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