today is june 29 (GMT+8). i'm back home. it's like a dream, both the fact that i've been out there for 8 years and the fact that i'm back home right now. still feel like 16, maybe that's because that's the last time i've been home, actually home, not just stay for summer/winter.

ppl always ask me why i chose to go to USA at the age 16. seriously, i don't know. i guess from all the movies from USA, i always wanted to be there. not for any special reason, but just to make a difference in my life. i might have missed some specific experiences if i stayed, but i never regret my choice. some one has said that when you should take some adventure while you are young so that you can recover and actually learn. but one thing for sure, i wasn't happy with the education system back then. but with this many ppl in this country, it might be the only way.

so i left, without thinking about what's gonna happen next. all i have in mind is i'm out in another world. it wasn't as exciting as i thought it would be when i first got there. i landed in utah, one of the states that locate in the middle of nowhere. my mother went with me, and when i got settled, she left. i didn't know why, but i didn't cry. i realized that i wouldn't see my mom for a long time, and i couldn't rely on her anymore on anything, but i guess the excitement surpassed the fright of unknown world. i stayed with a host family, mormon, but nice ppl. the husband is a fire fighter, the wife is a secretary in a small company. all their 5 children live somewhere else. and i still remember when i moved in, there's a chinese-japanese girl lived downstairs. she told me how to put make-up on.

i only stayed in utah for 1 semester. it was too dry there, my skin couldn't handle it. so the next semester, i transferred to tennessee. went back to china during the winter break, while actually, the winter olympic was on in utah. i got really sick, as they said, first time backer from europe/USA always got sick for they are not used to the air in china anymore. and hence, i was 10 days late for that semester in that new school.