I visited China three years ago and had a very good time. I was expecting it to be very different from the United States, but I wasn't prepared for exactly what some of the differences would be. But when I first arrived, I felt kind of nervous. I couldn't help but notice how strange some things seemed! The squat toilets at the Chengdu airport, the smog, and even the way the buildings looked was unusual.I had travelled to other countries before (Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, Ecua ...
Today , archeologists can learn about the past by studying objects. We have some of the bones that Shang dynasty emperors used to make predictions. There are letters that soldiers sent home from wars. Even everyday things like old train tickets have interest for someone. Historians and archeologists can learn about life in the past by looking at physical objects. Today, we use computers and the internet for many things. These do not leave a record; if the computer breaks, the information is lost ...
Route 66 is a famous American road. Well, it's not officially a highway anymore, but you can still see parts of it.Back in the mid twentieth century it was an important route between Chicago and Los Angeles. Poor farmers from Oklahoma drove it to California to find work. Vacationing families travelled on it. A guy named Bobby Troupe wrote a song about it that was recorded by popular singer Nat King Cole. Many interesting attractions were built along its route. My dad and I have taken it ho ...
I have heard that many Chinese people think all Western food is the same. However, we Westerners can tell the difference between Italian, French, British, and other kinds of food fairly easily. Even in different parts of America certain dishes are more common. For example, Grits are popular in the southeast, but not many other places. I have heard that New England also has it's own unique food items. Certainly, these differences are not always as significant as the differences between Chinese re ...
Leaving Taft, we passed through the Cuyama Valley and reached the ocean near Santa Barbara Here is a map of the trip, except for the boring parts (to and from the Los Angeles area)
The next day, we crossed Death Valley and went to a ghost town called Cerro Gordo. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there was a lot of mining there. It went through a few periods of growth and decline before it became mostly abandoned. There was actually a bed and breakfast (a type of hotel) there until 2009. Now there is a full time caretaker who maintains the main buildings. Recommended listening: "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_X ...
A few days ago, my Dad and I went on a trip in which we crossed California from East to West. We passed through dry deserts, fertile valleys, and mountains before reaching the ocean. Our first night was in Death Valley Junction. It was built as a railroad town about a hundred years ago. Trains carrying things mined in Death Valley itself would come in from the west. Their cargo would then be put on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, which would take it to a more important railroad on which it ...
I know this is a bit late, but I want to show pictures of the traditional American Thanksgiving meal I enjoyed last Thursday. Rolls: Cranberry Sauce: Yams, or maybe Sweet Potatoes: Mashed Potatoes: Stuffing: And Turkey, of course! My plate:
I believe that no God or gods exist. There is currently no evidence to support the existence of deities, and quite a bit of evidence that none are needed to bring about a world such as our own, with diverse species and some intelligent life. I am willing to change my mind if there were scientifically provable evidence of a God or gods. This is different from agnostics, who believe that God cannot be proven or disproven. I did not have an especially religious upbringing. I went to wed ...
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