The Sun Is Shining; The Winds Are Blowing

美國留學記：風和日麗Here I am in Southern California Los Angeles 洛杉矶开学记-
by Luke Wang

I still remember early last month when I said goodbye to my parents, stepped on the airplane, and started my journey to America. Of course, everyone gets excited when traveling around. For me, however, this trip was different — I was traveling for academic purposes.
Filled with an anxious excitement, I began my year with the new students’ orientation. Meeting all the freshmen from different parts of America was really exciting. Watching thousands of Americans walking around, speaking English, I finally realized that I was in America – a foreign country

During the orientation, I tried to make some new American Friends. Unfortunately. it is hard for me to make friends. My English skills were poorer than the Americans'. And my culture also made me different from the rest of the students here. On the other hand, my diverse background was a good thing as it made me unique. Some were interested to know that I am from Taipei. Many asked tons of questions about the differences between Taipei and Los Angeles.

Fun times always pass by quickly. After a few days of orientation, school started and that was when the real battle began.

Grammar
Many ask tons of questions about the differences between Taipei and Los Angeles.
tons-"a lot" or "many"
plenty: plenty of choices.
loads: loads of fun.
masses: masses of people
piles: piles of cloths.
heaps: heaps of junk. Try use different word to describe something, avoid a word repeat and repeat.
Vocabulary
academic (adj)-学术上的，学业上的。。
Does Michael have the academic qualifications that are necessary for this job?
*The professor's academic achievement was not fully recognized until recently. 学术上的成就
* You need to have excellent academic record in order to be accepted by this university. 纪录
orientation (n)-introduce to the new students about the school works.
orient- 使适应，孰悉. orientation 帮助新生，新进的人适应的课程训练。
All new employees must attend a two-day orientation before they begin to work here.
*Freshmen orientation day will be on September 1st.
*New employees need to attend our 3-day orientation.
freshmen (n)-All of the freshmen at our university must take a class in cultural studies.
unique (adj)-Every person in the world is unique, no two people are exactly alike.
*His unique directing style is well received in Europe.
*This kind of butterfly is a species unique to Taiwan.
anxious-nervous but happy to looking for about something happen.
diverse (adj)-多元化的 variety, several difference.

Chat Room
language barrier- 语言障碍 barrier 障碍。 克服语言障碍的方法事有耐心的不断练习。
overcome the barrier of language is practice and learning English as much as possible.
cultural barrier- 文化障碍。 克服文化障碍的方法是多接触当地的人。
overcome the barrier of cultural is go with the people of culture and learn from them.