My life in the US

Today is important to me because I had a meeting with Takeo Suzuki, who is the executive officer of international student office. And because I have got my first internship, I am sitting here to write about myself. 

Coming to Fort Smith was my father’s idea, but I really like it. Here is the place where I spent my first winter, enjoyed the heavy snow, and joined Vietnamese club with so many activities. And I loved it.

When I first came to UAFS, my first impression was the huge and beautiful campus. I was also informed that more than one thousand species of plants are planted in the campus. That sounds interesting to me. I came to UAFS last Fall semester, and it is almost one year and a half. When I first took my classes, I knew that my favorite part is Balman Spear building, where I am spending most of my time on the assignments, which are called "creatively abstract works". 

Here, I can enjoy making funny stuffs. My favorite classes are 2D and 3D design. I took 2D last Spring semester, and it was funny since we made a lot of cutting paper designs. 3D is about making sculpture, and I am taking this Fall semester.

Can you guess which one is mine since I am Vietnamese?

One thing I wish I could have done before coming to the US is learning English. The plan of studying abroad came to me when I finished high school in Vietnam. No preparation of English, all I have was my dream, which I had when I was a child, came true. Thus, my father had to send me to Singapore to get the foundation of English. Six months studying in Singapore, got the accepted letter, came the US, and spent four months in ELS, it seemed to be so fast and not enough for me to communicate with American people. However, I love the time when I was in ELS, and these dark skin and crazy Saudi guys were so friendly.

 This is the trip with ELS students to Memphis, hometown of Elvis Presley.

There are many surprising stuffs such as: no skyscraper or subway, squires, and gun ownership. My host has a gun in her wardrobe, and I just do not know which wardrobe is in her bedroom. She may shoot me if I do something wrong. That is scary.  

I also have a lot of misunderstanding. For example, when my host said “Don’t let the bug bed bite,” and smiled at me, I did not understand. “Don’t let the bug bed bite” is an American slang for good night, and it became not funny at all when she had to stop and explain it to me. One more thing is we have many rugs for cleaning up the kitchen, but one is never used. She said: “It is a beautiful fabric” not a rug, and she just hangs it there for decoration. I have no idea with her.

During the first year, I have learned about Christmas gifts. Christmas seems to be an important American event, and one of my friends suggested me buying a gift for my host. I bought her a status of a Snowman, and she really loved it. She also gave me some biscuits, a scarf, and some warm clothes. This year, she gave me a hat and two pair of gloves. She wanted them to be given in the Christmas Eve, but it is getting cold now. Thus she wants me to have something to cover my “empty head”.   

One of the restaurants I really like is Golden dragon. It is the Chinese buffet in Fayetteville. My favorite food are crawfish, crabs, sushi, and clams. Another good one is Green Papaya, a Vietnamese restaurant. Fried rice on Midland is also my favorite one.

My proudest accomplishment was my shadow puppet in 2D class last semester. When I first got the idea, I asked my instructor how to make it. He responded: “You need to find the way by yourself.” Finally, somehow, it was done and I was so proud of it. 

Now the answer is