I stayed in the lab right after the final exam and I did not have dinner until 10:00pm when my advisor treated us in an Indian restaurant. On Sunday, I had to come to the lab to work until 11:00pm, then I went to Wal-mart to get groceries. I could not go to bed until 2:00pm and to top it off, I was told to come to the lab on Monday at 8:00am. It’s right, everything is right as I have expected. As 2009 is gone pretty soon, I can slightly feel how my 2010 is going to be like. The fortune tellers said after all these years of hard working, it’s going to pay off. And I guess that’s one of the major reasons why I am always so energetic and diligent without any complaining-I am so different now. Although I am far from the position where I want to be, I guess it’s getting closer to me each day. I hope the fortune tellers are right.

Basically there is nothing much new here. As I was abandoned by the church organization here, I found life is quite peaceful and quiet. Occasionally I could see some of the schoolmates walking on the road. Yeah, as I got busy, I could not attend any bible study on Fridays. So Shaun stopped calling me on each Thursday and sending me emails telling me to join their bible study on Fridays. Man, I could barely have the time of my own to study Analytical Methods, how am I supposed to have time for your bible study? I am sorry. So I think he did a favor for both of us by deleting my name from his list. As much as I would thank Shaun for arranging everything when I first got here, when it comes to religion, I am not going to be converted as long as I am conscious. I think they can understand, at least I hope so.

As Christmas is getting closer, the music I could hear most on the radio here is Christmas music and the atmosphere is much stronger than in China which is not a Christian country yet. I don’t feel homesick yet when I listen to those songs, not like some other people. Maybe as time goes by, I might hide in my bed one day and cry for Chinese Spring Festival. Life is not easy, but I am not going to surrender to these obstacles, as all I know is freaking deal with it.

I have never experienced snow in early December in my entire life and this morning I was stunned by the beautiful snow outside the window. It snowed last night, but it was not something major. I think I am going to see a lot of snow here in Cincinnati. It sounds silly, but I am quite looking forward to the snow in the real winter. Thanks to the heating systems, I don’t have to worry about winter clothes to keep me warm. It’s more comfortable here than in Shanghai.

Time is fast and now it’s almost the end of this quarter. After my mental struggle for a little while, I sort of took the courses for granted accidentally, thanks to the late experiment I had to do during Monday and Tuesday. I could not finish the experiment until 3:00am and I had to walk home alone in the middle of the night. It was scary and that was the last thing I want to do here, considering those emails informing us of the crimes around the campus once in a while. The finals are in next week and after the last class this afternoon, I won’t have classes until next quarter. I was surprised to see how well I did in mathematics, the course I used to hate in China since I don’t know when. I don’t know how come each time the teacher made some mistakes, those students would make fun out of it. I thought they were smart enough to get full marks in the tests, but it turned out that those were just mediocre. Maybe it’s not the time to brag here, even a little bit, since the finals haven’t started. This week, I pretty much devoted all my energy into our lab and I could barely open my textbook to go through I have to do in class. It’s a shame, I have to tell myself. Courses are fundamental requirements and maybe I was considered to have no problems with them anyways. Given the harsh economical environment here, most of people feel their fates are just hung up by a thread, and not surprisingly I am one of them. So maybe what can pull us through would be just do your thing. I don’t think it’s going to be winter all the time.

Due to the experiment in the lab on Thursday, I nearly missed my first Thanksgiving at Gary’s house. Thanks to Dr. Lee who took me to Gary’s around 5:00pm when everybody in the house had finished their dessert, it was not too late for me to enjoy my turkey feast, but Anida had to microwave it for me. Frankly speaking, it was my first time to have turkey, since turkey breast sandwiches in Subway do not really count. I missed the process of cutting the whole turkey! Maybe next year…It was cold yesterday and this morning I saw it was snowing a little bit, but it’s fine as we either stayed in the car or the malls. Speaking of Black Friday, most of the malls open around 5am, and there are people waiting outside the gates to rush for the discounted goods. Of course, I am not that crazy, so we slept well and finished our breakfast, driving our car to get to those malls as we were pleased. I got the vacuum and the fabric steamer I wanted at reasonable prices-I can make such a good househusband. :) Since I accidentally ruined my favorite several shirts, I realized shirts are really delicate and they need my special care-THE FABRIC STEAMER! Anyways, I still haven’t found the color bleach in the malls. When it comes to shopping, it’s the same everywhere. I felt like I was in Shanghai when I was buying gloves in the new H&M store in Kenwood-people were waiting in a long line for H&M which only has styles but the quality. Say it’s shallow or whatever, I quite like H&M. My philosophy is that clothes cannot last forever after all. To some extent, I quite miss some of those Japanese brands which have better fitted clothes for me, but mostly I can only pay a relatively lower price for some brands like Calvin Klein, Clinique, Levi’s and so forth. Generally, I love shopping here as I can have more choice.

10am @ Bestbuy
Xmas is coming

I thought I could have watched the men’s football today, but again, I missed it, thanks to my Black Friday shopping. Since the football game is like a huge celebration here each time, I might as well try it once to see if I like it or not. It’s ok, because the tickets are free for us and I can get the next game’s tickets or I will just have to wait for next year’s game.

So far there is nothing much exciting, and that’s why I haven’t updated anything here. Mom said that she’s been waiting for the pictures in my album, but unfortunately I haven’t gotten any chance to go anywhere yet ever since my last Cincy Trip. Maybe travelling is not part of my agenda as I used to claim, since homework, exams and research work have already swallowed up pretty much all my time. I am not complaining this time, because I feel that I am really learning things. And I’ve got to say that something just feels right. I need a break sometimes, and it’s perfectly arranged at the end of the quarter, which is called “a winter break”. Several friends of mine are heading to Las Vegas as they don’t have to worry about their work in the lab, so tickets and hotels were booked a long time ago. Whereas for me, as much as I would love to go there, there is still something up in the air so far.

Lots of people have some opinions against Midwest, not just minority groups of people, but also some white people. While I don’t have any comments on this as long as I haven’t visited other places in the States. Sometimes I guess I am just too trivial to change some of the stereotypes here. As for the cars and things related, I am trying to make some time to study that slowly. There are plenty of cars and trucks on Craigslist, but as others said it still takes some time before I can find the “dream car”. Speaking of trucks, there are plenty there, and Gary has a good truck since he has to work around his houses in Cincinnati. I thought about trucks as well-it would be so cool to drive a truck. But some say it consumes more gas than you would expect, so that can basically rule out the possibility of buying a truck as far as I am concerned.

Last night I helped a senior classmate’s moving sale, and in return I got his microwave, TV and some other furniture. Now our living room looks like a human living room except that I have to buy the antenna device from Wal-mart this weekend. Obviously, having a car would make a lot more things more spontaneous, like for instance, if I think of something I need at 2:00 am, I could have driven my car to get it. It’s my dream so far-not hard to achieve but it takes time.

So after Thanksgiving next week, this quarter is actually coming to an end, which basically means the toughest time ahead-EXAMINATIONS! Let’s get ready for that, shall we?