Letter From Lillian

Dear Piper,

       Hi,my name is Lillian,and Chinese name is Zhang Xuehan.I am your parter for the exchange project.I am an eighteen-year-old girl from Zibo,Shandong Province.But now i live in Qingdao,another city of Shandong.I am a freshman of Qingdao Univercity.I major in English.I want to be a translator in the future,particularly a simultaneous interpreter.But i find it so difficult because my listening is not very good.I must practice more to improve my listening.

       There are five people in my family,my parents,my grandma and my brother.My parents are workers.I have a twelve-year-old brother,which is not common in my generation in China.In 1980s,family planning policy was carried out in city.Family planning policy is that one family is permitted to have one child.Although i often quarrel with him,we have a good feeling.More importantly,i don't feel lonely because of him.

      I really like Qingdao.There are many places of interest .I usually go to enjoy the scenery at weekends with friends.Qingdao is located in the eastern coastal areas of China.I like the sea,which is one of the reasons why i chose Qingdao University.When i face the sea,with seawind blowing,i feel that all troubles seem to disappear.The weather is mild except that it often windy.I'd love to settle down here after i graduate.

     In my spare time,i often go to the school library.Before going to univercity,i must prepare for the National College Entrance Examination,so that i read few books.Now ,i'm developing a habit of reading.Besides,i often go to the playground to run,although i am not good at running.On the one hand,i want to keep healthy.On the other hand,i want to lose weight.Recently,i have done a part-time job in KFC.It is so tiring that i sleep eary at night.

      I have read your essay carefully.It is scary and i am attracted by it.Is it a story that you made up?I think it will be popular if made into a film.I want to know whether the three kids are killed by the man in the end.The last paragraph makes people imagine.

       I have some questions about your letter.What is the community college?Is it a college that your community set up?Is it small?Why do you have internship experience?In China ,usually,senior students of college will have internship in a company.

       I hope you can enjoy my letter.I am looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Lillian

MY REPLY

Dear Lillian,

I really enjoyed reading about you. I'd like to learn more about your family, too. You said that your parents are workers and I'm curious as to what they do for a living? I was also wondering why there are restrictions on having children and why your brother is allowed to stay in the family.

Qingdao sounds like a beautiful place to live. Someday I want to live by an ocean as well because it is so relaxing like you said. Is the water there warm enough to swim in? The university seems like a nice place, too. What do you like most about your school? You mentioned that you've started reading more... What kind of books interest you the most? I love to read fiction books that are suspenseful and action-packed.

I think it's great that you run to stay healthy. I don't like running, so to stay healthy I do yoga.

I understand being really tired after work. I work as a hostess and waitress at a restaurant. If this is a job that you just started working at recently, don't worry about it being too hard or exhausting because, in my experience, that happens any time I start something new. Soon you'll be really good at your job and you won't find yourself being so tired after work.

I'm very glad that you liked my story; I didn't think that I did very good on it. I did make it up, which is odd because I don't normally read scary books so it's surprising that I would decide to write something like that. I tried to make it seem like the kids did die in the end but I also left it open for interpretation in case you wanted to give it a different ending.
I enjoyed reading the story about your pottery bear. I was surprised that you used the term "thick as thieves" because I thought that was only something Americans said. I'm glad that you still get to see your friend.
To answer your questions, community college is an inexpensive way of getting college credit. It is a smaller school than an actual university and I think it usually only offers associate degrees. My internship was offered to me through a program I had the opportunity of joining at the community college. I was just lucky to be picked for the program because I have good grades and good attendance.
Thank you for your interesting letter, I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Piper

Inspired By Hopper

early evening

a warm summertime breeze

whistles over the tip of the gasoline pump

as he fixates it to fit properly

back in its place

routine

he relies not on a watch for

time

but rather transition from light to dark

early evening

crickets chirping and moths fluttering

he's used to the harsh smell

of gasoline

and the soft, warm smell

of convenient store snacks

routine

exhaustion

desensitization

people he sees every day

people he will never see again

waiting to close

to leave to go home

WINDOWS

in front of me i see
rows packed full of cars
cars stopping at the signs
to yield to people passing by
nearing the front doors
between the window's frames

to the left i see the same
plus people who don't come in
but instead walk to another entrance

something is different today
a bellringer, ringing his bell
he takes pride in the purpose of his work
and opens the door invitingly

always smiling
always greeting warmly
to make up for the cold
always ringing his bell

though his shoes are worn
and his coat is not enough
he stands there, shivering
and smiling

Painting Narrative Poems

He lays in his bed unaware
This is his last moment alive
Danger and death everywhere
His fate is soon to arrive
How could he not see this coming
War rages outside his window
Relentlessly killing and fighting
He hides in his room, in a shadow
Marat is stabbed in his bed
And with him his last words are dead



Propaganda geniuses
Riding on a horse
Crossing the Alps
To conquer Italy
Propaganda geniuses
Actually rode a donkey
Didn't cross the Alps
Didn't conquer anything
Napoleon Bonaparte
Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was a late 1700, early 1800 artist from France. He painted realism using oil on canvas and his work has inspired the modern romanticism style. David was born in 1748 and died in 1825. His father was Jacques-Maurice David and his mother was Marie-Genevieve Buron and he had no siblings. Jacques-Louis David was born into a prosperous family situation and got a good education at the College des Quatre-Nations and the Royal Academy in Louvre. A man named Francois Boucher was like a friend and mentor to him. He also had a good friend named Joseph-Marie Vien.
The French Revolution was taking place at the peak of David's career, so naturally the war played a bid role in his life and artwork. One of David's most famous pieces of work was a painting The Death of Marat which was based off of the actual death of his war friend Marat who was stabbed to death in his bed. This shows the brutality he faced in his reality at this time. He was imprisoned once during the revolution and still painted a masterpiece in his cell. Even Napoleon Bonaparte recognized his talent and they became close. When Bonaparte seized power he made David an official for the nation involving art. Bonaparte and David were huge propaganda influences. A well known painting of his called Napoleon on the Saint Bernard Pass shows Bonaparte crossing the Alps on a horse to conquer Ital, but in reality he did not cross the Alps to Italy and he traveled by donkey.

Art Walk

What I see...
I picked out a painting that has blue-green splotches on a mostly white background.

What it reminds me of...
It made me think of teardrops that have fallen onto a piece of paper.

How it makes me feel...
It kind of gives me the feeling of being jaded. Like imagine if you were crying deeply over something for a long time, then when you stop and take a minute to calm down, you look down at the teardrops and don't feel anything at all but exhausted.

My Future In Writing

Three Interesting Ideas From The 417 Magazine Presentation
1. I love the fact that they started out so so small and just kept working very hard and eventually they were able to expand their building and hire more people. It shows that the people there are very hard working and take what they do very seriously.
2. Not only was I inspired by their work ethic, I was also inspired by their purpose. The staff at 417 Magazine put so much love and care into their work and really believe in the message--they want to show all the great things about the culture of southern Missouri. They combined their two passions: art and the 417.
3. I was really interested in what the senior editor had to say because I have been thinking about perusing that as a career. I thought it was interesting that the editors also did the writing instead of having writers.

My Question:
What  is the job outlook for editors? Are editors in demand right now or is it hard to find a job in editing?

My Future:
In one year from now I'll be in college, furthering my education. In five years I'll be living in California in a nice lift near the beach. I'll be an editor for a newspaper or magazine. And I will probably spend a lot of time surfing with my friends. In fifty years I'll be in the same place, surrounded by loved one--friends, kids, church family.