2/9

I arrived at SF about 10:50, but immigration was very crowded because of the terrorism. There was made a strict check. As a result, when I could through immigration, it was about 12:30. A woman who is a teacher of LSI came to me and she drove me to my host family’s house. We drove through Bay Bridge and reached Kensington, where my new house is located. Kensington is a beautiful place where I can see SF bay. I think this place is safer than I had assumed. There are many very big beautiful houses. I met Joyce, whose daughter is the same age as me. Her daughter, Sara, also studies biology at University of California, Santa Cruz. I saw a picture of her; I think she is a beautiful girl. I gave my gift to Joyce, she ones of them are chopsticks which my mother and I made before I came to U.S.. After I talked about myself, I rested a little, and we ate a dinner. I liked sermon, which was very big and tasted good. My room is nice, I have my own table, chair and TV, and also I can get a beautiful view from the window.

2/10

Today, Joyce took me to LSI by car. I could understand the bus street. I think the bus is very useful here. We had an exam and orientation at LSI. There were 6 new people there, and five of them were Japanese and the one was Taiwanese. One of Japanese goes to the same university as me. I was surprised. After class, we went to UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley had a very big campus so we walked a lot. There were many students. It was a very hot day so everyone wore T-shirts of UC. We went to the library and we could also enter one of the campus building because Taiwanese student’s aunt is working there. I met her. We ate Chinese food for lunch and drank Star Backs Latte, you know. After I came back home, Joyce took me to her neighborhood's house. There I met man and woman. They are very good persons. The man, Ken, had lived in Japan for 8years, so he could speak Japanese very well. He had lived in Seijou, so he also knew my high school and my university. He graduated from ICU and went to Tokyo University. I talked with him a lot about Japan. He said he likes Fugu and he likes Ginza or Aoyama. I enjoyed talking very much.

2/11

Today, new class was begun. My class is 105. There were 11people in this class. It is a little difficult for me to follow the lesson. I had homework today. After class, we went to Mac for lunch, but it didn’t taste so good, in fact. After I came back, Joyce took me to the Mexican food shop. I ate brito for the first time. It tasted good. I liked it. Oh, also I ate a pizza on my way to come home. The name of the shop is “Cheese board correct Pizza”. It tasted like homemade pizza, so delicious. I plan to go again. I walked around near the home; there I could see beautiful cherry blossom trees. Now these cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

2/12

Today, we discussed law in class. I heard from Taiwanese student that they should go military camp to train in Taiwan. I heard about how they stayed there and I was very surprised. I went to 4th street after school. There were many cute shops around there, and I got a book and notebook. Unfortunately I got a rain, so I came back home. But I could not turn my key and I could not enter the room, thus I was very embarrassed. When Joyce came back, I told her about this, I could get a new key. I had a lot of homework today. I have to write an essay.

2/13

In the morning, I saw a beautiful rainbow at the bus stop. We discussed curfews in class. Most of people did not agree with the idea of making curfews. After school, we went to Telegraph Avenue and watched the shops. And we ate Vietnamese food. We chatted at Star Bucks in front of the University. We said good-bye at5: 30 and I waited for bus. However, bus has not come and I waited for 1hour. So, I called Joyce and she picked me. After I ate dinner, I went to shopping with Ken. He showed me a lot of new good shops. I bought some chocolate and cheese at Whole Food Market and also I bought a dictionary. He told me there is a lot of good Japanese restaurant in Berkeley, for example, Kirara, Ochame. Moreover, I could know there are beautiful theaters near my school, and on my way to school, there is nice cake shop. I want to go there someday.

2/14

Today is a Valentine’s Day. When I woke up, Joyce gave me some chocolate. I was very glad. Also, I got some chocolate in my class. We played a game in school. It is fun. It is just like feeling couple. After school we planed to go to SF this weekend. And we also made a reservation of Yosemite Tour. We decided to go to SF with 8 people and go to Alcatraz Island. We ate Cheese Board’s pizza. As I said before, it was very nice. And we bought cheese bread next door. Justin, who is a Taiwanese student, bought us a beautiful present. So we feel very happy. We took a picture there.

2/15

Today, I went to SF with my friend. First, I rode a cable car. It was vary crowded, so we rode standing on the step. It went up and down because SF is a town that has a lot of slopes. To my surprise, man turned the cable car using a rotary board. We got off the cable car and went to Lombard Street. It has so many curves. We saw the cars ran like a snake. Next, we went to Fisherman's Warf there we could watch a lot of street performers. Some are looks like robots because they were all over silver color. We also saw a man handled a dog at pier 39. It was so fanny. We ate a whole crab at pier 41. I saw many people eating sour do bread. It looked like delicious. We will try next time. Then, we went to Golden Gate Bridge by bus. On our way to go there, we dropped in Ghirardelli Square, which was the site of chocolate factories. It has a famous chocolate shop. Anyway, we arrived at fort point, where we could see a bridge just like a postcard. We took a picture there. It was a so big and beautiful bridge. I have never seen such a pretty bridge like that. I would like to cross a bridge by bicycle. Maybe I can rent a cycle in Fisherman's Warf. After that, we went back Powell Street, but it took a lot of time, because today was a new years day in China Town. Many people were waiting for a parade. I heard that there took place some dragon show. However, we got rain, so we came back. We will go SF tomorrow, too. I want to visit some shops in Union Square.

2/16

Today, we went to Alcatraz with my 8 friends, including Taiwanese and Korean. We went to Pier 41 to get a boat by Bart and bus. There was a site of a prison in Alcatraz Island. But now there was a beautiful place. I heard that most atrocious criminals would have been sent to jail, such as Al Capone. I felt fear because I heard some people tried to escape from prison and they killed many guards. In spite of having such a dreadful prison, we could see Golden Gate Bridge, SF city, Bay Bridge and colorful flowers there. After, we came back pier 41, we ate Cram Chauder, which I wanted to eat. It tasted sour. Immediately after we finished eating, we also ate very big ice cream.I chose Macadamia-nuts ice cream and it tasted good. Next, we saw many seals. The number of seals is about 200 or 300. So many people were watching seals fight. It looked like Smou. After that, we went shopping and I bought T-shirts. I enjoyed very much today. On the other hand, there held a big peace march at Market Street in SF. My host mother and her daughter also participated in a march. This purpose was to against the war and seek a peace. I noticed many people in SF do not agree with the war. They disliked Bush. Everyone expected the march to be peace. But unfortunately, there occurred a violent accident at evening. According to the news, some people and policemen were injured. I think that it was so terrible thing. I was relieved because I came back at Berkeley early.