A New Life in Berkeley☀️

My first week in Berkeley

This has been an eventful week. A week ago, filled with longing and excitement, I packed my bags，prepared to set off for Berkeley, and today is my fifth day here.

Before talking about the life here, I want to say something about our trip to Berkeley. It didn’t go very well because the plane was delayed for four hours and we didn’t arrive at the dormitory until after 11 p.m. on last Sunday. Because it was so late and there was no staff there, we couldn’t even check-in and get our dorm keys.💔 After some simple cleaning and washing, I was finally able to fall asleep at 2 a.m. on Monday. With classes at 10 a.m in Monday morning , I thought that my first day at Berkeley would be a mess. But it turned out that everything was going well, and I have tried my best to manage my life.

Then the life here goes smoothly a lot. After good nights’ sleep, I gradually got used to the study and lifestyle here.  I find that I can make new friends and have new experiences every day.  What’s more, I really like the free atmosphere and the warm sunshine of California.  I hope that in the next five weeks, I will be able to gain more new knowledge and become a better self.😊

Talking about why I chose to study at UC Berkeley during this summer vacation, the reasons are as follows: I mean to come to the United States for further study in two years, so I hope to feel the atmosphere here before I make the final decision. Meanwhile, I also want to experience the study and life here. I heard that Berkeley will have Internet classes in the following years, allowing foreign students to study Berkeley courses online in their own countries.  But this is not enough for me, as far as I am concerned, I prefer to integrate into the environment to experience the life here rather than study online.

I hope that I can broaden my horizon here, learn more knowledge and expand my social circle.  What’s more, I know that Berkeley’s students are all excellent students from all over the world. They have too many good qualities worth learning.  I want to know what is the differences between the colleges in our country and Berkeley.  I hope to find some differences to help me make better progress. And in this class, I hope that I can further improve my English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to help me better integrate into the learning and life here.

In the first week here, we spent two hours watching the film The Big Sick, and I think I relate to Kumail most in this film. Sometimes I conceal some things and thoughts from my parents, but I prefer to call them a white lie. For such things, I tend to wait until it passes before I confess to my parents. I choose to do that because I don’t want them to worry too much about me and in such circumstances, I prefer to ask my friends for help.

Since I have been in the United States for a week, I began to have my own views on this country. In general speaking, I think America is a fairly free country, probably because of its political system. It is really difficult for me to judge its correctness because there are considerable differences in the political systems between China and the United States, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.  But in general, as long as the country can continue to develop healthily, it is the right system for the country.

Because China has so much differences with America, I do have some culture clash moments. For instance, last Wednesday, I was stopped by a student in Berkeley on my way back to the dormitory and he wants me to donate for their project.  After the donation, I received an email saying that they thanked me for my donation and would use it properly to oppose some of Trump’s policies.  I am surprised because this is impossible in China. As an ordinary citizen, it is barely possible for us to participate in upper political decisions. However, honestly speaking, I really like this kind of political freedom. Because the citizens as the foundation of a country, is supposed to be the main body with the most power to decide whether a policy is implemented. I think China should broaden more channels in this regard to let citizens express their opinions.

Finally, I want to say that I am now feeling both adventurous and homesick. Since this is the first time I have been so far away from home and have to spent six weeks in a brand new country, I am full of curiosity about everything here and I am filled with the desire to explore.  But in an unfamiliar environment, homesickness is inevitable, so I often feel depressed at night. But this negative emotion has faded over time, and I believe that in the next five weeks, I will be more adapted to the life here and gain a beautiful and memorable learning experience.😃

 ‘Spider-Man’ is great!

Last Sunday, nine people from our team went to the Regal UA Berkeley to watch the movie Spider-Man: Far From Home that had been run for more than ten days in America. It is a science fiction film and is starred by Tom Holland. We chose this film Because many of us like science fiction and we believe that the movies produced by Marvel Studio must have quality assurance. There is also a Japanese girl with us because she also wants to watch this movie.

Regarding this movie, I want to talk about my opinion about a character: The Mysterio. I think he is a person full of hatred, and the source of his hatred is that Iron Man despised his work and thought he had a mental problem and dismissed him. The mysterio have all along nurtured schemes to got Edith and finally fabricated a charge against Spider-Man before he died. I think these are all out of his revenge mindset. What’s more, I think that before he died, when he ordered to release the illusion, he was already making the video which played in the bonus scene. I really don’t like this character not only because he is the villain, but the more important reason is that I think that a person who always has a revenge mindset is psychological distorted. Such people will cause great harm to society and the others. They may complete their revenge at all costs.

Back to the film itself, fortunately, I didn’t find any misrepresentation, or I am not careful enough. Frankly speaking, I enjoyed this film a lot. Compared with in my native country, I think the biggest difference in watching movies in the United States is that many trailers will be played before the film starts. In China, cinemas also play trailers but often only broadcast two or three. The cinema here will play much more.

Overall, this is a great movie. The performances of the actors are excellent, the storyline is exciting and the special effects are also great. So I would highly recommend my classmates to watch it.🌸