Buliding Bridges: America in my eyes

It has been almost two weeks since I came to Red Wing. I have truly enjoyed my stay here and have learned a lot from my host families and the community members. I also found many differences between China and American through these days.

The first thing I notice is the sense of freedom the Americans enjoy. It is a common thing to talk about whether government is right or wrong in public without worrying about anything.

I also enjoy riding on the highway. On both sides of the highway, there are farm lands or trees extending to the end of the horizon. In China the farmland is divided into small pieces, which makes people feel very differently from driving on the highways here.

The second thing I have noticed is how people obey the law or follow rules even when no one is around. I notice not every intersection has a traffic light. Many places there are only four stop signs at the intersection. Every time our driver Jason Luhmann comes to the intersection, he comes to a full stop and looks around first. A lot of the times, there is only our van at the intersection. He still does it. Maybe sometimes people do not come to a full stop or do not look around carefully before they proceed, but I have not seen one in Red Wing.

I also notice that many people in Red Wing leave their doors unlocked. They say it is convenient for children to come in when they come back after school. I think it is incredible that people have this sense of trust toward other people in the community.

The third thing I have noticed is how blue the sky is. The first night when I came to Minnesota, I noticed the beautiful blue sky. At night we even saw the starry sky from the parking lot and the hotel room. I was very excited about that.

Since I came to Red Wing, I have been really enjoying the blue sky and want to look at it as much as I can. In big cities in China, rarely do we have this kind of beautiful blue sky. Maybe the big cost of our economic development is the loss of our beautiful blue sky.

I have also noticed things that are similar between the Chinese and the Americans. For instance, people have different lifestyles, but when it comes to family life, we all do similar things. I have really enjoyed my stay with my host family. I feel I am living a real life with my host family. They go to work at morning and come back at night. They enjoy themselves after dinner, just as people do in China. When they make special plans for their weekends, I always tag along. This has been a lot of fun.

I will leave Red Wing in a couple of days, but I will always keep Red Wing in my heart, my host families, the wonderful people who have been helping us and showing us around, and the beautiful blue sky.

Tags: red wing, lifestyle, travel, minnesota, wisconsin