[25th Day] Biking in San Francisco

One day tour in San Francisco!!!

[8/29 01:04] 

This afternoon, I went to San Francisco with lots of friends. We mainly rent bikes and rode them from the Fisherman's Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a long journey. We totally spent three hours on doing this. It was pretty worth doing this. We saw some amazing scenes and also got on the Golden Gate Bridge. After that, we had a dinner at fisherman's wharf. Crabs, prawns, and salmon made us a great meal.

Today is quite a tiring but worthy day!!!

[24th Day] Pearl Milk Tea in San Jose!!!

Pearl Milk Tea in San Jose!!!

[8/28 01:47]

I went to Great Mall Outlet today again. Originally, I thought I wouldn’t buy anything, but I bought three shirts. It was hard to resist shopping when we were in a outlet. The most impressing thing in the shopping mall was I drank a pearl milk tea! I seldom drank that in Taiwan, but seeing local food in a different country was amazing!

[23rd Day] Great Mall & Final Paper Day

Great Mall & Final Paper Day!!!

[8/27 03:08]

As soon as I finished the class this morning, I went to the Great Mall outlet with my friends. It was quite a long journey, which took us about one and a half hour to get there. Without a doubt, we bought lots of things there and had fun.

However, this night is so exhausted. I have to have a presentation tomorrow but I didn't prepared it until 12 o'clock. This is also the reason why I am writing my blog now. What a exhausting day!!!

[22nd Day] Free Day

Free Day!!!

[8/25 22:55]

I had no plan today, so I was free today!!! At about 2 pm, I went to the shopping center to change the size of shirts from medium to small for my friend. At the same time, I bought an A&F short which just cost 15 dollars. I didn't buy too many stuff because I will go the Great Mall with my friends. I am so excited about that!!! Hope I can have a wonderful harvest!!!

After, I went to the gym and then did my final project. What a release. I finished my final paper. And I can sleep much earlier today!!!

[21st Day] Santa Cruz trip

Beach in Santa Cruz!!!

[8/25 01:52] 

Today is Saturday, also a free day!!!

I did my homework in the morning and it's almost 70% done. What a achievement! This is my first time typing such long pages all in English. 

This afternoon, we went to Santa Cruz! I really had a great time there. The beach there was beautiful. We played the frees bee and the volley ball. Although I am not good at volley ball, it is so fun to play with lots of people. Despite of playing on the beach, we also played some games in the vendor. Unfortunately, without consciousness, I spent lots of money. Maybe it is better to use those money to buy some clothes or eat some food. However, I indeed mad a great time today!!!

[20th Day] Dinner at Palo Alto

Dinner at Palo Alto!!!

[8/23 23:23] 

Today is the end of the third week in Stanford University! We only have one more week staying and studying here. I have to cherish it more! 

This afternoon, we went to Palo Alto to have a dinner at Curry Up Now, which is an indian restaurant. The food there was a little bit too salty for me and a little spicy. Maybe that was authentic indian food, I have to get accustomed to it. After dinner, we also went to YogurtLand and a beautiful bread factory. I strongly convince that if I stay in America longer, I will become fat easily. The food here all contains high calories although it is pretty delicious. Today is an eating day!

[19th Day] Dolby Company Visit

Dolby Company Visit!!!

[8/23 00:25] 

This afternoon, we went to the company visit in Dolby. We experienced amazing surrounding sounds in Dolby's theater. We can feel the sound just around us and be shocked by the complicated room design. I didn't know how the sound making can be so professional until company visit in Dolby today!

Our summer program in Stanford University goes to the end. We only have about one week left here. Thus, we start to take some group photos for memories. I really had a great time here and made lots of friends from different countries. Although I have started to miss all the things in Taiwan. I want to stay more time here and to be with my foreign friends. What a dilemma!

[18th Day] The last lecture & Final Surveys

 The last lecture & Final Surveys!!!

[8/22 01:16]

This afternoon, we had a last discussion for the lecture. We played a monopoly game which is related to the topic of the lecture. By playing the game, we realized how difficult the low-income stratification get into the upper class. They have less friendship, worse political, and even less money to do anything. The long as we played, the big of the gap it became. Not only can we played a interesting game during the class, but also we can learn something.

 After then, I did my final project until 6 o'clock, and I went to Palo Alto with my friends. We had a dinner there in a Thai restaurant. The food there were all delicious, especially for the garlic pepper beef. Not surprising, we finished our dinner in around 15 minutes only because it was too delicious. And we also conducted our surveys after the dinner. I did my surveys around the train station. The reason why we chose that place is because people there were all waiting for the train, and they could hardly escape from us. In doing so, we could easily do many surveys. Just as what we thought, I did 10 surveys in only an hour. Maybe I will do ten more surveys tomorrow, and
I think it is not too hard for me!

[17th Day] Homework Day & Sports Day

Homework & Sports Day!!!

[8/21 00:41]

What a relaxed day!!! After the classes in the morning, I went to the shopping center to buy some clothes for my friends in Taiwan. After then, I did my homework in Starbucks. Doing homework with a cup of green tea latte is quite a blessed thing. I didn't need to rush my homework, but I could browse many websites to find which information has access to my topic. Therefore, I did my homework well-organized and efficiently.

I went back to the campus at about 6 o'clock. As soon as I finished my dinner, I walked to the gym to workout! Workout is necessary for me. It keeps me fit and more energetic. If I don't workout for a long time, I may feel a little uncomfortable. After workout, I met some friends who came to play basketball by coincidence. Therefore, I played with them with lots of fun. Today is a relaxed day!!!

[16th Day] TC class presentation

TC class presentation!!!

[8/20 1:00]

We had a group presentation this morning! We completed our powerpoint at about 4A.M., so I was so tired that I couldn't make my brain operate properly. My job in the presentation are making the powerpoint and introducing five minutes in the beginning of the presentation. I think my group members all did a great job. They explained this topics informatively and fluently. It's quite a release after finishing this presentation.

Then this afternoon, my parents and my older sister came here to visit me. I showed them beautiful scenes in Stanford University, and without a doubt, I showed them Main Quad which I think is the most amazing spot. Originally, we planned to go to the business school, but I got lost, couldn't find out the exact direction, we missed. After then, they left the school and went shopping. It's a different and special experience to meet my family in exotic place. And I hope I can become a Stanford student one day!

[15th Day] Lunch with American Family

Lunch with American Family!

[8/18 23:00] 

Today is Sunday! I didn't get up until 9 o'clock.

Then I did my homework until the noon. How lucky! I was one of ten chosen people that can go to have a lunch with American family. The house is so big that we can garden and even swim there.

Without doubt, we had a special and quite delicious lunch, including Chinese fried rice, Japanese food and lots of cookies. What a heaven I was in. I ate three plates of food that it made me so full. After the lunch, we went swimming! Although I didn't bring my swimming short, I borrowed one from the host, David, who is so nice and kind, and so is his wife. We chatted many things during lunch about their life and our ALC topics. I had a pretty great time there, and experienced the different kind of life style. I made my dream that I hope I can have my own garden which my family can play together and enjoy the fresh air without too much electronic stuff or information. Just relax ourselves! Thanks for the best chance today!

[14th Day] SFO tour with my family

Tour in San Francisco with family!

[8/17 22:33]

After attending my sister's graduation ceremony yesterday, we were free all day today. The photo on the right side is what we ate for dinner yesterday in China town. I think that is the most delicious food I've eaten since I arrived in America. Super delicious! Especially for the codfish, and the shrimp!

Today, we rent a car to the Livermore outlet. There are a great number of brands and some special stores that will not be opened in other outlets. The price there indeed much lower than the original price, but the disadvantage is that there is not so much diversity. We spent about six hours there, and walking around a lot and window shopping a lot. I thought my legs would break if I kept walking and shopping still. Finally, I bought a hoody and a pair of Timberland boots which is the famous brand in America. Also, I had a great time with my family. My dad spent most of time sitting in the Starbucks just for a cup of latte and surfing on the net. By the way, they will come to the Stanford University, and then we can have another great time here!

[13rd Day] Sister's Graduation Ceremony

 Sister's Graduation Ceremony!

[8/16 23:56] 

As soon as I finished the class in the morning, I rushed to the dorm and took all my stuff to take on the shuttle bus to Caltrain station. I arrived at the Caltrain station at about 12:40, but the train was about to depart at 12:42. I hurried myself as soon as possible, going across to the other station and buying a ticket only took me 2 minutes. Finally, I safely got on the train and unfolded my journey to the San Francisco by myself! 

The auditorium is much larger than I thought before. There were a great number of graduates there, with formal wears and a little finny blue hat. Congratulations to my sister! Finally got a master degree in International Business area! Hope in the not too far future, I can also get a master degree in the United States.

[12nd Day] Workout

First time workout here!

[8/15 22:16]

I finally went to workout in Stanford! It has been a long tome that I don't exercise. I used to workout every two days when the summer vacation started. Thus, I couldn't do that heavy job as usual or I will be painful tomorrow. After staring workout, I felt so exited that I could workout. But it's quite embarrassed because almost everyone here could do a good job and so much better than me. At the same tome, I was urged to do some harder thing and wanna be stronger. In order to be stronger, I have to control my habit of diet. Not to eat too much food containing many calories and sodium. Hope I will soon be stronger!

[11st Day] Company visit

Motorola Visit!!!

[8/14 23:12] 

This afternoon, we had the company visit to motorola! The things we experienced were so fresh and novel. The working place there is comfortable and stress-free. Also, there is a game room, which has a ping-pong table, and some game machines. The most impressing thing is that there is a kitchen in the working place. We got so many stuff to eat and drink. At the same time, a software engineer told us and explained a lot to us. It was quite a special trip!

[10th Day] Palo Alto tour- Cheesecake factory

 Cheesecake Factory!

[8/13 21:57]

This afternoon, I went to Palo Alto by myself.
I like to do most of things with only myself, because I think too many people hanging out together will be somewhat troublesome. We have to take care of others, stand in others shoes, and cannot do anything I want. If I go shopping but others don't like that brand, I will have to get out of the store, cannot shop whenever I want. Thus, I went there only with myself, which made me comfortable and relaxed. I just fooled around, took pictures around, experienced the exotic environment here and so on. Without any doubt, I went shopping for Vans shoes. It took me quite a long time to decide which one I should pick, gray one or white one. In my perspective, white shoes may easily get dirty but I indeed really wanna a
pair of white shoes. In a dilemma, I picked up light gray ones in the end. The gray ones compensate the disadvantage of easily getting dirty, and also are in a light color.
After shopping, I went to Cheesecake Factory!
I haven't seen a cheesecake as big as one in there.
The size was almost as high as one iPhone in the Cheesecake Factory. But it indeed tasted great!
Maybe next time I will take my friends here!
How a wonderful day to be with only myself!

[9th Day] Ecumenical Hunger Program

Volunteer!

[8/12 20:51] 

As usual, I was pretty sleepy in the morning. I slept at around 3 am everyday recently, because I had important things to tackle in Taiwan, unfortunately there is a time difference. Hope I can get more sleep after completing that thing.

This afternoon, we had a volunteer program which is to help someone homeless. We went to the non-profit organization, and we helped them to arrange something, like gardening, arranging the deposit and so on. I felt pretty great cuz I contributed myself to others. I realized we have to be thankful to all the things and men we face or meet. We cannot consider everything profit or capitalization. Instead of money, caring and love are all indeed make us happy and satisfied. There are few places and organization like there in Taiwan, most of organizations are profit and kind of bureaucracy. Maybe in the future, I will devote myself into this kind of things to take care of some low-stage people and love everyone I meet.

[8th Day] Bonfire!

Bonfire!

[8/12 2:16]

Today is Saturday! It means our weekend is over! Most of us all got up late this morning because activities today are all optional. Hence, I got up late and I just had a banana and a cup of milk for my breakfast. This morning, I did my homework and printed the copied which is our assignment out and found some resources according to my topic. And then we went to the shopping center again. I just bought a Bose speaker only, which I want to put to my BOT in NTU. Hope that one will deserve that price. 

At about 9 o'clock, we had a bonfire party! It was pretty fun to be there. We guys chatted a lot with people from different countries. Also, we played the truth-and-dare game. It was quite interesting. The loser had to do whatever we demanded him to do. And it indeed made a sensation! What a leisure day today is!

[7th Day] Tour of San Francisco Downtown

Tour of SFO Downtown!

[8/11 2:13]

Today is Saturday, no class! We went to San Francisco by train. After arriving the Caltrain station, we started to walk. We walked a lot, and we almost saw all the tourist spots, like lombard, fisherman's wharf, union square and so on. My feet were gonna break down. I haven't walked much like this time ever, which made me hard to have energy to appreciate the view in San Francisco.

At the fisherman's wharf,  we found a place that has musical stairs. It's pretty cool and novel to me. As long as we stepped on the stairs, the piano will be activated and sounded out melody. Also, we bought some souvenirs and ate some crabs which were quite delicious. The most impressing place we went to is a place that let us feel confused. There are many glasses inside, and due to reflection, we could hardly find a correct way to go. We always needed to touch the glass in front of us then we could know the way. It's pretty cool! No wonder the post outside the store said that it's worth of paying five dollars to enter the place. I totally agree what the guy said on the post!

Furthermore, we found a park when waiting for a bus at the bus stop. It made me feel I'm still a child. I put myself inside a toy car, played the slide, and even had a swing. 

All of us walked too much so that we were exhausted, and we all fell asleep so soon and deeply on the train easily. Hope I can still have an interesting day !

[6th Day] Tour of Downtown Palo Alto & Cultural Night

A tiring but fun day!

[8/10 00:58]

Today is really a tiring day! We walked a lot and played a lot. After finishing classes in the morning, we have a Scavenger Hunt game which needs to tour around the campus. Things we had to do are taking photos in front of spots and had funny poses. They were quite interesting, but we walked a lot as a result.
Then, we had a tour of downtown Palo Alto in the afternoon. I wen there with my five friends including two Japanese guys and three Chinese. We chatted a lot during the trip, like exchanging our cultures and some funny or interesting things.
Of course, we went to the most famous ice cream shop called cream. No exaggerating! We cued for about 40 minutes to get ice cream. It is worth to say, ice cream is delicious. It has one ice cream covered by two pieces of cookies.
Also, we went into Apple store. It's the largest one I've ever seen. It not only sells iPod or iPhones, but sells speakers and some different stuff.
In the evening, we had a culture night! Many guys showed their downtown cultures to everyone. We danced in many kinds of types, sang songs, and appreciated the shows. We got more realized about other foreign cultures and learned a lot as well.
It's quite a tiring but funny day!  

[5th Day] Stanford Shopping Center

Stanford Shopping Center!

[8/8 22:49] 

After two classes in the morning, I went to Stanford shopping center by myself! I went quite a long distance with a map, and then took a free shuttle to the shopping center. Unfortunately, I got on a bus which doesn't arrive it directly. Although I dropped off near the shopping center, I still got lost and wasted lots of time. After finding the right direction forty minutes later, I arrived! 

At the first stop, I went to A&F for some clothes and jeans. Totally I bought two shirts for my friends who pleased me to get some for them and one bright skinny jean for myself. I think it is pretty worthy that I came to the shopping center, because most of things here are cheaper than those in Taiwan. I didn't pay through my nose!

It's quite a tiring day today! I've almost been exhausted! I think the main reason is I walked too much!

oh no I still have a lot of homework to do!

[4th Day] Simple Interview

Interview with a classmate!

[8/8 00:39]

Today is the second day that we have the EC and TD class. In Effective Communication class, teacher Sacia gave us a job to interview one of our classmates. A cute girl from Japan is my partner. We chatted  a lot and shared our experience and some interesting things. Something like the most famous food in hometown, special experience in life and so on. Then in Topic Development class, we preview the lecture that would be spoken right after the class. The lecture is about Asian American Identity Transformation. What the Korean, Taiwanese, Japanese immigrants experienced before are worthy of being discussed. There are both good and bad experience. This is quite an interesting lecture.

In the evening, we are all free. I went to play basketball and surf the net. Nothing special. Maybe I should go to the shopping center to buy something! What's a pity!

[3rd Day] Class Starts & Landmark Tour

The class starts!

 [8/7 1:36]

The class starts! I was divided into the section 3. What a coincidence! I am in the same section as my roommate. Due to this, I won't be late for my class I think. The class has two parts; first is Effective Communication and second is Topic Development class. We have to choose a topic which we are really interested in, and then we have to do lots of research and surveys to finish the project in only a month. It's quite a short time, so we must work hard! By the way, fortunately, we don't have homework today! 

After the class from 9am to noon, we had a landmark tour, which made me get more realized the campus. So far, I know the oval, bookstore, student store, dining hall and so on. The Stanford University is the most beautiful and amazing campus I have seen since I was born. No exaggerating! The campus is pretty clean and combines the modern and classic style buildings. Here is really the place where I wanna stay and study. We also went to the graduate school for business, which is my dream college. I will definitely work hard and apply for entering! In the business college, we saw a wall having lots of changeable stickers on. It means the world changes all the time which is just like the business and finance world.

[2nd Day] Placement Interview & Get Student ID

Get Student ID!

 [8/6 00:36]

Congratulations! I got the student ID! It means that I am a Stanford University student too.
We got a listening test in the morning and a simple interview in the afternoon. We will be divided into six groups due to the score we got.
Finally, I was separated into third section which is same as my roommate, Yota.

After finishing the test, we had trivial time to go to the bookstore. There are many Stanford hoodies, T-shirts and some stuff like cups or postcards.
Unfortunately, I didn't get one hoodie, because I thought the dollars into the pounds. I couldn't imagine why all the things so expensive. Then it turns out that I was wrong about
the exchange rate.

When touring around the campus, I was always astounded by amazing scene going into my sight. Comfortable weather, nice air, kind coordinators, wonderful buildings and so on all made me feel happy.

At night, we shared our lifetime map with our coordinator, Katrina. There are so many different kinds of backgrounds which each one have. By sharing our backgrounds, we get more close to each other and realize more. It's a nice time!

It is worth mentioned that I hanged out with my friend at about 11pm. It is quite coincidence that we found a bar. There got wonderful music, TV shows, and some of course, some food there. Therefore, we enjoy our food and music at the same time. It's pretty enjoy!