Home Away From Home

New experiences are waiting for everyone
遠離家園的家園 - 新的體驗正等待大家去經歷.

We are finally settled down in a suburb near Washington, D.C. . This is where we will be staying for three years. When my husband was asked to transfer to his company's office here, we knew our lives would change.

 My two teenage daughters had to leave their friends and comfort zone in Taipei. They will need to adjust to a new educational system. Will they be able to "survive" at a new school? Can they function well in a foreign language? Will they feel frustrated and homesick a lot? Only time will tell. But we decided to accept the offer, so we are bravely embracing this challenge. 

We have decided we can overcome any difficulties. We also decided to make the most of it. We plan to travel, explore and learn about "real" American culture and life. Large numbers of tourists come here to see the White House, the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and the Smithsonian. We plan to go, too!

Living here definitely will give us the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of all four seasons. There are colorful flowers in spring and sunshine in summer. In autumn are red, orange and yellow leaves, and snow falls in winter. In mid-April, we went to the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This festival commemorates the gift of 3,020 cherry trees from Tokyo to Washington, D.C., in 1912. More than one million people attend every year.

We went on a Friday and joined the flocks of people already there. They walked around the Tidal Basin. They sat on the grass and took photos of the beautiful pink and white blossoms. We were able to capture the Washington Monument in the background with the cherry trees in bloom. Of course, we bought some magnets,mugs and T-shirts as keepsakes. We are very fortunate to have plenty of time to appreciate this place.

It's our "home away from home" for the next three years.

Grammar Gym:
"We are finally settled down in a suburb near Washington, D.C."
"to settle down" - to begin living in a place in a stable and orderly way. from a old place move to a new place to live there.
After working in Asia for several years, the American businessman decided to settle down in Hong Kong.
Mr. and Mrs. Lin wish their children could settle down near them, but all three sons live overseas.

Vocabulary Tips:
comfort zone -a place made you feel easy going and relax. 令人感到舒适而放松的范围。
comfort -舒适。
zone -区域，范围。
*Studying abroad means stepping out of one's comfort zone.
*Staying in your comfort zone only limits your growth.
frustrate -try to do something new and not success, make you feel mad, stress, anger and lost patience.使沮丧，使挫折。感到很挫折。
*All these difficult math questions frustrate me.
frustrated (adj.) - 感到挫折，泄气。
*The coach feels frustrated because he can't see any effort from the team.教练。。努力。。
embrace -hog, hold with both arms. 拥抱。
*As soon as Bob arrived at the gate, his son came forward to embrace him.
embrace -willing to face or accept.欣然接受。
*Greg embraced a golden opportunity to work at the top law firm in the state.
to make the most of it (something) - do the best you can, take all opportunities to enjoy, to learn, to get know of something. 充分利用某事物。
most -最大的限度。
*During the banquet, Edward made the most of an opportunity to make connections.充分利用机会。。建立人脉。
*We made the most of the facilities at the hotel while we were staying there.充分利用他们的设施。。。
suburb - a part of the city, but is not in the center of the city, a bit far from the center of the city.
survive - to live, not fail to live. not die.
overcome - do whatever you can to pass over the difficulty or challenge.
" word " quotation mark - the word in the quotation mark usually is mean a difference meaning of it actually mean.

definitely (adv)-for sure, nothing will change, it will happen. 肯定地，当然，那当然。
*This restaurant is definitely the best in town.
"Are you staying to watch the game?" "Definitely."
definite (adj)-明确的，肯定的。
*a definite conclusion.-
commemorate - something to remember in history.纪念，庆祝。
"memor" -纪念。
*the festival was held to commemorate the birth of this artist.
commemoration (n) -纪念，纪念仪式。
*Thousands participated in the commemoration of the battle.
flock - group by group of people or sheep, bird...（人）一群一群的， 羊或鸟一群群的。
*You can find flocks of sheep in this beautiful green pasture.
keepsake -something you have to help you to remember of something you did.纪念品。
*I bought a miniature Eiffel Tower as a keepsake.
*Molly gave me a picture of her as a keepsake before she left.
snow falls (v) vs. snowfall (n)-snow is falling in winter vs. amount of snow you have.
capture (something) - catch a sight of something, refer to take camera to take photo of something.

Language tips:
adolescence -the period of transition of between youth and maturity. 青春期。
adolescent (n) -people who are in the period from the childhood to the adulthood.青春期的青少年人。
teenager - age at 13 to 19。青少年。
two teenage daughters.-二个在青少年岁的女儿。
preteen - age at 9 to 12. tween. 少年。比青少年年纪小。a child between middle child age before teenagers.
tween = preteen. a new word that compose of "teen" and "between" two word.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
house/home - a cold place / a warn and comfortable 住宅，房子是冰凉的/ 家是温馨的，令人感到舒畅，自由，安息，放松，灵，魂，体的到安适的地方。房子住宅可以很多，但可称为家的不多。
Make yourself at home.-把这儿当作自己的家，feel free to enjoy everything.可以放松性情自由享受这儿的一切。
go home for Christmas.-回家过圣诞佳节。
home away from home.远离家园的家园。



Take notes of study "Studio Classroom".