这个自从我到美利坚之后，意外事故不断。倒不是什么“死人冧楼”的事情，但就像蚂蚁上身，寝食时难安哪~

决定做个总结：

1、皮肤问题

过敏性体质的人不知道应该叫做娇贵还是诸事，特别容易出状况。湾区的气候比起广州要干燥不少，旧金山大风低温，伯克莱艳阳高照。我那经受过西藏高原阳光洗礼的面庞，很早就对这里的阳光和冷风举白旗。晒伤一个月后，依然痛。结果是花大价钱小力气到Kiehl's买了一套产品，适合最脆弱不堪磨练的肤质。经VIA 的财政总监Kirsten提醒，另购入BB油作洗浴后保湿用。但是今天发现自己身上某些部位在掉皮屑…像蛇…

2、手机

到这里的第五天，新买不到一个月的索爱被水泡了。因为白痴的我没有把同放在包里的水壶盖拧紧。折折腾腾动员了全世界吹干电池重设电话找后备AT&T电话了好多天，结果某一天，它活过来了。

3、左脚脚腕

对，我又扭到了。唯一一次和篮球没有关系的扭到，下楼梯扭的。但是以前“拗柴”会有妈子接送上下学。这次因为要旁观AUSL项目从中学习，每天走走走，依然肿。用完了大平一盒狗皮膏+半瓶黄道益活络油之后，又欠她两刀在屋仑（oakland）的唐埠买了广州产的麝香狗皮膏药。同一屋檐下的加拿大籍法国租客Rya特意买我一大盒某盐，泡完果然没那么疼。反正现在还没有好就是了。

4、隐形眼镜

当时一心想，我从澳门买的daily还是从美国进口的，干嘛不到美国买。结果，这个万恶的资本主义国家是要医生处方买隐形眼镜的。怎样可以拿到处方？做眼部检查！大价钱…结果现在还没有买到。这边戴眼镜很不方便，因为太晒了，要用装帅用的大墨镜保护眼睛。

5、感冒

来之前感冒得我要死要活的。现在似乎又要开始了。倒不像是H1N1，不过现在的确是流感季节。 喉痛肿痛，声音嘶哑，贪多咳嗽，鼻塞流涕，唉~多喝水多喝水，但是办公室那层楼洗手间最近在换地板砖，拉丁裔的工人每天开着音乐干得正欢。我只得频频搭电梯下楼上厕所，因为走火通道的门是单向开的，打开门出去了就只能一直冲到马路去…

我隐隐约约觉得，RP是一个均等值。好fellowship好homestay好intern好老板总得拿点啥平衡平衡。

    This is the first, or maybe second question that people ask me a lot when first met. I keep saying “ Can’t complain!”/ “Can’t be better!”/“Perfect!”

    I can’t really tell why it’s not perfect insofar. W.T. Chan Fellowships is the best service-learning/cultural exchange program I can ever imagine. Perhaps there is no better way to understand a culture, a society than to live with the people and work with the people and by the same time, you are required to commit yourself to change and grow for 6 months. Calcorp is the best kind of public service organization that ambitious, service-engaged college students wish to get help from. Our coordinator Suzan is brilliant, nice and thoughtful. Big sister Suzan. And best of all, Lingnan Foundation is the one behind all these. The trustees and alumni decided that they want to spend a large amount of money on these 12 young people, in order to help them to have deeper understanding of both US and China, to cultivate a sense of civil responsibility, to grow as an individual. As Dr. Feng, alumnus from Lingnan said, never forget the motto of Lingnan: Education for service.

   There are some more reasons that I used the word “perfect”. My host family is perfect: My host mom MK, loves to have exchange students around her house. The reason she prefers W.T. Chan rather than others is Chan fellows stay at least 5 months that let her know more about the person and feel like a family, not just a guest or a tenant. She was born in California and has lived all over United States then came back to Berkeley and settled down. I always so admire her understanding of her city, her involvement of the community. She knows every story behind the local business. She showed me the first Peet’s Coffee and Tea in North Berkeley and tell me which chocolate manufacturer started here then was purchased by Hershey’s. And after her grandparents, parents and she graduated from UC Berkeyly, she feels straight right that her son, Kyler, went to UCLA. To me, MK is like a living guild to Berkeley, Bay Area or even California. Besides, she’s a great mother. You can tell from Brittany and Kyler, excellent daughter and son.

   I’m always lucky. Brittany is around when I’m here, at least for a month. This is quite a privilege that even two other former Chan Fellows who stayed here , Vivica and Jasmine didn’t get. She had been busy all the time, even after graduated in June from Cal (ie. UC Berkeley) She is going to Guatemala to work in an NGO for the next 6 months so she is taking a break these days. I bet she is one of the best student leader in the public service. Look at how many awards she has! She has been working and coaching in BORP for 4 years now, where she met her cuties boyfriend Mickey. They are the cuties and nicest young couple I’ve ever met. I told Brit that if one day they broke up, I would be really really sad. We always have interesting and meaningful discussions, on health care in US, on the different lives for disabilities in China and US, on Tibet problem, on which type of boy/girl is hottest, etc.

   I left my family in Guangzhou, but I do have an American sister and mom in Berkeley.

   My internship is also perfect for me. Although my ‘boss’ Ben said it’s too soon to say. Volunteers In Asia is an non-profit organization established by a freshman Dean in Stanford University dated back in 1950s. They provide short-term and long-term programs to increase the mutural understanding of US and Asia, among university students. My job is to work with Ben Strong, who says he’s a ABHC ( America Born Half Chinese) the director of Asia-US Service-Learning Program. People in VIA are all nice and friendly, and Ben is super nice and easy-going. They are always ready to answer your questions, offer you help or listen to your thoughts. And AUSL is a very cool service-learning program, very expensevice though ( compared to W.T.Chan Fellowships). The first two weeks, my job is to follow the program, i.e. hanging out with a group of college students from Japan/ Mainland China/ Taiwan and visiting many public service organizations and doing volunteer work. It doesn’t sounds completely like a job, right? I’m just lucky that I got to experience two servic-learning programs and all the good things I saw during AUSL can be brought back to China, to start our own service-learning program. This is exactly the point why I want to come here. 

       However, there are things that far from perfect.

   I haven’t learned how to do fund raising. When a service-learning program costs $4,000, no matter how good it is, it basically keeps lots of potential best fit participants out of door. There are a lot more ground stuff.

   I am wondering what are there in store for me in the next few months. There should be exhilaration, satisfaction, depression, frustration, confusion all sorts of things. I need to make sure I’m well-equipped, with faith, confidence, modesty, and supports from fellowships.

   I doubt myself.