A-maze

 

 

看过了沿路的风景，尝过了地方的美食，步入了电影中的场景，听过了景点背后的历史。这些足以构成一次完美的旅行，但旅行的意义却远不在于此。是陪伴你的朋友，是你们一起分享的故事，是你们一起走过的路，才得以让你的旅行经历如此的与众不同。

 

This picture has made my day and set the tone of my whole trip. I love it.

 

 

 

照片里的夜景始终没有自己看到的来的震撼，技术关系吧。当我走进John Hancock Tower楼顶的Signature Bar时，完全被眼前的景象所折服。想俺也是登上过东方明珠数次，锦江饭店楼顶的旋转餐厅一次的人。但夜幕下的璀璨程度，整个城市的纵深感，无法相提并论。还有一点重要的差别，你可以在这里花25美金买一杯葡萄酒，然后和好友聊天，看风景直到它关门。25美金对当地人来说根本算不了什么。所以，this is such an affordable luxury. 在这样的氛围下，聊天变成一种享受，变的天马行空，变的尽情畅快。

 

 

 

能够象征纽约的地标太多了，但真的要选的话，我还是会毫不犹豫的选择自由女神象。时过境迁，女神的象征意义已经由最初的反对黑奴，到现在的美国梦，自由与民主的象征。但她庄重的面容，挺拔的身姿始终未变。可以想象，当第一代的移民，历经大西洋的颠簸来到纽约港口。这座巨大的雕像陡然矗立在他们眼前。女神头顶的七根铁钉象征的七大洲和七大洋，左手的法典象征智慧与秩序，右手高举的金色火炬给人以希望。于是，很多人开始欢呼，不少人转为哭泣。可以理解，要抛弃自己的家园，不远万里来到这个陌生的土地，背后总免不了有些伤心的故事。感觉，虽然女神不是什么受膜拜的真神，但她却同样代给数以万计的人希望和力量。

 

 

女神雕像的对岸就是Lower Manhattan, Capital of World Capital。我感觉这里不仅时世界资本的聚集地，同时也是世界游客的聚集地。狭窄的街道上挤满了来自不同国家的人，说着各自的语言。有时想想New Yorker们也满惨的，一方面对personal space有很大的要求，另一方面却不得不和这群huge huge tourist mob打交道。Tourist可以离开，但Wall Street会一直在那里。后来发现Time Square的景象有过之而无不及。

 

我身后的就是Lower Manhattan.

哈哈，传说中的金牛，摸下。

Brooklin Bridge，我很喜欢这个大桥。

 

 

 

The trip has certainly added a new dimension to my life. I felt I came back as a person with better personality. Thanks to those conversations we had and the stories we shared, I learned about relationship, values, dream and perseverance. I am so pumped for the school starting tomorrow and the life ahead as well.

 

Ps. To those who complaint about too few photos, 这下大家满足了吧。呵呵。

 

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

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We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

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I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

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This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream."

The link of the full speech text and video. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/28/barack-obama-democratic-c_n_122224.html

 

 

There are 6 billion of us. We all come from unique places with unique ways looking at the world. We don’t always agree. But for a few shining weeks, we set it all aside. We come together, to stand, and to cheer and to celebrate AS ONE. We forget all the things that make us different. And remember all the things that make us the same.

 

奥运期间，VISA出了几个灰常有humanity的广告，这是其中比较喜欢的一个，COME TOGETHER.

 

相信这届奥运对于每一个中国人来说都是huge, huge national pride. 身在外国，感觉尤为强烈。平时很少不关心国际新闻的美国人都开始讨论奥运了，几乎每个看过开幕式的人都认为演出非常的amazing。因为转播和我的旅行计划的关系，这次奥运我就看了体操和一点跳水。跳水，没什么好讲的，绝对的梦之队，霸主地位无法动摇。虽然没有sweep all the gold，但我却觉得这可能是一个更好的结果。如果全世界人民都只能看你玩，那这项运动是不会有太大的吸引力的，总要留给别人一些希望嘛。

看完体操，产生了几个想法，而且感觉是在国内舆论环境下不可能形成的想法。首先，奥运与政治。尽管之前一直在谈奥运与政治无关。但事实雄辩的证明的，奥运可以和“郑智”无关，但却无法和政治脱钩。国家花那么大的力气和成本去争取金牌榜的第一，肯定不是为了证明中国在更高、更快、更强的奥运之路上走的比美国更好。作为国家机器，奥运的政治目的显而易见，国家荣耀、民族向心力、以及综合国力的展示。写到这里想到了电影《角斗士》，罗马的议员们自己都认为，Rome is all about mob. 谁控制了这群mob，谁就掌握了Rome。于是，小恺撒上台后的第一件事就是恢复角斗士表演，想借此掌握民心。

沿着这个思路走下去，就有不少人认为这些都是共产党蛊惑人心的手段。我不是一个很关心政治的人，对所谓的政治手腕也没什么理解。只是在国外的环境下，你能有机会换个角度思考问题。我觉得我们不应该回避奥运无法和政治脱钩这一事实。但对于蛊惑人心，我倒是有另一种看法。我这一代人，从小到大受到的教育就是中国是一个拥有璀璨文明的历史大国，但是，我国在近代受到了前所未有的民族屈辱。于是，重塑中国应有的地位成了每个中国人的使命。在这样一种背景下，任何能够带来国家荣誉的事，都是对近代屈辱史的一种洗刷，都是重新树立国家地位一个进步。于是，我们史无前例的登上了金牌榜的首位。于是，中国人成了世界上最痴迷于“世界第一高楼，世界第一大坝，亚洲第一高塔，世界第三大斜拉桥。。。。。。”的国家。不错，我们现在正处在这样一个阶段，我们需要这些第一来重塑我们的信心。但是，我们总需要move on的吧。只有到哪天，即使我们不是金牌榜第一，但每个人依旧相信我们是世界上数一数二的体育强国的时候，那才是真正的强大。

令一个想法是关于金牌和代价。我们的金牌榜第一是用什么代价换来的？奥运开赛之初，美国队横扫了某击剑项目的金、银、铜。然而，真正强大的是三位奖牌的获得者分别是Duke的freshman，Yale的二年级生，和Notre dame的学生。他们奥运会后，就回去上学了。击剑还是一个不太受关注的项目，如果是体操、游泳什么的美国强势项目，运动员的处境更好。相比之下，看看中国的体操选手，尤其是女子体操。撇开她们有没有到16岁的法定年龄不谈。I don't think they have a life other than gymnasium.她们为所谓的国家荣誉牺牲的太大。It is kinda of joking, but I highly doubt if there is any guy who wants to date anyone from the girl gymnasium team. BTW,  whoever is in charge of putting the make-up on the girls did an awful job and should be fired for no excuse. More than one American has come to me to verify if that is how Chinese girls put on make-ups. That, my friend, is a huge national humiliation. Anyway,体操还算是我们的受关注项目，那些举重、射击什么的估计都更惨不忍睹了。确实，现阶段我们需要通过各种手段给我们带来国家荣誉；但用那些15，16岁的小女孩的一生来做代价，是不是太奢侈了一点。

I am a Chinese, and I always will be. I love the country with my full heart and I really make it a big part of my life. Good luck, China!