See You in Washington!

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have enjoyed your time in Columbus and are looking forward to your upcoming East coast trip.  My name is Andy.  I am a friend of Mike, Pete, Bob, Brieanne, Hans, and others you know through the WTOSP, and my wife Leigh and I live in Washington, DC.  I look forward to seeing you at the Washington Monument tomorrow night and to spending time with you on Monday.

I do technical documentation and training with the American Red Cross, and Leigh is a graphic designer for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.  We live in a neighborhood called Glover Park, which is near two universities:  Georgetown and American.

Safe travels—see you soon—

Andy

Lovely Days in Ohio and Goodbye

On Thursday, I did my sunrise about tips in America. And Pete raised a quite thoughtful question that whether it is good to have tips. He said that many waiters and waitresses live on the tips because the managers pay very little to them. The managers shift the burden of the waiters’ wage to the consumers because people will give tips to the waiters so that managers can pay less to them. It may cause a vicious circle. The harder the waiters work, the less money the managers will pay to them. I don’t know how to solve it, but I do believe that it needs the efforts from both the government and the society.

I think everything has pros and cons. On one hand, if waiters and waitresses can get extra money if they did a great job, it might stimulate them to work harder and give better service. On the other hand, whether to give tips or not and how much they will give depends on the consumers and sometimes they may not want to give tips even they are served well. Waiters and waitresses have to work harder to get more money. So their wages are unstable, which depends on the consumers.

In my opinion, it’s almost impossible to get rid of tips. It is an essential part in American culture. Although it has lots of problems, it indeed has many advantages. We don’t have tips in China. But stable wage may cause some people don't work as hard as others. Maybe it’s unfair to those who work hard. It always have a trade-off between efficiency and fair.

All in all,maybe we can’t find a perfect answer to the problem,but we should try to find the balance and make everyone live a happy life.

Today is the last  day in Columbus. How time flies! I still remember the day I just arrived and how excited I was. I really had a great time here. Thanks to all the teachers here, and I will keep these beautiful memories in my mind. Goodbye Susy, Hans, Eric, Brie, Bob, Cheryl….Goodbye OSU! Goodbye Columbus! Goodbye Ohio!

Do you guys remember? O-H!  

This lifelong week

      I can't be more happy this week. All the American culture make me fall in love with it. The passion from sport like baseball,the energy from the animals like zoo,the unique experience from the party in Mike's house,the unforgettable memory in Susan 's wedding ceremony...... All above are magic for me to form the dream to try new things beneath my heart.
      Everyday when I walk by the street to have breakfast with the sunrise ,wind,I can feel what an American student's life is. It's interesting to experience the true foreign life in such a wonderful campus. I enjoy the blue sky,the white cloud and the green grass. The empty campus bring me a feeling of freedom.
    After the breakfast, there would be a sunrise in our life, just like the real sunrise. And it even became a part of my life to think over my own life together with others. The museums,the living concert,the grand baseball game,the zoo,all above create a wonderful world for me. And I note or picture in order not to forget all the details,I will write them in the future.
    Columbus is small but wonderful. I have an unforgettable days here. Even though New York is coming,Washington is coming, I clearly know that they can't be compared in my heart in some emotional aspects.
     I am blueness. Now I am in America.

two interesting ting I have never done

Those days, I have done something I had never done before.

The first thing is planting the tree. It was a really hard work to plant the tree. And I cooperated with a very nice old man. After I had planted the first tree, I found him digging the hole alone and I gave him a help. When we planted the tree together, he told me that the air in China is not so good. Actually, after I compared the sky in US whit the sky in China, I began to worry about the environment we live. Although we need factory to make the country soar, we also need to make the environment better. After all, time goes by, only the environment can decide the life of the human, we need to plant more tree in order to make the sky blue and make the air fresh.

The second is walking down by the street in US. I went to the rock and roll on Thursday , however I can hardly enjoy the loud music. So I left and walked around the square. The city was more beautiful at night. I have to say that it reminded me of the day when the people drink the champagne and cheer up together. It is very bustling street, but the night gave it the color of mysterious. I get a little bit nervous and didn’t know what will happen next. This feeling forced me to go back and I did. To be honest, I was influenced by the hero movies. You know, the bad guys always get the guns. So I can also hardly enjoy the night of the city. I think I should be optimistic and have courage to face the unknown things.

This is my thougt of the trip.

a visit to robots

    Yesterday,I went to the computer science depatment with some other guys to see some robots. I have heard of artificial intelligence for many times but I have never seen something that this technology applies in. When I was told that there was a chance to see the professor of robotic engineering, I didn't hesitate to sign up for the trip. It turns out that I didn't make a wrong choice. It is really a fantastic experience. I have seen many robots in the movies before, but I have never got to know how they function. The professor and the student there introduce some robots to us and also explain their operational principles to us. Though the principles are the most basic ones and we just stay on the surface of this kind of technology, it still open up my eyes to a completely new field. Now I'd like to show a picture to you.
   

    This is a robot designed by a student from Wuhan. As you see, it's more like a scale, but it's a robot indeed, though, not like a human. It is used to follw people everywhere. There are two sensors in the front: one is used to recognize one's feet, making the robot know which person to follow; the other is used to recognize barriers. Small as it is, it concludes many kinds of elements and softwares to function well. How hard it is to build a robot let alone a perfect one! You have to consider every possible situation the robot may come into and think out different solutions for each one.

There is a video about a smaller robot which is really cute. He can only say a few words and do simple actions. It is use for education.

•     Technology is playing a more and more important role in our daily life. There are still a lot in store for me waiting me to explore more. That is, we should never stop studying and make contributions to our world with all the efforts. 



I love America! -----Frank's sunrise

                     Frank‘s sunrise
 Good morning,ladies and gentlemen. I’m very glad to stand here giving u a sunrise.

       Last night,when we came back to the dormitory from Outlets,we were happy and excited,but when I went to bed wearing a headset,I closed my eyes and the whole world was just the music playing in the headset.The days we have spent in OSU,in Ohio State,in America gradually emerged in my mind.Every moment we laugh,we talk and every time we try to organize language to buy sth have came
out,it’s difficult but meaningful,our spoken English and interpersonal skill was improving.

        Besides,the deepest expression America has given to me is the blue sky,no matter where we go or visit,I must leave a photo of sky.The cloud here is more white,the sky is more blue and the air is more fresh.I have to admit that the environment here is better than China,the United States really did the environmentally friendly city which our China is still trying to achieve,but I do believe we will make it.

        Last but not least,the American is so enthusiastic that sometimes make me embarrassed,I don’t know how to response to them.For example,then I go to Kennedy Commons to have breakfast,some guys make hi-five to us,”wow we are just strangers”,this is impossible in China,people won’t even take a look on u in China.Looking back now we are more active and open to others than the time before we come to USA.Now we dare to dance in front of people when there is

 music playing,we dare to talk to strangers easily.

        Since today is the last day we stay in OSU,in Ohio State,let’s make it a wonderful and unforgettable day,but before that,first we should thanks to our three lead teacher,Mr.Su,Mr.Wu and Ms.Zhu thanks for them to lead us from China to America safety,what’s more important,thanks to Mike,to Peter,to Suzy,to Eric,to Bob and all of you and thanks this country to give us so many wonderful and unforgettable memory.As an old saying goes “Absence is a short kind of sweetness”.We will come back to America to Ohio state to OSU to see everyone here!

        That’s my sunrise thank you for listening!

Video published on our Tree Planting day in Marion

https://youtu.be/4LNIAIjMdIM

Cynthia is a star and everyone does a great job! A really nice video of our teamwork with our new friends at OSU Marion.

So proud of all the effort and teamwork, and let's all continue to be Friends of Fruit Trees and ALL trees! 

See you tomorrow for a great last day in Ohio! 

Mike