own ways. Give one of my lovely pictures here as part of your birthday presents, hope you guys like it.

By the way, do anyone need candy? I prepared a lot of candies with my roommate on Halloween, but no kid came to our place for candy, huh! Woo~ ~ ~ Now our apartment is like a candy shop.

Traveling to Greece?

I heard a lot about Greece from my Greek friend, so whenever I thought about this country, the beautiful beaches, all different kinds of islands, nice sunshine, gorgious architecture would come into my mind. I admired their culture and history. It will be a nice trip to Greece, that's what I thought. Well, it isn't always the case for everyone.

One of my friends told me a funny story when he travelled to Greece right after he got out of college. He was single, handsome (based on his description of himself), naive, young, vivid at that time. When he got out of the airport, he saw lots of people standing outside of the airport to find their guests. Because there are many travelers coming to Greece each year, so many people rent out their guest rooms to get some extra money. My friend didn't book a hotel room at that time, so he was wondering whether he should take this idea. Well, here comes an old lady with her granddaughter, who had a nice vacant room in an island near that airport. Her granddaughter was very pretty, my friend took their room without asking any info, even the location of their house, the price for one night because he saw this breathtaking girl. He went together with her grandma. She took him there, and showed the room, which was located in a nice island, neat, clean, and one mile walking distance from the beach. There were nice coffee shops, theaters near the house, and it only took $25 per night. It was awesome.

Well, for a single young man traveling abroad, it is really nice to stay in this place. My friend planned to stay 3 days there, but because of that breathtaking girl, he stayed there for 6 days in order to meet her again. It would be very romantic to live near the beach with this beautiful Greek girl. But the funny point is that he never saw this girl again except meeting her grandma to pay for his living expenses. He stayed there nearly a week dreaming that he would meet her in the dinning room or near the beach, so he could take her for a cup of coffee, but it never came to that point. Finally, he decided to leave because he figured out from other travelers that it was a trick. Those Greek people used their beautiful family members to attract travelers in order to rent out their rooms. He wasn't the only one being fooled at that time. He thought it was pretty fortunate that the room they rented to him was not expensive and indeed pretty nice. He told me several times that those Greek people were smart. Of course, they are smart, otherwise, it could only show that you are stupid. And he is happy that he isn't the only one being fooled. (sighing)

Until now, he still couldn't forget about that breathtaking girl. He told me that sometimes he dreamed about her, and it was already more than 5 years after his trip to Greece. He even thought about coming back to Greece to find her, but he didn't want to be silly again. Even now, he is always saying "She is very adorable, and her skin is so smooth, but I will never meet her again". Oh, well, except laughing, what can I say?

Colbert Report on site

The day before yesterday, I went to Colbert Studio with couple of my friends to see Colbert Report on site. It is a talk show from 11pm to 11:30pm Monday through Friday. I didn't know this TV Show before, but my roommate was fond of it and she got the ticket for me. It was raining heavily that day, and we had to go to his studio around 6pm, but the Host Stephen Colbert is a very funny guy, who cheered us up. They started to shoot around 7:30pm, which would be on air at 11pm that night, so we were the first audience to watch it.

It is quite different feeling when you saw a TV Show on site. We could get more information and see their mistakes, which you would never see on TV. It was an anniversary for this program that day, and the special guest they invited was a writer Richard Dewkins who wrote a book named The God Delusion. The writer just wanted to state that there is no God in the universe. Unfortunately, most audience even Colbert himself believe the God. They may not Christian, or Jewish, but they believe their own God in certain ways. The interview went so funny, because Colbert tried to convince the writer that there is a God in the universe, and most audience on site were by his side. You could watch that day's episode online at: http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml

If you see it clearly, you could find my face at the end of this interview. I was sitting in the third row. Because the total number of audience was around 80 that night, so it was not too difficult to find my lovely face. Cheers!

Mid-Autumn Day's Sighing ~

Mid-Autumn Day in NYC is a chilly raining day. I got a lot of wishes from my friends, who reminded me that it is Mid-Autumn Day today. Being abroad for two years, I nearly forgot this traditional festival, what a pity!

Going through one of my friends' MSN Space, I saw a nice sentence from her online blog "If I couldn't let him love me, I hope I could go back to the moment I didn't know him." Yes, it seems that we always meet the right person at the wrong time, or we meet the wrong person at the right time, but how could we meet the right person at the right time? Is that impossible? Or we just haven't gotten the right timing?

There is another American expression I like a lot "If you fool me once, shame on you; if you fool me twice, shame on me." It is pretty true, but sometimes, we still want to be fooled twice or even more times. Maybe we are just expecting the miracle which will never turn to reality.

Wild Squirrel!

What do you think about squirrel? Cute, lovely, lazy or else? When I was at school, I sat inside my room and struggled for my coursework, squirrels were climbing up the tress outside my window, eating fruits, and enjoying their lives. I always envied their lives. That's my first impression for these creatures.

This morning, I had coffee and my breakfast in the kitchen, with some readings at the same time. A squirrel suddenly came to my window and sat outside, staring at me. I was astonished. I lived on the 6th floor, which means he climbed up to 6th floor, for what? Food? Or attracted by my beauty? (This sounds impossible, huh?) He looks wild and crazy, which kinda scared me. I was wondering if the window in my kitchen was opening at that time, what did he gonna to do?

By the way, the second season of Prison Break is pretty good. Rush to the theatre Fox5, you will like it, I bet!

September.11th

It has been five years since September.11th, 2001. I just watch a movie in ABC, and I am touched by this movie. When I was in China on Sept.11th, 2001, I saw the news on TV but I didn't really feel so shocked as I am now, because I didn't really believe it. Today is the fifth anniversary of 9/11, and I see a lot of true stories on TV. It was really horrible at that time.

The first airplane hit north bound of Twin Tower on 8:43am on 9/11. This airplane was American Airline from Boston to LA. I also took American Airline directly from Boston to LA, but fortunately it wasn't Sept.11th, 2001. Just some thoughts after Bush's address at 9:03pm, and hope this terrible thing never happen again!

My roommate!

My roommate is the girl with a white dog on the left corner of this picture. This is one of the pictures from her advertisement last year with other actors, actresses and film makers.

I am now living with an American girl in NYC. Before I moved to this apartment, I didn't know her very much. After one week, we kinda know each other. She had a great experience before. She worked as a model in Paris for 3 years and during that period of time, she traveled to 22 European countries. She also did modeling in Tokyo for a year, and as she is now getting older, she quits her job as a model and becomes an actress for some TV shows.

Previously, I thought people who worked as a model may not be intelligent. They might be pretty like a vase without much education. I think I judge people based on the traditional idea and too absolutely. Actually, people are different. No matter what kind of occupation they have, they could also be intelligent or knowledgeable. It depends on people themselves, not their occupation, a Ph.D student could be nuts either. Maybe traveling makes her know more about the society and the world, which most of her knowledge comes from. Anyway, it is an experience to be in different environment and get to know all kinds of people, maybe some of them are mean, who knows!

Homesick~

I am now moving to my new apartment. It locates in a good area and the room is big, comfortable, of course, expensive. But I don't feel completely happy. After my uncle left Washington D.C and came back to China, I suddenly felt homesick. I had this feeling only at the first month when I came to U.S. in 2004. I am ok for a long time. Yes, sometimes I feel sad and disappointed as everyone does, but I seldom have strong feeling of missing home after being abroad for two years. Maybe because of the bad weather recently in NYC, but Durham's weather is worse than here, I should already get used to it.

Anyway, maybe it is time for me to come back to China. It's been quite a while I didn't come back home. I kinda get lost for my future. I knew what I wanted to do before, but now I feel confused. What do I really want to do, PH.D in Econ or a real job in China?

Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The statue in front of this hall is President Washington.

Baltimore's most famous square near the Atlantic Ocean.

White House, President's Oval office is on the third floor on your right hand side.

It is Congress Hall, where senators and congressmen have their meetings.

This is Washington Memorial Tower, behind this tower is Congress Hall. Tom Hanks famous movie "Forest Gump" uses here as one of the scene.

I went to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. with my uncle this week. It is a pretty nice trip, although a little bit tied. Philadelphia is similar to Boston, traditional and also modern. It is a historical city, because it was the captial of U.S. in 18th century before they finally moved to D.C. It is the biggest city in Pennsylvania, also called the most romantic city in the east coast of U.S. We visited Independence Hall, City Hall, Independence Square and the big clock British government gave to U.S. in 1776.

Driving down south on highway 95, we arrived at Baltimore. It is a small city near Atlantic Ocean. Ocean makes people's life there. Except Baltimore World Trade Center, the buildings in this city are not quite tall, which makes the whole city look flat. They still kept the emplacements which American people used to get their independence from British government in 18th century.

Along the sea coast, driving down south, Washington D.C. will be in front of you. D.C is the most impressive city during my whole trip. It is a small city between Virginia and Maryland. It is the political and cultural center of U.S. Few people live inside D.C. It is a city without industry and few business, such as restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, etc. Washington D.C is like a big garden, full of trees, flowers, birds, museums, libraries, gorgeous architecture, etc. There is a beautiful river between D.C and Virginia. Washington Memorial Tower locates in the center of D.C, all the other buildings are around this toppest tower. White House, Congress Hall, Lincoln Memorial Hall, U.S. Department of Treasury are designed in different styles, Italian, Greek, French, British, etc. Vietnam War Memorial Wall is designed by a female Chinese designer. She is the daughter of Sicheng Liang and Huiyin Lin. I think if we put Zhimo Xu's romantic poem besides this wall, that will be fantasitc.

I stayed in D.C. for 3 days, but it was still too short. I really love D.C. because it can satisfy all different kinds of interests. If you like art, National Art Museum will give you Picasso's paintings; if you like weapon, you could find the missiles Hitler used to bomb London, Paris in World War 2; if you like history, you could see the pen President Washington used before, or just standing outside White House to experience the current history. Unfortunately, I am not a friend of President Bush, otherwise, I will go into his famous Oval Office and hide under his desk as President Kennedy's son did in 1960s.

Joke!

I made a very funny joke to my Mom last night. It was planned in New Hampshire with my friend Ben. When I went back to NH last week, I stayed in Ben and Marsha's house in Kittery. They have two lovely cats, one is a boy and the other is a girl. One night, when I fell asleep, that boy cat stayed in my room and slept together with me. So Ben suggested me to make a joke to my Mom and I did last night.

I called my Mom and told her that I had a really good time in NH and bala, bala. Then I changed my voice and became very seriously. I said to her "Mom, I have one thing need to let you know, but please don't worry. I am still you daughter and still the same as before". After she heard that, she became worried and asked me whether I was ok. I replied "Oh, I am fine and in good health. I just want to let you know that when I was in NH, hum, ~ ~ ~ I slept with a guy for one night. That guy is young, handsome and cute. I really like him a lot. It is really comfortable to stay with him overnight". I think my voice was too serious at that time, which really scared her. Her voice became so seriously and asked me "Are you serious? I never heard that you had a boyfriend in NH? You mean you just met him in NH and slept with him? I can not believe that you did this stupid thing." After I heard that, I suddenly laughed loudly. I never think that she will believe it and become so seriously. I explained to her later and told her that the young guy was a cat. But this is the first time I make my Mom freaking out. Right before I said goodbye to her, she still warned me not to do that stupid thing. It is really amusing. I think I should record her voice at that time.

Anyway, it was really a nice time to come back to my campus again and met my friends there last week. We had a party together and ate some good food. I still like the beautiful view and peaceful towns there. I like the nice people and relaxing life. I had Maine's lobster with the light music and Portsmouth's beautiful sunset. Life is really good there. I fully enjoy it.

Car Accident!

Don't be panic after you see the title. I am completely fine and health, but I had a very small car accident yesterday noon.

I was going to the bank to withdraw some money yesterday lunch time. I tried to park my car in the parking lot outside the bank, but the parking lot was full of cars, only one spot left. It was a narrow space. When I tried to park my car into that spot, I hit a red car on my left hand side. Fortunately, my car's speed was nearly zero because I was parking, otherwise, it may hurt people in that red car. It was a red Toyota Corolla car and there was a woman sitting inside and talking on the phone. I didn't hurt her, but I left two light scratches at the back of her car on the left hand side. She suddently came out of her car and shouted at me. She looked young and pretty, but her words were very dirty. I parked my car again and tried to explain the situation to her, but she was too angry to hear. Finally, she calmed down and tried to ask me for money. Oh, Woo~ ~ ~! Are you really caring about your safty or your car? That's the question I wondered at that time. She seemed that it was a good way to get rich quickly.

I didn't quite want to talk to her because she tried to rob my money. I don't exactly know how much she wants to get for these small scratches. I told her my Insurance Company's phone number and all my information including my driving license no, my insurance no, plate no, registration card no, and phone no. After that, another older woman came out from the bank, and seemed to be her friend. Both of them shouted at me and tried to ask me for more. They tried to tell DMV about it, but unfortunately it was too small to be accepted. I called my Insurance company at that time, because I didn't want to deal with them. Finally, my Insurance Company gave me a help. Usually, I didn't quite like Insurance Company, because they always ask for something, but seldom pay back. Yesterday, I appreicated their help. It was difficult for me to deal with two mean people, who looked like Mexicans. They always spoke Spanish to each other, which I didn't understand. One of them could speak English, the other couldn't. Their English was not quite good, but the dirty words were pretty good, which I didn't like. Why not learning some good words? My Insurance company asked both of us about the information for this accident, and then they told me to take a picture of my car after I came back and got my camera. They gave them the phone no. and promised that they would pay for that. But they still didn't want to let me go, because they told me they were scared and maybe had a big mental problem in future. Oh, well, how comes you could have mental problem because of this small accident? You even may not feel anything when my car hit your car. I was alone at that time, and I couldn't deal with those two mean people, again I asked my Insurance company for help. They talked to them on the phone and finally they left. I didn't quite know what my Insurance Company told them, but after that, they left without saying anything to me.

This morning, I sent the pictures of my car to my Insurance Company and they told me that they gonna handle it. It was a small accident which was covered in my Insurance plan. I actually feel so sorry to that person, because I don't like small scrathes on my car either. But I am very angry about their attitude. It seemed that they didn't care about the car, or themselves, but only money. They gave me an impression that they hoped I could completely destroyed their car. It made me sad. They had a nice red Toyota car, and even I felt sorry about that, but they really only cared about money. What a pity! My Insurance fee gonna increase from next month because of this small accident, but I still appreciate their help yesterday, otherwise, I may call 911 to resolve it.

This was my first time to have car accident after I got my driving license, which I didn't like. I always drove very carefully because it was my responsibility to make sure other people and myself's safty. Two important things I learned from it: you must buy car insurance, which is really helpful; and you must drive carefully even during parking.

World Cup Final: Italy wins?

U.S. former President Bill Clinton with his daughter Chelsea arrived for World Cup Final in Berlin, together with French President and German President, Prime Minister. Did he come for soccer or politics?

Germany got their 3rd place in WC 2006 after they won over Portugal in Stuttgart. They are always the best team even though they didn't get WC this time.

Both of them will not be in field anymore, but history will never forget them. Figo, the best midfielder in Portugal, who represents the "Golden Generation". We grew up together with your fame. Kahn and Figo celebrated their last match for National Teams on July.8th.

Kahn, you are always the best goalkeeper in German Team. We feel safe if you stand in front of the gate. It was you who helped Germany got 2nd place in 2002, and you also guarantee Germanyto get their 3rd place this time. We will never forget you!


Zidane left field with a red card. WC was besides him, but not belonging to him this time. It was his last WC match, and he ended with shame. Still, thank you for his good performance, and he is always the best midfielder in France, and also in the world!

Italy won the World Cup in Berlin on July.9th, 2006. It is pretty sad to watch Italian players celebrate their victory. After Germany was kicked out by Italy, my only hope was that France could win over Italy, so Zidane would end his soccer career with a best result. But I was shocked when Zidane headbutted Italian defender Materazzi. I don't know what was going on in his mind at that time. If he didn't get that red card, everything would be different. He is already 34 and it is his last World Cup match, why not ending it perfectly? It is really shamed to see the way he ended his soccer career. Hey, Zidane, why are you so stupid? Don't you know Italian players are good at performing? Italian players should go to Hollywood for their professional career, because they are good at acting, especially in front of opponent's box to get penalty kick or let opponents get their red cards. I know it isn't only Zidane's fault, Italian defender definitely say something very bad to him, but he should have a clear mind, victory is more important than everything. I feel so sorry to see him leave the field. Anyway, World Cup goes to Italy. It is the truth now. We have to wait for another four years to see our favorite teams again. But several persons will not be in field anymore.

Germany got their victory in Stuttgart on July.8th. It was like a friendship match. Both teams played very well and quite relaxing. For German fans, it was like their Final. They shouted for their team's victory over Portugal 3-1. Schweinsteiger and Kahn were the heros for this match. Schweinsteiger kicked two goals and helped his team to get one more goal. I think even himself felt surprised for his performance that day. He was the real star at that day. It was also Kahn's last match for German National Team. He played the whole match and his performance was awesome. Figo also finished his last match for Portugal National Team. Although he was only in field for 15 minutes, but he helped his team to get one goal. Thanks for their performance, and they gave us a wonderful summer. I feel sad that we couldn't see them again in field, but the happiness they brought to us will be always in our minds.

It's time for us to say goodbye to our super stars. Thanks for this "Golden Generation". You make our lives!

Germany is crying, and my heart is broken!

In memory of my favorite team: Germany! People will never forget you all, you make the history! Thank you for giving us the beautiful matches during this one month!
My heart is broken. Don't cry, Ballack, I like you because of your beautiful smile!
Podolski, you grow with WC, and I believe you will become stronger as Klose did!
This is my first time I saw him cry, and I hope I will never see it again!
Schweinsteiger, you are the wonderful midfielder.
Lahm, always works hard until the last mintue! But you are still young, and you have chance in 2010!

I really want to see Klinsmann's smile in Berlin on July.9th. I feel so sad to see his face now! Please continue your job as German coach, those young players need you!

I don't know how to give comments to this match. Both teams played very well, and even the referee did a good job. It was a great match and deserved to watch, no stupid players or big mistakes. But for German fans, it was painful to watch the last couple of minutes. It was not German defenders' faults, cause they were too tied to sustain another extra match. Just 3 days after 120-minute-match with Argentina, they can not recover shortly. Italy was lucky. They played with Ukraine during Quater-Final, and Ukraine was not that strong. It only took them 90 minutes to get their big victory over Ukraine.

I didn't feel sad right after yesterday's match, because I can not believe it even though I saw German players' tears. I still imagined that it was a Group Match and Germany still had chance. I couldn't confess my favorite team's lost. But it was over, Germany can not get WC this time. I felt deeply pain from the bottom of my heart after I realized that it was the truth. I even couldn't cry because it was too sad to face the truth. It was my first time to see Ballack's tears because he was not on field in 2002 when Germany lost to Brazil in the Final; it was also my first time to feel so badly for the result of one match. I was not happy when Germany lost to Brazil in 2002 Final, but I was still ok because at that time, Germany was not that strong. Even I like German Team, I still didn't think they were qualified for WC in 2002. But this time, they are different. Their strikers are excellent, their midfielders are talented, and their defenders are young but growing quickly together with WC. Yes, it is just a match and we still have WC after 4 years. But not everyone could wait for another 4 years. Klinsmann, Kahn, and Schneider will not be in field after 4 years, even Ballack may not be there either cause he is not young now. Not only German players, Figo, Zidane, Carlos, Backham (maybe) and etc will not be on field either in 2010 WC. They represent the golden generation. Of course, the new talented players will come out at that time, but we grow up with this golden generation and share the happiness and sadness with our favorite teams.

Yesterday was Independence Day in U.S. All the Americans even foreigners celebrated this festival together, but I can not feel the happiness. When I saw the fireworks in the sky, my eyes were full of Ballack's tears and Klinsmann's disappointment, together with all German players and fans tears. My heart is broken. I think I put too much hope on Germany. My WC was over and I need to take some rest, because I felt exhausted for WC matches. Oh, well, it is life. Thank you for German players good performance. They made my life during the last 3 weeks. Although I felt sad, I am still proud of them. They are the best team! Well, no matter which team get WC, it is not important for me now. Either France or Portugal is fine, but I hope it is not Italy. I don't like the way they are playing.