Book 2

      Things fall Apart, wrote by Chinua Achebe, is a book that a great man with high status and reputation faces the struggle and the conflict between the shadow of his family member’s weakness and the approval and applause for his own courage and strength. As the protagonist of the book, Okonkwo, the son of lazy, effeminate and notorious Unoka, was a glorious and unbeatable warrior and was also one of the leaders of the strongest clan, Umuofia. He blamed himself for the death of Ikemefuna, a boy who has become a part of his family and earned his fondness and affection as a true clansman. Then, he was exiled to his mother’s kinsmen in Mbanta. Seven years passed, with the support of his friend, Okonkwo was about to return and regain his influence and power, but his beloved clan has changed enormously and was full of sorrow and conflicts.

       The book is like a fragile container which is filled with unbelievable emotions, conflicts between expectations and realities, changes and traditions, struggles between different cultures, races and beliefs. It will bring you to another incredible and amazing society to experience its fascinating culture, unique language and divine religion. The compact plot and complex figures will totally drag you into this book. I highly recommend this book to all of you.

Book 1

                                                      Unbelievable Powerful Book     

      I have finished an impressive book called The Kite Runner and I want to share it with everybody.                   

      The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is an unforgettable novel about a precious friendship between Amir and his servant’s son, Hassan, in Afghanistan which is beyond race, money, fame and status but also with love, betray and redemption. Amir used to read Hassan stories and expose his ignorance by teasing him with some big word under the pomegranate tree that is craved with “ Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul”. On the day Amir won the kite-fighting tournament, Hassan went to run for the last kite for Amir and got raped by Assef who is the son of an important figure. Amir saw all of it, but he didn’t step out to stop it like Hassan had did for him like a friend and pretended not aware of this. After many years, Hassan was died for his loyalty toward Amir and Amir went back for redemption and adopted Hassan’s son as a new start.

       I remember there is a quotation that haunts me for a long time.  “For you a thousand times over.” This sentence was like a clue appeared in different places of the whole book It’s first said by Hassan when Amir won the kite-fighting tournament and his father’s favor. Hassan was going to run the last kite for Amir as a reward and something to be proud of. However, this loyal oath was like a whip which slashes Amir’s conscience for years. On the way running for the kite, Hassan was caught by Assef, a brutal jerk who enjoys bullying kids, and his alliance. Amir followed Hassan and peeked at it. He almost yelled but he didn’t. He failed this friendship and, of course, this oath. And years later, whenever Amir thought about Hassan, it would remind him this sentence and his sin.

Time is like a grasp of sand. The harder you clench your fist, the faster it runs away from your palm between your fingers. When the scent of grass wafts through the window, I am musing upon the distant scene, thinking about something which is so blurred that seems like a dream. (It's fascinating and enjoyable to excavate one's mind and talk to the "inside me". I'm also a big fan of mind map, which ,sometimes, may lead to rapid jumps from one idea to another, which I prefer to call it "the stretchable mind". ) It's so weird that I just found out that another week has slipped away. This reality flustered me. It was like throwing a pebble into a pond and it rippled. I had so many plans that haven't been done and have made a bunch of mistakes. I felt guilt and panic. I became more and more intrinsic. I only wanted to talk to the people who I really care or like. These things always bring a huge amount of negative energy, but ,somehow, I'm willing to embrace it.  It's weekend again, which means I'm going to have a lot of lonely time. I'll try to keep myself busy and be prepared to the next week in order to not fail myself again.

  This week was like hell to me. I was totally exhausted and depressed about everything. I was still adjusting to this new environment and education system. Huge amounts of homework, reading material and notes teared me apart and scattered me into pieces.  They chewed me up and spit me out.  
I stayed up late to review all my notes for the several tests on the nest day, however, I don't think I did them very well. Every time when I clicked the Grade Book section on RenWeb, my hands shivered and my heart palpitated with fear and stress. Some of the grades might be acceptable to others, but they brought a great deal of disappointment to me. These courses were much more challenging than I've thought about. Some people said I'm too pessimistic. As a matter of fact, sometimes optimism is just a big lie. The best way to deal with it is to strive to solve the problems and improve oneself. All these things happened this week reminded me lyrics of a song. "I'm a silhouette, chasing rainbows on my own. The more try to move on, the more I feel alone." I'm going to take a good rest this weekend and be prepared for the next week's study. Cross my finger for myself...

It has been nearly a month since I arrived in America, the big melting pot. This mysterious democratic country gave me a huge unforgettable impression and amazed me in so many ways. When I walked in the street, I could smell the fragrance of diversified cultures and felt their steady footstep towards future. The warm words, the polite gestures, the confident smells, everything seems to be so soothing and wonderful. The Webb School is even better. There is a marvellous campus, incredible curriculums, considerate dorm parents, etc. These elements made me feel not homesick at all. Instead of that, I found that this was a place for me to achieve my goal and create a better life. Well, maybe this is also related to my characteristics. Independence, that's what I have been trying to get. These days, I had pretty much a basic understanding of United States, which kept me thinking about the differences between American and Chinese, which is a complex question that includes social systems, politics, education, population.etc. It's a little bit earlier for a student at my age to figure it out. But experiencing two completely different things is awesome and exciting. Therefore, I'm going to dig hard and study effectively. I hope I will have four fruitful years here.

That's my first blog. I'm open to any comment, but please not too harsh.