The 30-day trip to the United States endedsuccessfullywhen the plane landedsafelyat Shanghai PudongInternationalAirport. Life on the other side of the globe is exciting and unforgettable. Although it was only one month, I felt the difference between Chinese and American cultures inmanyaspects.Experiencing it firsthand and participating in a completely unfamiliar environment is a challenging but rewarding experience.

It is a great pleasure to participate in this unforgettable journey with 5 other friends ofCuiYingAcademy. As a chemistry student, I choseto studyChemicalResearchandAcademicEnglish. At first, I had a preconceived idea that the summer school course would not be too stressful, but after the course officially started, I realized that it wascompletelynot as easy as Ihadthought.

TheChemistryResearch class was taught by two teachers. One teacher is from Egypt and the other is Chinese-American.Withonly 11 students intheclass,thereweremore interaction between teachers and classmates compared to China. A lot of jargon andall-Englishcommunicationmade mea littleuncomfortable at first.Soevery time theclassended,the first thing I did waslookingup the English vocabulary related to chemistry and memorizingitwith concentrated attention.Besides,I would pluck up my courage tocommunicate with the teacher.The methods above did make me improve a lot.After a few lessons, Imanaged to getaccustomedto the different pattern of class,which I felt extremely discomfort with initially. In addition to studyingin the classroom, wedidexperiments in the laboratoryas well. GSU's laboratory has ahigh-endexhaust system,contributing totheodorlesslab.And the operator table is a little more spacious.One important thing to mention was thatI tried writing a thesisandgiving a presentation in Englishfor the first time. Thiswasabrand newexperiencewhichI’d neverhadbefore.

The AcademicEnglish classwasa biteasier thanChemistryResearch. The teacheris a humorousgentlemanwhoisabout55 years old. He often recountedhis colorful life experiencesduring theclass, and the languagewas very vivid, as if we weretogether withhim witnessinghim go through everything he said. In addition, hetook pleasure inencouragingus to speak in English and sharingour own stories.Sometimes I got nervous,Butevery time Ilookedat the teacher, hissupportiveeyes and affirmative nodencouragedmetosharemanyinteresting storiesinfluentEnglishboldly.Beyond this,we conductedfield visits once a week. Our teacher led us to some well-known places in Atlanta to experience the local culturein person.During the journey,we visitedaquiet townnamed Decaturandwent toKing Center tolearn stories aboutcivil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr..We alsovisitedchurches and experiencedreligious culture. It was the first timein my life thatIgotimmersed in an unfamiliar environmentthoroughlyand experienced an unfamiliar culture. What I had learned about the United States from bookspreviouslywas finally crystallized after experiencing itpersonally.

Thetrip to the United States alsochallengedme. In terms of diet, GSU provided us with 15 free meals. Unlike domestic cafeterias, American university cafeterias are mostly self-service. Salads, fruits, desserts, meats and drinks are available on request. The cooking method is mostly fryingsothe calories areoftenhigh.I gained seven poundsweightafterkeepingeating presumptuously for a month.We also cookedour own meals in the dormitorysometimes. Without parental guidance, cooking by ourselveswasprettyexciting. The three male classmates who accompanied us oftenmade many delicious foodand after the meal,girls were responsible for washing dishes. Everyone hada clear division of labor.We fulfilledourown duties and helpedeach other. Aftereverything got prepared,we satat the table and toastedeach other.I felta great sense of belongingeven though I was in a foreign land. When it cameto shopping, Americanstended topay with credit cards. I remembered that there wasone time when I went shopping at Walmartand gotembarrassed.Because I didn't know how to use a credit card.The cashier did not urgemeand stillpatiently guided me how to use it, whicheliminated my awkwardness. We didn't dare to go out at night in the United States.Even during the daytime,wetravelledtogether. Americans preferredto do physical activity indoors, so wealsofollowed.Just as the saying goes‘When in Rome,do as the Romans do’.During the daywhen the classes were over, wewentto the gym or arena of the student activity center to exercise. After sweating profusely, I went back to the dormitory to take a shower, which was really comfortable! There was also a Korean girl who lived with us. We often chattedtogetherin English.Although we haddifferent nationalities, our interestswerevery similar.During the talks,she would learn Chinese from us, and we wouldinviteher to teachusa few words of Korean. Everyone got along very well and never had any conflicts. As we parted, she wrote each of us a letterwrapped in a beautiful envelope. Whenrecallingall these experiences, it was as if Iwerestill sitting on the sofa in the dormitory chatting with our Korean friend!

A monthin America passedquickly. The 30-day summerinstituteeventuallycame to an end.During this journey，I livedin a strange country for acompletemonth,and experiencedthe enthusiastic American culture，which wasdifferentfrom the subtle and introverted Chineseone.IexperiencedtheAmericanclassroomandgot independent. After a month of English communication, my speaking skillswerealso improved.At last, Iwant tosincerely thank the college and all the teachers for providing us with this opportunity to go abroad for exchange and appreciate the wonderfulness of this world. Travel thousands of miles and read ten thousand books. It's worth the trip!