This summer vacation, I had the opportunity to go to Georgia, USA for a one-month summer school project organized by the college. Georgia State University is located in the commercial center of Atlanta, Georgia's capital and the largest city. It isclose to many iconic attractions in Atlanta, and the transportation is relatively convenient. This trip is also my first time to visit the United States.Duringthe one-month trip, I have gained a lot. Therefore, I’m going to share my feelings about learning in Georgia from several aspects.

New to Atlanta

Atlanta is a historic city, destroyed in the Civil War. It is also a new industrial and commercial city and a cultural, medical, and health center. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the busiest airport in the United States, is located in the southern part of the city. It’s also the home to hundreds of major corporations, such as Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and the Centers for Disease Control.

The city is different from those bustling metropolises, like New York and San Francisco.What impressed me about this place were the slow life pace and the strong local flavor. However, it is a common problem in American cities that there are a lot of homeless people on the streets. Most of them are able-bodied adults. Obviously, they have the ability to support their own lives with their own hands. but choose to live on the street by begging and wandering. This is also what I am dissatisfied with.

Study

In this program, I chose two courses -- Academic English and Chemical Research. The biggest challenge in learning was that sometimes I didn’t really understand what the teachers were talking about. But when we failed to understand, the teacher would repeat it over and over again until we made it. When we encountered some professional words, the teachers would use simple words to explainthem.

In Academic English classes, the teacher encouraged us to express our opinions and practice our English expression through paper writing and unscripted speeches. The teacher showed us around the Decatur, a small town with local characteristics. We also visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and felt the impact this pioneer had on the local people.

In the Chemical research class, I went into the lab to study. Therewere more sophisticated instruments in the foreign laboratories and the environment was more comfortable. Under the teacher's guidance, I have learned a lot of knowledge in this month, and my English has gradually improved. I have completed writing an English chemistry paper for the first time and completed a professional report in the UK for the first time. In this one-month project, the teachers wantedto teach us a lot of knowledge, hoping that we could gain a lot from it and leavewith no regrets.

Like many American cities, Atlanta is a multicultural city. I met all kinds of people here and they were very friendly. In the class, students from different schools also hold a collision of ideas. Reviewing this month’s learning, from anxiously learning professional vocabulary, to finally stepping on the platform to complete the personal presentation; from feeling overwhelmed when I first arrived at the school, to finally facing different problems calmly, I have experienced all kinds of things and gained rich experiences.

Living in Atlanta

I think the transportation in Atlanta is convenient. But after this month's experience, I think everyone wants to have a private car for every bus interval is relatively long and there are few people on the bus. However, there is a subway line running throughout Atlanta city, which helped us to go almost everywhere we want and enabled us to have more opportunities to have a betterunderstanding of the city.

Outside of study hours, we visited various local attractions. The school organized visits to Zoo Atlanta, Coca-Cola World, and other scenic spots, and arranged several activities such as shopping and watching movies. Some of our classmates also visited other places. For example, the day before returning home, we went to Georgia Institute of Technology and had a night tour of Georgia Institute of Technology under the leadership of 17 senior Li Qifan.

As for diet, I personally feel that the local diet structure is very unhealthy. The school canteen is almost full of fried food and sugary desserts, which are extremely high in calories, resulting in a lot of weight gain. The United States is full of McDonald's, which is delicious but extremely easy to put on weight. Therefore, all of us chose to cook by ourselves, which was also a very good opportunity to exercise. Walmart is still full of a lot of semi-finished products, so it's really hard to live here without gaining weight!

Travel

In my spare time, three of my classmates and I went to Washington, D.C., for a three-day "Special Forces trip." Washington, D.C. is small, and we've had a pretty good sense of it these days. Unlike Atlanta, the number of Caucasiansis larger, and it has a faster pace of life. During weekdays, the streets are basically full of early buses. But on days off, people will chat in pubs and restaurants. It’s really comfortabletolive there.

Washington and Atlanta are both well-known cities in the United States, but they show two different styles: Washington is smaller with a lot of residents,showing a stronger feeling of a small European town; Atlanta is a very large place without many modern buildings, conveying a great sense of ruraltaste.

I had a deeper understanding of the country after this trip and was no longer afraid to communicate with others by using my imperfect English.

Personal feeling

It is a short but fruitful trip. Here, we made friends from all over the world and had a deeper understanding of American culture. The most important thing is that I have experienced the American educational model, gained more knowledge, and I have a clearer understanding of my future direction.

Finally, I am also very grateful to the college for giving me such a precious opportunity to have a clash of ideas with students from different regions and show my style to other regions. Such an experience will certainly have a positive impact on my development!