First American Football Game 首場美式橄欖球賽

I was lucky that I was introduced to a Taiwanese family, the Lin's family. Later, there would be a plenty of adventures and experiences that all had to thank the Lin family.

September is also happened to be the American Football Season, so Lin invited me and my roommate to watch our first American football game. It was so fun and I listed some things I learned today.

Tailgate Party

When I was asked if I would like to check out tailgate party, I was very confused and wondering if there is some sort of party held in the back of the gate because of the name tailgate. When I was there for the tailgate party, I soon learned that the tailgate is the back door of the car and people have party with games and some drinks before the football games start.

Part of the Tailgate Party( As shown, this part of the party supports VF team)

車尾門派對 (如圖這一邊是支持VT 隊伍) 

Jelly Shots

Jelly Shots (VT V.S. ECU)  好像在tailgate party中才有的名產(含酒精的果凍)？

Corn Hole

This is me playing corn hole, the game they may play at tailgate party. It's simply. You just have to throw the sand bags to the opposite board with a hole on it to score. 

(Corn hole是一種遊戲，把沙包丟進對面有洞的箱子裡就得分了。)

The game is ON!

You may notice that it's the purple team's court since it is mostly purple color around the court. It's East Carolina University's home court (purple color) and Virginia Tech (orange color) is the guest team. I did not know too much about American football but it was a fun experience to see the game and feel the spirit of American football.

                        

                 

Dinner at Megan's house Megan家用餐

Megan昨天邀請我們去他們家用餐。

一進Megan的家她的老公就很親切的跟我們聊天，很喜歡他們的房子-很舒適、佈置的也很有品味，更重要的是住在裡面的人非常親切。^_^

看到他們準備的晚餐我就非常有食慾，每樣東西都看起來很好吃，尤其是義大利餃，好吃到我吃了一半才知道裡面是起司(因為平常不太吃起司，吃太多會頭疼。)，而且還吃了兩盤。

接下來的點心-藍莓蛋糕也當然好吃囉，吃起來一點都不膩，也不會太甜喔！

用餐時，大家聊得很愉快，聊了一些Megan他們的新婚生活和認識過程，看著Megan和Dew恩愛的樣子，讓人真是超羨慕的。用完餐後，當然還有活動囉！玩遊戲~~~

剛開始的時候我還蠻擔心自己的英文，因為都是英文遊戲，但是Megan和Dew兩個人都很有耐心的"偷偷"指導我，所以到最後我也玩瘋了，管他什麼英文說得好不好，玩的愉快最重要。

Dew說你所得到的卡就是你的特質，而他們也很訝異我都是拿到好的，巧合巧合，至於我是不是真的擁合那些特質，我們等著看吧！



Joking and Keeping Distance 開玩笑和保持距離

我來美國已經一個月了，除了我室友和指導老師外，沒有跟我開過玩笑，但昨天是第一次有我不認識的美國人跟我開玩笑。

I have been here for about a month but no one joked with me except my supervisor and roommate. Yesterday was a first time an American I don't know joked with me.

我在Walmart找白菜，有個男生擋在我面前缷貨，他問我需要不要什麼蔬菜，我微笑地跟他說不用，謝謝。然後，他指著一堆菜跟我說我應該要拿一些，可是因為我不知道那是什麼菜，所以我笑著說：「可是我不知道這是什麼菜耶！」但我還是拿了一些菜瞧瞧到底是什麼菜，接著他跟我說他只是開玩笑的，但是謝謝你微笑回對。

I was looking for a cabbage at Walmart and there is a man putting all the frest vegetables on the shelves and asked me if I need any vegetables since he was blokcing the way. I smiled and said " No, thank you." Then, he pointed to a kind of vegetable and told me that I should take some of them. Then, I looked at the vegatable and told him with a smile that I don't know what vegetable is this but I still took some to take a close look. He then said that he was just joking, but thanks for smiling back.

有時候我覺得自己是個特別的訪客，因為大家對我會保持一些距離，可能也是因為這裡的亞洲人很少，這會不會也是因為美國的文化就是與不認識的人保持距離? 我確實覺得當他們會離開很近時或是要經過你身旁時，會比台灣人還常說不好意思(excuse me)。

Sometimes I feel like I am a special guest here and people keep distance from me since there is only a few Asians here. Is it perhaps an American culture that keeping some distance with people they don't know? (I do feel that people here says more "Excuse me" when we do in Taiwan, expecially when they are getting very close to you or want to pass by you.)

喔，對了，那個我不知道的菜是芹菜，因為這裡的芹菜比台灣的大又粗，所以當下沒有認出來。
BTW, I figure out what vegetable it is. It is celery. I coudn't recognize it because it is bigger and thicker than the one we have in Taiwan.

BBQ in NC 北卡的烤肉

雖然是星期六，一早就起來洗衣服、讀了一、二頁的美國文學(實在是沒有辦法集中注意力讀太多)，一邊看書、一邊放音樂，不應該在一早就放感覺悲情的歌，害我整個人都快樂不起來，可能肩膀疼的也有關係吧，老毛病又犯了。唉…
Although it was Saturday, I still got up early to do laundry, read a few pages of American Literature which I can really focus on reading. I read and listened to the music, but I should play some sad songs in the morning. It made me unhappy. The pain I had on my shoulder could be also the reason to make me unhappy.

接者房東來接我們去買早餐(or brunch)，這次好像是到Greenville的另一邊，所以風景是我還沒看過的，也許是昨晚下過雨，今早的空氣特別清新，所以讓我快樂了起來，我還真是善變呢！
I was waiting the landlord to pick my roommate and me up to get some breakfast or should say brunch. He said it was a very famous pork barbecue place that we should try, so he drove us to the other side of Greenville to get it. I was then getting happy because I saw the scene I hadn't seen and smelled the fresh and clean air made with the help from last night's rain. I am such a changeable woman.

來到一間賣BBQ的店，感覺像是在台灣鄉間野外的店，好像在美國有名的店都是這樣的(上次去的那一間也是這樣)，外面排著長長的隊伍，但是不知道這裡是在賣什麼的，所以只有跟著房東點一樣的東西。買完後回家大家一邊用餐一邊聊天。房東說在北卡有名的食物就是BBQ，這裡的BBQ會淋上醋+其他醬料，跟其他地方不一樣。

So here we were at the BBQ store. It looked like a random store in Taiwan countryside for me. It seemed some famous food stores in the States looked like this. (The one I went last time kind of looked the same as this one.) There was a long waiting line. I wasn't sure what they sell, so I ordered the food as same as landlord's. Then we went back to our apartment to enjoy the food. The landlord told us the BBQ in North Carolina is quite different and famous, as same as the BBQ sauce. I enjoy the BBQ, but not very much slaw. I   was happy that I tried the typical BBQ in NC and found a type of food I like very much. MM.. 

附註：我發現房東說話說得非常快，他和他未婚妻說話的感覺好像在吵架，但是他們不是在吵架，而是房東在挖苦他未婚妻，我還在學習怎麼跟挖苦別人的人說話，但首先我必須先跟得上房東的說話速度。這也讓我想到，以前有些ETA講話就是讓人不是舒服，但也許他們只是在酸別人、搞笑，只要你懂這個就不會太在意他說話的語氣

Side note: I noticed that the landlord speaks very fast and the way he talked to his fiances made me feel they were in quarrel but they weren't. The landlord was just sarcastic to his fiances and I am still learning how to respond people being sarcastic but first I need to catch the landlord's speaking speed. Besides, it occurred to me that when I talked to some of ETAs in the past, I felt uncomfortable because of their sound-like-mean tone. However, perhaps they were just teasing and trying to be funny. If you know it, you will not take his mean tone seriously.

First Day in Greenville: Supervisor and Housing. 我的指導老師和住的地方

First of all, it was much better that someone picked you up at the airport than no one was there waiting for you. What surprised me when I first saw my supervisor was his height. Although I kind of used to seeing some tall Americans from my previous work, I didn't expect his height. He is very tall. He was wearing a red shirt which I didn't think men in Taiwan normally do. I felt he may be a passionate person. Seriously when I saw him and the time talking to him in the car, I felt like I can survive here in Greenville for some reasons. One of the reasons may be I tried to remain my professional image but not for too long in front of him. (In case you don't get it, I meant he is easy-going and friendly.) Would my sixth sense be right? We will see.

首先，有人在機場等著接你的感覺真的很好，讓我訝異的是當我見到我的指導老師時，他很高呢！(我希望他可以分我一點高度。)而且他穿著紅色的襯杉，這不是平常可以在台灣看到的，他可能是個很有熱情的人，這可能是我的刻板印象吧？但是認真的說來，當我看到他時和在車上跟他談天時，基於一些理由，我覺得我應該可以在美國活的好好的吧！其中的原因之一就是我試著保持我專業的形象，但是沒多久就破功了…哈哈，(怕你不懂，這是說他是跟很容易相處的人。)不知道我的第六感還準不準？我們等著看吧！

Then, we arrive the house I am going to stay for 10 months. (They call it a town house.) It was really nice for me because it was well-furnished and provided all of necessity we need such as plates, tissue, bed covers,etc. It was a very American style house.  Let me show you pictures.

再來，就是我們抵達我即將要住十個月的房子。這真的是一個很不錯的地方，家具、裝璌齊全，也提供了生活必需品，如：盤子、衛生紙、床單…等。我很喜歡這個地方，而且這真的是很美國型式的房子…給你看一些照片吧！

餐廳 the dinning room

廚房 the kitchen- of course they have a oven.

洗衣室laundry room-washing machine and dryer. Of course you can't dry your clothes outside.

     

客房或是書房Guess room or study room

我的廁所my bathroom

我的臥室-還不錯吧！my bedroom- look nice, right? I feel my life here is going to be very colorful.

房子外面Outside of the house. Now you know what I wore the first day I arrived.

It looks nice and neat, right?

My neighborhood. 鄰近地區

客廳 The living room. The sofa is good!!

客廳的另一面，壁爐是假的。The other side of the living room. The fireplace is fake btw.

Visit a Friend in IL 拜訪在伊利諾伊州的好友

我臉雖然是臭的，但我滿心期待來到了這裡- 伊利諾伊州

這裡有我一位非常非常重要的朋友

My face was long, but I looked forward to this trip, to the Illinois State, where one of my very important friends is.

工作幾年了，其實我都把ETA們當成一年的朋友，因為誰會記得你呢？再加上他回去後都有自己的規畫，久而久之，他們在台灣的記憶早就忘了，誰是Kelly Lin呢？

Being on my previous work position for several years, I treated ETAs as one-year friends. To be serious, who can possibly still remember you after they return to USA? Plus, they may remember you for a while, but they probably can not even remember who Kelly Lin in after being busy at their studies or works.

不說這了，來說說我的好友拜訪之旅與芝加哥之行吧。

Anyway, let's get back to the visit to my good friend and Chicago.

人在機場等你的感覺真好，看到葛柏帥氣地出現，我真的超級高興的，上車看著他開著車很難想像他在台灣騎著機車的樣子，之前在紐約的那種緊張、害怕的感覺在看到他之後很快的就不見了。他的家人更是準備了一間超漂亮的房間和一張貼心的卡片外加一份禮物，我整個人的心裡真的是甜甜的。

It was so nice that someone was waiting for you at the airport. I was super happy when Parker showed up in his cool way. Sitting in his car and watching him driving was a new picture to me. What I could picture still was that he was riding his scooter while he was in Taiwan. The feelings of nervousness and worry during the visit in NYC were disappeared soon. His family prepared me a pretty room, a sweet card and a present, and that makes my heart full of sweetness and warmness.

休息了一會， 葛柏帶我出去吃飯，不記得餐廳了，但葛柏仔細地為我說明食物和點餐真的讓我很感動，我們倆很快樂地用中文聊天，回到家後，在紐約那一整個星期的疲累讓我整個人躺在床上不想動，我好高興我能夠來這裡，謝謝您們！葛柏, Kevin 和Cindy

Setting down a while, Parker took me out for dinner. I could not remember where we went, but I remembered I was touched and thankful that Parker explained how to order and what ingredients were displaying. We talked happily in English and some Chinese. In Parker’s home, lying in the bed, I was so tired from the whole week of learning, adjusting, frustration and anxiety. I was so happy that I could be able to make it here. Thank you very much, Parker, Kevin, and Cindy for your warmth.

Training in NY 在紐約受訓開始

((Throwback Post))

So we had a very intense training at Columbia University in New York City

I arrived late on the first day which evening was scheduled to attend welcome dinner. By the time, I arrived, the dinner was almost finished so I looked around to see if there was any food left.  Not too much food left and it was all COLD. Well, I still had a little and two interesting things happened that night.

I was holding some cold food and talking to a couple of foreigners (I don't remember which countries they are from) but I had hard time to understand them even though they spoke English. I was talking to myself that I probably got used to the American's ascent and blame the ETAs who told me that I can survive with my English. I came to the realization that I will have lots of opportunities to hear English with various accents and I am not sure how much time I can get used to different accents.

"Can I survive?"

This question appears when I saw the program that we would have three meals together for 5 days (except one dinner we could eat ourselves) with all the participating  FLTAs and that meant I have to talk while eating. That also further meant I have to get used to the accents as soon as possible so I could have conversation with them and blend in. However, it is really hard especially there are a lot of different accents from people who speak Spanish, German, Hindi, Arabic, etc. I also needed to get used to the food they provided here.

A fun story about food. When I saw this fruit plate, I was very excited that they had different melons and mangos, I did not think too much and took a lot on my plate. I had my first bite and found they are ALL CHEESE!  I had a big doubt that how come they just eat cheese like we eat fruit. XD

The first night I was full of mixed feelings like excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, loneliness and nervousness while laying in the bed.(It was actually during the whole training I then realized it there.)

An interesting story. When I was still getting used to different accents, I saw someone with Asian face and I was so happy. I did not think through and anticipated I can find someone who also speaks Mandarin, so I approached to her and ask are you from China or Taiwan.

Guess what. She is from a country near Russia and China. I felt so embarrassed to ask her if she knows Mandarin or not.

Then, I realized later that she is from Kyrgyz Respublikasy and she is my roommate. Isn't it cool? I am able to meet different people from different countries. Although I didn't get to spend lots of time with her because we were just roommates for a day. I was thrilled to meet more people from different countries during this orientation.

at the Orientation 參加研習囉

Group Discussion during Training 分組討論

Part of the Columbia University 哥倫比亞大學的一角 

My Roommates and the Accommodation 我的室友和我們住宿的大樓