Wed, 16 Apr 2003 03:51:18 +0800 (CST)
Subject: My trip...

hi folks,

just drop a short note that i'm about to finish my trip and will be going home very soon! i think i'll be home by may, but before i leave i'm gonna go check out hollywood in LA a bit as my last trip. For those who're expecting me to get back to the office, pls keep my returning as a secret until i decide to go back to work.

you can check out some pics on line which were taken in SF & seattle these weeks. sorry i don't have many of my portraits since being travelling alone. plus the pics in annother memory card which contain more of me and friends haven't been burned into the CD yet, but i promise i'll show you all of them while i get back.

See you soon!!:)

Tina

Fri, 4 Apr 2003 06:52:08 +0800 (CST)
Subject: hi folks!

hi my friends,

haven't written to you for a long while, how are you doing?

I'm doing ok here, just came back from seattle. seattle is an OK city for me... well, maybe i've seen too many cities here, plus the weather in seattle was a bit grey and rainny at night, so it didn't impress me that much. besides i've forgotten the scenes in 'sleepless in seattle' (i should've reviewed it again before i went there), even if the guide tried to point out the boathouse where tom hanks lived in the movie, i still couldn't remember how it looked like. too bad. i guess i've run out of my excitement. suddenly i felt a bit tired. tired of travelling (or tired of this country??). i still don't feel like going home, sorry!:) anyway i have to think about my next step for a while, either finding a job or going home, i'll let you know very soon. i still haven't been to grand cayon yet. maybe save it for the next time i come back to this country, or for the time my excitement of travel coming back again. i'm still in san fransisco. that's it for now.

gotta go shopping a bit for dinner. we're gonna have miso soup noodles tonight. Yummy yo!:)

Tina

Sat, 22 Mar 2003 04:53:09 +0800 (CST)
Subject: the war

Hi folks,

This morning the US force finally started to bomb iraq. every news channel here is constantly playing those 'live' video pictures and reports, day and night. i was in the city SF yesterday, enjoying walking under a beatiful clear sky and warm sunshine, then i saw a crowed in the front og my way. getting closer to check out, it was another anti-war demonstration in these days. it was 9,30am, a small group of demonstrators (around 30 of them) blocked a crossroad, sitting on the street, tying their hands in the back, remaining silence. some of them tied themselves on the steel tubes on the street, so the cops and firemen had to cut up those tudes by a big electric saw to release them and then pulled each of them away to the car. the crowds and protesters stood around, watching them and chanting for them. i was standing in the crowds chanting with them as well, and being part of them. it was an unforgetable moment, i was right there participating a part of the modern history.

"Police in the city of San Francisco on Thursday arrested more than 1,300 anti-war protesters during a massive civil disobedience campaign, the sheriff's department said. The arrests began with the shifting series of protests early in the morning and were continuing into the evening as US troops moved into Iraq (news - web sites). "More than 1,300 people have been arrested so far and we expect that number to rise considerably during the evening," San Francisco Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Eileen Hirst told AFP."...21, 2003>

leaving that high emotional environment, the atmosphere went back to the tranquility and peace. the sun was still shinning, the sky was still blue, and the air was still fresh with the fragrance of the grass. the tourist spots were still crowded, and people were still having fun with their families and friends. i hardly smelled the tense from the war. i couldn't help wondering if it was just the tranquility before the storm.

so much contradictory here. i'm not afraid anyway. i'm still going on my trip.:)

Tina

ps. tina went up to the socall 'evil island'-acaltraz island to visit that well-known prison yesterday! the escpae story and the cell house were so cool!:)

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 06:15:15 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Re: Tina's message from SF

Hi wendy,

ok, this is the third time i'm writing to you, hope i could finish it this time and send it out...(i think asad's computer and i have certain problem with each other so the previous 2 times i tried to write to you, it was either rebooted itself suddenly for no reason, or went to the next page suddenly and my text were all gone....:()... cross fingures...

i just got at SF last friday and now i'm in asad's house. thanks for giving me his name so that i could get a nice and free accomm and 1 day tour guilde in SF.:) he's a very good host, honestly. he drove me to the city center and showed me around a bit yesterday, and he even cooked breakfast for me! i feel bad, and i think i'll try to cook for him sometime later on even though he ask me not to cuz he's afraid that i'll burn his house...:) he actually left some words for you last night when i wrote to you, but it's all gone unfortunately. he tried to tell you that he asked for a tall girl but you still sent him a short one (i never admit i'm short!!), and he complained that i had some issues with his computer and toilet... anyway, i think i have to be more careful to try not to distroy anything while i'm hanging around in this house...

Tina

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 06:29:06 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Re: Tina's message from SF

Hi folks,

i just got at SF last friday and now i'm in a friend's friend's house. this wasn't my plan to come to SF this early actually. I was in riverside daniel's brother's house but he had to study for the final and his major is dental health which is very hard and intensive. he couldn't concentrate on studying while i was there chatting to his wife, so i only stayed for 1 day. on the way to SF i met a guy on the train who was going to camp in a state park near st luis obispo and we had a very great talk and surprisingly we had a lot of interests and personalities in common (we both are aries). then he invited me to go camping with him and i thought it's a rare chance for me to camp in the US so i jumped off the train in the half way to SF!(fortunately i can get some refund back for the partially used train ticket). we stayed in a cute hostel in st luis obispo that night, but it started to rain heavily at nite and didn't stop in the next morning. i felt very upset cuz i could only camp for 1 day then had to go up to SF to pick up my luggages. he decided to leave s.l.o too. meanwhile we met a nice lady in her 40's volunteering to give us a ride up to sf where she lives at, so we three drove up along the west coast relaxedly and on the way stopped by several beautiful beaches and the aquarium in monterey, which is a marinal aquarium and through the telescope i even saw a wild seal and a mother otter carrying a baby in the sea! they are so cute and adorable!! i'm very glad that i jumped off the train with that guy. she dropped me in front of the friend's house so i saved a bit for the train which is great. then here i am in SF!:)

yesterday the friend took me to golden gate bridge and showed me arounda a bit the city center. today is irish st patric's day so we'll be going out to have some fun and beers tonight. i might stay here for a week or 10 days, then either going up to seattle or to sacramento. i forgot to go to the grand canyon drectly while i was in LA, so after the north west i might go down to see the grand canyon. anyway i'll keep updating my story to you.

have a nice day!

Tina

Thu, 13 Mar 2003 06:49:38 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Tina's message from LA

Hi there,

How are you doing? I just got off from a 48hr train trip at LA this morning and right now i'm writing to you in LA central library. the journey on the train was so fun. I met a lot of nice ppl on the train and had some intersting chat and a good time with them. the amtrak trains for long distance have some fabulous facilities like the lounge car, where has windows from the roof to the ground and we can not only truely enjoy the beautiful sceneries outside the window, but also meet ppl and socialize with them there. the past few days i was travelling alone in new orleans. I didn't go for mardi gras but only for the city tour, but still had a lot of fun there. New orleans is a cute city, where you can hear jazz music at every corner and the souvenirs and stuff for mardi gras in every shop.
actually i was kinda tired of mardi gras before i left there. the weather that the first day i got there was not good, foggy and rainny all the day, you could barely see anything on the river. But when i walked to the riverside there was a black guy who's playing saxphone alone in the fog with the street lights around, you know, it was so special and romantic! although the next day we got a big sunny and warm day, i started to miss foggy new orleans and missisippi river. oh, i did take a cruise (steam boat) along the river the next day and it's so cool! anyways, you can always find something fun to do in new orleans and would never feel bored. as for LA, it's a HUGE city and if you don't have any friends or don't drive here, you'll get nowhere to go as my situation right now. but this morning i still joined a free tour around the mexican village and got to know a bit about mexican culture. i'll go to riverside to meet friends tonight, and if those of you who're familiar with riverside and have some suggestion for me, pls feel free to message me. TKS!:)

miss you guys... talk to you later!

Tina

Wed, 26 Feb 2003 08:16:48 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Re: new orleans

Hi wendy and my dear friends,

I just got off at chicago this morning. the amtrak train delayed around half an hour again... so unreliable! and when i got on the train at 1,30am i was sitting in the last coach which seemed to have no heater in the car and it was freezing cold!! i only slept for 2hrs then fortunately most of the people in my car couldn't stand the coldness so they started to move to other cars and never came back, so i followed them to move and luckily i got seats in another warmer car and could sleep well till the arrival at chicago. oh by the way, i met 5 amish elders at cleverland train station waiting for the train! i was so excited and couldn't help looking at them but trying not to stare at them too obviously, and they were really dressing several layers in all black and dark blue! i wondered how they got to the station... by buggies? but why they didn't travel by buggies instead of the 'modern' train?

everything's fine here actually. my friend came to pick me up and drove me around the city a bit and we visited the natural museum to see the 'real' dinosaur skeleton too. chicago is such a smart city with tones of tall modern buildings and pretty lakeshore, but unfortunately everywhere's white right now and hard to imagine how beautiful it would be in summer time. anyways, i'm sure i'll be having a lot of fun here too!:)

oh yes wendy, i went to the canada side for the falls and all the fun i had was in canada!:) you know what, now the canadian custom is very strict to the people who want to get in there from the US because of the terrerism. my friend marcie's brother just got rejected to get in few weeks ago. i'm glad we were
the lucky ones.

ok, hope you guys well and talk to you soon.

Tina

Tue, 25 Feb 2003 03:46:16 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Tina's journey--updated

Hi there,

Just try to get you some updated info about my trip, and there you go:

i'm leaving for chicago tonight (2/24 mon) and plan to stay there for around a week. after that i may take a train to the west through the south like new orleans perhaps. i'm still not sure yet but my friends said it's the best route to go than other 3 lines (north, central--salt lake, and down central--kensus). if i don't go from new orleans, i may take the one through kensus. gotta consult more people about it. anyways, i guess i might arrive LA or SF around Mar 5th. so far i don't have any firends to stay with in the west, so i think i might go and find a hostel in those cities where i'll stop by for few days--LA, SF, and Seatle. fortunately i didn't spend too much so far as i have free accommendation which indeed saves me a lot of money. the only day i have to stay in a hotel was last weekend we went to niagara falls, but we shared a room by 3 so it's not much, but i lost $20 in casino jackpot!:( it's fun though, and i played for nearly 1 hr so it's not too bad. next time i'm gonna try blackjack in las vegas if i have chance to go there.:)

as for the falls, it's really a fabulous masterpiece of God. it was snowing heavily when i walked to the falls, but i feel it's a rare and unforgetable experience to walk in the snow and get to see the falls flowing down in the snow through iced rocks and river. i'd still choose to come by in the winter time to try the different niagara expeience if i have only one chance to see them.

alright, gotta go check out the baby. it's time to change the diaper. talk to you later.:)

Tina

Tue, 18 Feb 2003 12:54:53 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Tina's message from medina, ohio

Hey,

how's going? I'm pretty good in the US, no terrorists, no war, no bombs here actually.:)

I just stopped by my american friends marcie and craig's house in medina, ohio (where is about 40 mins away from cleverland) last thursday and am having a great time here with the couple and their baby girl megan, who's only 2.5 months old. it's been snowing for 2 days and actually the east coast of the US is covered by a big storm these days so that i couldn't really go out to do something but staying at home watching tv and changing diaper for the baby. it's kinda fun though, cuz i can keep myself warm in the house and watch those funny american shows and commercials seeing how this 'race' think and behave. we actually had a baby baptism last sunday and a family reunion afterwards, and i met most of marcie and craig's family members and they're all pretty nice and friendly to me. it reminded me our family reunion for the chinese new year and they are pretty much the same... eating, drinking, talking all the time.

the next day we took a ride to amish country, where those strange amish people mostly live in ohio. we not only saw buggies everywhere but also had lunch inside a buggy!:) well, i didn't visit anywhere special in ohio these days instead of that one (just because of the bad weather), so not much to talk about.

tomorrow they are gonna take me to their schools (they both are teachers) to do some briefings about taiwan and chinese language. i've never done that before but i guess it'll be fun. they asked me to stay over this weekend so that we can go to niagara falls but i'm still not sure about it. i'm thinking of going back to visit boston this wed or thur but there's a storm over there right now. or head to chicago directly from here. well, i'll see. the weather is just too bad for travelling at this moment. i should've come by later like spring or summer time, or go home earlier and come over again this september. there shall be more fun in a warmer season.

alright, i gotta go. miss you and here is my big hug!:)

Tina

Fri, 7 Feb 2003 09:40:44 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Hi!:)

Hey guys,

I'm in New Jersey my friend wendy's house now. We just got from altantic city where we did some fun gambling and beach walking. It's so freezing staying outside, guess around 0 degree C but the sky was so clear and sometimes even sunny! i didn't have real fun cuz i'm too poor to bet as well as not in a good year of mine, so only watching wendy playing blackjack and winning all the time, totally got around $60 back! I know it's not much but at least she got courage to take out $100 to play but i only stick on 25cents jackpot machine...:(

Anyway, i'm trying to let you know that finally i got 6 months stay visa without being asked tones of questions but only 2: how long you're gonna stay in the Us, and where are you gonna stay. Isn't it great?:) I feel like right now i'm facing another hard job that to rethink my travel plan from 30 days to 2-3... or even 6 months.:) Hey Mom, don't worry i'm just joking...i don't think i will stay that long ok?

well i guess that's it for now. I'll try to keep updating my news to you every couple of days. you take care! i'll miss you!:)

Tina

Tue, 10 Dec 2002 16:13:46 +0800 (CST)
Subject: I'm coming!!:)

Dear Marcie & Craig,

Hey guys, how are you doing and how's your baby? I guess lately you guys must be very busy with welcoming the arrival of the new member in your family, aren't you? Well, haven't talked to you for a long while, I just write to say hi and tell you that I finally start to carry out my travel plan to the US and am gonna fly to NY next 3rd of feb!:) Why NY, cuz one of my friends who's an ABC (america born chinese) is going back home in New Jersey next Feb for a short break, and I'm gonna go to catch her there and stay in her house for several days. Then after her leaving I'm gonna go on doing some travelling by myself and try to visit some places and friends in the US, including cleverland and you guys--hope I still have chances to work for you to exchange a short staying in your house!:P I'm VERY willing to do whatever you want me to do such as the snow shovelling, baby sitting, house cleaning...etc, and I'm sure you won't regret to have me!:)

Anyway, I'll try to give you a call while I get to the US and see when you'll be free for my visit. Looking forward to seeing you!

Tina