When we think of America, all fashionable things come to mind. The eleven students and one teacher of Wuhan Foreign Languages School who traveled with me to America have a much clearer vision of this country.
We spent all 9 days of the exchange program in Pittsburgh3. My exchange partner's name was Jackie Shaffer. Her dad is a radiologist2 and her mom is a homemaker. I spent most of the time with Jackie and her mom living in their Pittsburgh apartment for several days. We didn't get to see her dad a lot because he was busy with his work. The apartment was typically American, not so big but nice and cozy4. On the weekend, I was taken to their countryside house in New Wilmington5. The countryside was so different from the city, the sky looked cleaner, and scenery was so beautiful. I loved it there very much.
During weekdays, we attended classes with our exchange partners and also got to see a lot of Pittsburgh. We experienced the typical American teenagers' life, and thought it was so much fun.
I thought the most interesting part of the exchange was talking about differences between our school and their school. Among the differences were dressing rules (they are allowed to wear makeup but have to wear uniforms with collars but forbidden to wear jeans, and they envied us when they saw us wearing jeans), relationships between teachers (they talk with teachers inside and outside of class about all manner of6 things) and the school life (students have much freedom there, the atmosphere of their classes is more vivid, but the knowledge they learn is simpler. In class, there is no strict discipline, you won't learn a lot in class but have to make a great effort after class).
The city of Pittsburgh is famous for steel production. It was quiet and green everywhere, which made us feel comfortable. But there weren't so many people on the streets whether it was daytime or night, there were much fewer cars on the streets. On the weekend, some students went to see the magnificent7 Niagara Falls8 and local shopping malls, while other students were taken to see beautiful scenery and farm animals in the countryside.
At the end of our stay in Pittsburgh, we had a small but friendly party at a girl's house. All the students and their host families attended the party. The host was very thoughtful9 and asked a Chinese chef, who was born in Wuhan, to make delicious food for us. As a conclusion to the party, all the Chinese students sang “The Moon Presents Our Love” to express our gratitude10 to them.
All the host families were so nice and did their best to make us enjoy the stay and feel at home. The exchange in Pittsburgh came to an end quickly. We were all very happy to go seeing some other cities in America but also very sad to leave our American families.
Our second stop was Washington D.C. There we got to see a lot of historical places and learnt more about American history. Seeing such places as the White House and Lincoln Memorial was really cool.
We spent most of our time in the coach11 for the next two days. On the way to Boston, we stopped at Philadelphia12 visiting the Liberty Bell13. We also saw some cool carriages. The weather in Boston was bad, rainy and windy. We went to see two of the most famous universities, Harvard and MIT. They looked a little bit different from what we thought but we all enjoyed the campus tours a lot.
On our way to New York, we visited Yale University. It was the most beautiful university I have ever visited. The buildings there were very old, and the atmosphere had an ancient feeling. We went to see the Statue of Liberty14, it was like being in a fantasy when we arrived at the island, and it felt unreal. Broadway15, Wall Street16, the United Nations and Time Square17 were also nice. In New York you always find yourself surrounded by tall buildings. All of us didn't like the crowds. You saw people everywhere and it felt busy, chaotic18.
Our group flew to Los Angeles the following morning. It was so different from what we expected. It was not about fashion at all, and looked like the countryside. The highlights were Disney Land and Universal Studios19. We all enjoyed ourselves a lot while exploring these two places. In Disney, it was like being a child again seeing familiar characters from cartoons. In Universal Studios, we had adventures, experiencing things we learnt in our textbook. On the last day, we went to the beach. The beach was so big that the sand looked like desert. We got to feel the real sunshine of California and saw the big blue ocean.
We only had a couple of hours to tour the city of San Francisco. Our last dinner in America was hot pot20! We were surprised at first, but considered it the best meal we had had on the entire trip.
Time passed away quickly during the twenty-one-day trip. All of us didn't want to leave but we had no choice. Nearly all of us think that Pittsburgh is the best city in America, because we had such a wonderful time there. The trip was short but we did immerse21 ourselves into American culture and got to experience new things.
All in all, the twenty-one days that we spent together in America will be an unforgettable memory of our lives. Each of us had times when our English skills and adaptability22 were tested.
1. Shady Side Academy 位于美国匹兹堡的一所高中
2. radiologist n. 放射学家
3. Pittsburgh n. 匹兹堡（美国钢铁中心，位于宾夕法尼亚州）
4. cozy adj. 舒适的
5. New Wilmington 新威明顿（宾州一镇）
6. all manner of 各种各样的
7. magnificent adj. 壮观的；华丽的
8. Niagara Falls 尼亚加拉瀑布
9. thoughtful adj. 体贴的
10. gratitude n. 感激之情
11. coach n. 长途汽车
12. Philadelphia n. 费城
13. Liberty Bell 独立钟，美国费城独立厅的大钟。1776年7月4日鸣此钟宣布美国独立。
14. the Statue of Liberty 自由女神像
15. Broadway 百老汇，世界著名的戏剧之都
16. Wall Street 华尔街，美国金融中心
17. Time Square 纽约时代广场，繁华的娱乐及购物中心
18. chaotic adj. 混乱的
19. Universal Studios 环球影视公司
20. hot pot 火锅
21. immerse v. 沉浸
22. adaptability n. 适应性