With the expectation of curiously exploring the country that I’ve never been to before, I boarded the airplane heading for San Francisco, USA. Amazingly, I got my window seat which I earnestly longed for . Looking at layers of white clouds outside the window, I witnessed dusk and sunrise on board for the first time. Watching the sea level and horizon integrate together, I experienced the speechless beauty through the red and yellow dim light. My excitement showcased between the lines the moment I arrived at the other end of the Pacific Ocean.
Despite the 13-hour long-range flight, I did not feel tired a little bit, the reason of which, I guessed, perhaps being that I already slept soundly onboard or I was in high spirits for I was anxious to tour the exotic scenery. The distinct climate in San Francisco made me feel chilly. However, my enthusiasm did not fade the slightest. The origin of the name San Francisco may come from a great many golden mountains. Most of the streets here were nearly 90-degree large steep slopes, which made people out of breath to walk up there. We were exhausted to visit the Lombard Street in person, the design of which made me amazed. More noticeably, cars sequentially went from top down, which was quite spectacular.
The next day, we toured the world-renowned University of California, Berkeley as well as Stanford University. I have acquired some knowledge about these universities over the internet. However, I felt proud and honored to be here personally. The campuses were really large, especially that of Stanford University which was the largest in area across the USA. The design of these universities was full of artistic atmosphere. We were stunned as if we were visiting museums of great antiquity instead of visiting universities.
After lunch we went to Fisherman’s Wharf to take a cruise which steered slowly on the Pacific Ocean. Groups of seagulls flew lowly off the coast. The tour guide continuously introduced scenery along the way, the name of which I could not remember clearly, because the ice-cold sea breeze almost made me unconscious. Nonetheless, I did remember the Golden Gate Bridge explicitly, which was one of the most famous bridges around the world. This particular red-colored bridge caught my eyes. It was not only the first suspension bridge spanning over a thousand meters in the world, but also a symbol of San Francisco, which made it hailed as one of the modern wonders worldwide.
Furthermore, we flew to Los Angeles on the third day, paying a visit to the fairy tale world-Disneyland in addition to the Universal Studios Hollywood. We had to queue up for an hour or so because of too many visitors. Also, we were too tired due to the hot weather, but we were delighted by and large. In addition, the roller coasters here were not exciting. However, with 3D special effects, they were rather interesting with various kinds of anime themes, which enabled tourists to linger around. Most worthy of mention was the haunted house in Hollywood, which left a deep impression on me. The haunted mansion was a great challenge for me, considering that I always lacked courage, which I would not dwell on the details.
For the next five days, we lived with our host families and studied at Grand Canyon University. A girl student and I lived with an old couple, forty or fifty years old alike. They were amiable and nice to us. Every day they asked us what to eat and tried their best to make us feel at home. The old couple mentioned that they had a pair of twin daughters who had already got married. They even showed their pictures to us. We were very happy when we spent time with the old couple these days and also understood each other quite well. On the other hand, at Grand Canyon University, an old professor taught us in class. He was 60 years old but fit as a fiddle. During the class sessions, the old professor made jokes and played games with us at times. His teaching method was very distinctive, which enabled us to quickly comprehend what he meant by means of his brief notes and gesture language, although sometimes we may not understand fully. After all, it was really fantastic to experience the American classroom teaching. Teachers tried to make friends with students here. We benefited a lot from the indirect teaching featured in humorous and funny games.
The travel to America went through halfway. Nonetheless, there were lots of unknown landscapes and stuff for us to explore and acquire. What’s more, we would still maintain our inquisitive mentality to experience exoticism. I guessed that by traveling, we were able to face the risks of challenging instead of choosing easy and comfortable lives, which would add obsessed filters into the mediocre sights.
Overall, although reluctant to leave the passing scenery behind, eventually we would continue to march on.