China has a special holiday and it is Chinese New Year! I got a lot of Red packets. In the Red packets there were a lot of money. I got about ten Red packets!
Also people here plays a lot of firecracker! It was to loud that I could not hear the TV!
My brother and I were playing fireworks.
I have a lot of yumy food, too!
The journey was tiring and long!
A few days ago we just arrived back at Weinan and my aunt wanted us to climb up Hua Mountain together. Hua Mountain was one of the top five most famous mountains in China. Lots of people climb from the bottom at night and in the morning they would see the sunset. Then, they would climb down again and ride the cable car down the mountain. My whole family, two cousins, aunt, uncle and his chaffuer went with me. We got to the place and rode on the cable car up almost halfway. Then, we climbed up the mountain. It was tiring and amazing. We were above the clouds and below it was cold and up here the sun was shining down on us. After a little while, one of my cousin couldn’t go anymore. She was almost five years old so my aunt, uncle and his chaffuer stayed with her. That left my other cousin, and my whole family. I was sick the other day so I didn’t have much energy, but I still made it to the top. It looked scary. Finally, we hurried down and rode the cable car back.
The highest peak of the Hua Mountain is 7069.88 feet.The view of the mountain is gorgeous.
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Have you ever watched the monkey king? If you have, you would love to hear about this place.
It was the second day at the hotel and after breakfast we decided to go to the big wild goose pagoda. The place was about the monkey king’s master. The monkey king’s master was a monk and he was a real person. The people who believed in buddism believed that the monk was doing a really good deed. The monk traveled and got some scriptures from India and was in the big wild goose pagoda translating the scriptures. Now people were visiting it and going to the top of the big wild goose pagoda. When I was going to the top with my family, the stairs were super steep and narrow, but I got to the top! I saw some burned bones in the big wild goose pagoda because people believed that they had special powers.
I also have some souvenirs!
Looking down from the top of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda
While we were staying in the Xian for three days,we visited some sites. My dad came to China already so he was with us. The first one we visited was the city wall. It was a smaller version of the great wall of China. We were with a friend and she went with us to the city wall.
Have you ever lived in a hotel that is rated five stars? l have! It was really cool.
A few days ago l was in my grandma’s house and then my mom started packing up. I asked her what was going on and she said my brother, sister, and I were going with her to a hotel in Xi’an to visit some sites.
We got into a car and my uncle’s chauffeur drove us to a hotel in Xi’an. The hotel was super big when we got there. We went in and luggage men carried our luggage into the hotel. The hotel was huge!
It was called Sheraton Hotel. My mom thought it was called Hilton Hotel. I asked my mom if the hotel was rated five stars, and she said it was. I wasn’t surprised.
Chandeliers hung on almost every ceiling. Even the elevator had a chandelier!
We went into our room and my mom told us that our dad was going to join us soon. We were really excited.
We were going to live there for three days so I could look around. The hotel had furniture in the lobby, but it costs money to sit down. There was also a pool table and you had to pay one hundred Chinese Yuan an hour to play. There was a swimming pool on the fifth floor and we had to buy swimming hats to swim, but the good thing was that it was free! When my dad, brother, and I went into the swimming pool, I saw a ping-pong table. We finished swimming and asked the manager if we could play Ping-Pong. The manager said we had to pay a hundred Yuan an hour.
There was also a cafeteria. The cafeteria was also huge. I ate lunch there once with my mom, brother, and sister. My mom had to pay almost three hundred Chinese Yuan! The breakfast was an all- you-can-eat breakfast. There were a Chinese style, a Japanese style, and a American style. We ate there every day. The food was really good.
Mcdonald in China is really different from America’s Mcdonalds.
It happened when I went into a Mcdonald’s restaurant and waited while my mom, a friend, and my brother went shopping. I waited in a Mcdonalds restaurant and looked around. The restaurant was pretty different from the ones in America. The Mcdonald I saw in China was about three times bigger than Americas’ Mcdonalds, and still people didn’t have much space! My dad saw a poster on the wall of a hamburger, and the hamburger had mushrooms in it! China restaurants are weird compared to America, but chinese people like them!
I saw most people left their dishes on the tables after finishing eating even though there was the sign on the wall.
Have you ever heard about mushroom hambrger?
Chinese do not worry about seatbelts! We can either wear seatbelts or not. China’s color is mostly orange and brown! There are a lot of people in China, too!
I like China’s candy. The candy in China is really sweet! It is really fun in China! China is really fun because there are lots of parks. I’ve been to a playground in a neighborhood.
We stayed at a hotel in Xian for three days! The hotel had free breakfast, and a swimming pool! We climbed the city wall and we visited the Big Wild Goose Pagoda! I also climbed to the top of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda!
It was a long trip! My baby sister, brother, mom, and I got up at 6 o’clock and flew to Seattle, then waited for almost four hours to board the flight to Beijing. It was a 11 hour flight. After arriving at the Beijing airport, we spent 2 hours checking out luggage and looking for a place to rest, then slept for about 3 more hours in a transfer center. Finally, we boarded our last flight and slept all the way from Beijing to Xian. We took another hour in a car to arrive at our grandma’s apartment in Weinan. By then, it was 2 o’clock in the morning in China, and 10 o’clock in the morning in America. The whole trip was more than 24 hours!
After 3 days living in my grandma’s place, I was really amazed at the difference between America and China. One difference is that China has lots of people. I’ve been at China five times and it was always really weird when there was suddenly a lot of people. Another reason is how you sit in the car. My aunt, cousin, and a friend picked us up from the airport in Xian in a five-seat car. There were seven people in all, so my brother sat on my lap, and my sister sat on my aunt’s lap. My aunt said it was okay, and we didn’t need to wear the seatbelts! My mom also said that they don’t recycle. The air was so polluted that some people wear masks to cover their mouths. I could barely see any trees and it looked like the whole place was painted orange and brown. Their roads and sidewalks are uneven and dusty. The overall environment is definitely not as good as that in Oregon, but I didn’t care because I have a lot of relatives to keep me company, and I feel safe and spoiled!
9月30号是中秋。也是个星期天。这是我在美国度过的第16个中秋节。要不是同事提醒我都忘了。也没当一回事。华人社团组织的中秋晚会都没有报名参加。也没有提前买月饼。到周六时想着应该买盒月饼，谁知到了附近的一个中国店，竟然被告知月饼早卖完了。只好晚上专门去日本店一趟，盒装的月饼没有了，只好买了最后剩下的四个散装月饼。
到了中秋这天，早上和孩子一起吃了月饼，也没有觉得有什么特别。好像这只是平平常常的一天。中午躺在床上正要睡觉，被一个电话吵醒，竟然再也睡不着了。迷迷糊糊就开始想起家人，想起我在美国度过的第一个中秋节。不觉泪流满面，竟然放声哭起来。
我先想起2010年带着三个孩子回中国。二姐陪着我带着10个月的欣欣去长春参加同学聚会。一路上姐姐带着孩子，让我放心地去玩。聚会之后我们直接从北京返回美国。那是早上6点多的航班。我们住在机场附近的宾馆。姐姐一直收拾我的行李到半夜。然后我们在早上4点就被叫醒准备去候机厅了。来到候机厅，很快就办完检票手续。还有一些时间。我不想早进登机处，就躺在凳子上歇一会儿。忽然就想起自己为什么要这么折腾，半夜三更赶飞机，去一个远离家人的国度，就伤心起来。美国好，什么都好，就是离家人太远。这种离愁在年轻时不曾当回事儿，到了四十不惑的年龄，就由不得自己了。想起自己在年少时是多么桀骜不驯，一点也不恋家。到如今每到逢年过节时，都是深深的思念和伤感。
我又想起我的已去8年的父亲。他是那么爱自己的女儿，可是他又是那么无私，毅然决然地支持我考研究生和出国留学，虽然他有足够的理由挽留我在他的身边。在我来美国近四年毕业后，终于可以让父母来探亲。那是2000年的5月底，看到久别后父亲消瘦的面庞，我很是吃惊。原来父亲已有糖尿病好几年，但一直没有告诉我。我知道家人对我从来都是报喜不报忧的，包括1989年二哥出车祸的那次，我暑假回西安时才得知二哥已离去三个多月了。这次来美国，父亲的兴致特别高，他对美国的一切都新奇和赞赏，为自己的女儿骄傲。他说美国的绿卡和中国的户口是一个道理，只不过比中国的户籍制度更合理。他期待者有一天能长期和我生活在这片土地上。他在这里住了一年，每天给我做地道的家乡饭，回去之前还给我做了满满一冻箱的包子和饺子。在离开自己的故土四年后，在这片遥远的国度，有自己的亲人在身边，加上那段时间是从法学院苦读之后刚考过律师，我的欢快的心情无以言表。现在想来那段时间真是我在美国最快活满足的一段日子。
父亲的第二次来美是在一年半后， 2002年的秋天。这次是因为然然的出生。他们在美国住了一年半。2003年的春节那天我们还抱着两个多月的然然去照了全家福的相片，夏天又买了房子。那年冬天波特兰下起了多年罕见的大雪。大家一个礼拜都没法上班了。我们点起壁炉，围坐在一起连看刘老根，享受着来之不易的天伦之乐。这次父亲的身体愈发瘦弱下来。临回国前几个月，他常常不舒服，但还是强忍着早上起来给我做饭。他拒绝去看西医，怕太贵。他让我给他买机票回去看病。终于有一天半夜他摔倒了。我们叫来了救护车，送他去急诊。所幸抢救及时，他的十二指肠溃疡出血得到及时救治。之后我们发现他的头那天也被摔出了内伤，还带他去做了一次头部手术。父母在2004年4月回去了。谁知8月就接到姐姐的电话，说父亲得了肝癌，没有多少时间了。我在惊恐中匆匆订了机票准备回国。谁知竟然在慌张中误了飞机。于是又连忙买了新票直飞回去。在北京回西安的飞机又被延误，我真是怕这一次次的延误让我见不到父亲最后一面，心急火燎，与机场的工作人员大吵起来。终于连程赶到大姐家。父亲看到我兴致极高，说还以为再也见不到我一面了。我看到父亲皮包骨头和疼痛的样子，真是欲哭不能。父亲的日子已经指日可数了。我们谈起他在美国与我们度过的日子，他说“哪真是好日子！”在他临走的前几天，他已经知道自己得了癌症，他让我回美国，要看我的机票，说不要因为他耽误了我的工作和绿卡申请。我骗他说我的绿卡都批下来了。而且我也订了回程机票是10月12号的。其实我的绿卡还没有下来，我的返乡证是10月13号到期，我必须在10月12号回去，否则我的绿卡申请就是自动放弃了。2004年10月11 号，这个世界上最爱我的人和我最爱的人离我而去了。我感到很轻松，因为他再也不需要经受病痛的折磨了。永远的遗憾是我没有参加父亲的葬礼，因为那个该死的绿卡。
我又想起了我的大姐。她大我14岁，就像我的妈妈。我生巍巍和欣欣时都是她来照顾我的。每次都呆六个月。在这六个月里，她从来不让我干厨房的活。临走时总是做满满一冻箱的包子和饺子。有一次登机的那天上午还赶着给我做窗帘。我知道她的经济不宽裕，在第一次临走时，我给她了三千美金。她走后，我发现她留在我床头柜里一部分钱，并留了一个便条，叮嘱我不要太累，用这些钱找保姆多来家里干活帮忙。今年三月大姐又来了，是因为我要做皮肤癌的手术。她忙到临走的前两天，有一天蒸了八锅包子给我冻存起来。我很内疚这次来竟然都没有多陪陪大姐上街购物，就那么匆匆地把她送走了。
这就是亲情。八月十五让我泪流满面的骨肉亲情。
记得在中国西北航空公司工作时，曾经历了1994年的六六空难。一架Tu-154飞机在从西安起飞时坠落在长安县。我作为处理空难的工作人员之一曾到现场去救援。其实没有什么好救援的。一百多号人全部丧生。其中有10多个机组人员，包括几个熟识的同事或其家属。我在现场忍不住抽泣起来，竟被旁观者问是不是有我的家人在飞机上。
后来的几个月里，我和几个同事进驻西安榴花宾馆参与遇难机组家属的接待和处理工作。目睹了生者的悲伤，以及个别空难家属为争夺抚恤金上演的一出出丑剧。单身受难者的情况比较单一，家人和朋友都是悲泣而来，悲泣而去。有妻儿子女的受难者的家属就复杂一些了。其中有一个遗孀和公婆争起来空难抚恤金，不可开交。直让人感叹人情的淡薄。在那段时间里，我常常想，意外的死亡对于死者来说真是一件令人遗憾的事。如果一个人能知道自己的生命什么时候终止，并为之做好准备，那真是一件幸事！
时空飞转到2012年1月18日的美国波特兰。晚上查电话留言时我发现我的医院Kaiser的皮肤科给我留了一个言，让我尽早回电话。我立即感到一身透凉。1月初在年检时我顺便让医生看我头上的一个疤痕，有20多年了，最近总是容易流血，也痒。医生让我去看皮肤科。几天前我去医院皮肤科检查，医生问我有没有家族皮肤癌的历史，说我头上的疤像是一个受刺激的疣，没有关系。他用简单的方法处理了一下，然后说，“样本送去化验，如果没有问题，就给你寄封信。如果有问题，就给你打电话。”
接到留言的那天我立即给医院打电话，但已经下班了。我按捺不住地想，糟了，我得皮肤癌了。于是很后悔这么多年竟没有在意自己头上有一块疤。后悔１０年前没有听理发师的提醒，让我不要掉以轻心检查一下。后悔２０１０年夏天在中国曾让医生看了一下，医生建议冬天再处理，而我竟拖了近两年才把此事提上议事日程。然后就忍不住想，如果我被判刑得了癌症，那么我是不是该换个活法了？首先不能这么累，别上班了，然后，然后…
朦朦胧胧睡到天亮，急忙准备小孩上学，想着到办公室的第一件事就是给医生打电话。不料在开车去办公室的路上竟然接到医院的电话。电话很简洁“化验结果显示你得了一种皮肤癌”，我急忙把车停到路边，问那怎么办，护士说需要立即切除，需要我尽早去医院拍照。我说这就去。在此后十几分钟的开车途中，我禁不住悲从中来，想起三个小孩就要没有妈妈了，想起我的家人会多么伤心失去我，想起自己到底是该葬在美国呢还是中国呢，当脑海中出现姐姐伤心的表情时我竟然呜呜地哭起来。我还不断地问自己到底这剩下的日子该怎么过？不禁想应该找教会的主教谈谈，看怎么才能平静地度过我最后的日子，然后进天堂。
到了医院，护士给拍了照，说一两天就有人会联系我做手术的事。我赶紧回到办公室，给医生发邮件，问我的癌是不是 melanoma （最严重的一种皮肤癌）。并赶紧上网查询皮肤癌的各种类型和治疗方法。在焦急等待医生回信时，又后悔自己几年前曾给两个研究皮肤病的博士办过绿卡，了解和收集了很多皮肤癌的资料和信息，竟然没有对自己头上的疤痕在意。后悔又是一年过去了，我的人身保险还没有买，本来算计好如果自己早走要给孩子留下一笔财富的。好了，这下有癌症了，没有保险公司会卖给我人身保险了。这么多年都是在为别人忙碌，把自己的事一拖再拖。现在真是后悔莫及呀！
再看看办公桌上那么厚的两个案卷，真是头疼。算了，我现在哪有心思去给别人做嫁衣。我应该带小孩子去图书馆听故事唱歌了。小女儿欣欣每天都哭着不让我走，要我带她去图书馆听故事，去游泳，可我总是把客户的事情放在第一位，真是后悔。现在统统都靠边站，我要多在家陪陪孩子了。于是开始联系一个同事，准备把棘手的案子转给她做。发誓从此再也不接大案子了，我的生活方式要有彻底的变化了。
终于等到了医生的回信，说我的癌不是最严重的那种。是最常见的那种皮肤癌，90%以上的患者一旦切除就可恢复。于是颇感侥幸，但愿我是这90%之内的患者。又担心我拖了20多年才切除，不会因为拖这么久把我归到少数无法恢复的行列吧。算了，不管这些了，就当我没有几天活头了，我应该做我最想做的事情，而不是把自己的利益放在最后一位。
三点去学校把巍巍接回来，准备给孩子做饼干。我一直很内疚没有常常给孩子做甜点。现在是时候了，不能再拖了。我一边准备一边想，以后的每一天都可能是我的最后一天，我一定不能浪费。于是孩子闹的时候，我也耐心对付，想我还能爱他们几天呢？晚上睡觉时，专门去亲亲两个儿子道晚安，想以后每天都应该这样。欣欣不好好睡觉，折腾到半夜，我还是耐心地陪她，想着小女儿最可怜，以后找不到妈妈了怎么办…
到如今已经是接到那个恐怖电话的第三天了，还在惴惴的等医院的电话安排。禁不住想，其实人如果知道自己的生命什么时候终止也未必是件好事。不管怎样，爱自己，珍惜过好自己的每一天才是正道。
