The Exchange - National Committee on United States-China Relations

TRAVELING
Trips to Remember
Zhang Ling
Many teachers travel during their
vacations. Zhang Ling visited
Califormia and Arizona with Margaret
Bergeson, New Mexico with Mark
Overmeyer and Dennis Molitor, and
New Orleans with a former classmate
from China.
This title suddenly came into my mind
when I was watching the movie “An
Affair to Remember” with my eyes full
of tears and my mouth full of popcorns.
I have had such wonderful trips during
the year which I think I’ll never forget,
so why not share with others
California
On the small plane to Santa Barbara,
the old lady sitting beside me tried to
persuade me to buy a house and settle
down in Santa Barbara. She said Santa
Barbara was the only place a pretty girl
should live in. Amused by this kind
lady, I began my trip in California, which
later made me believe maybe she was
right!
Margaret drove me along the coast and
I fell in love with California immediately.
<strong>The</strong> coastline was so beautiful,
especially at dusk, as evening fell, the
ocean and the sky shared the same blue
color, with red clouds scattered around.
On our way to Santa Barbara, up and
down the green green mountains, the
scenery was breath-taking. And Santa
Barbara itself is a small heaven: the white
Spanish mission (founded in 1786), the
red roofs, the green trees, and the
mountains with snow on top as
background. No city noise, just a small,
neat place where people can find peace.
It’s actually a prominent vacation city
and its Spanish origin is reflected in its
many white-washed, tile-roofed
buildings and street names.
San Francisco is another lovely city.
Many of the houses are like those in
fairy tales and the streets are so steep.
<strong>The</strong> Golden Gate Bridge and
Fishermen’s Wharf are of course places
of great interest. But my favorite part
is the old-fashioned cable car. It was
such fun to stand on the pedal, see the
street sight clearly and feel the wind
blowing on my face while going up and
down the hilly streets! I also love
Exploratoreum. It’s a science museum
where kids can try to do experiments
themselves. For each item, the museum
gives “Try this” instructions and then
explains “What’s going on” or “Why
does it happen” in easy language.
Difficult scientific theories have been
put into simple, interesting experiments
or models so that kids can get
knowledge easily and quickly.
Another must-see is the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art. <strong>The</strong> whole
building itself is a piece of art. In the
new Public Library, we saw a wall
covered with old catalogue cards on
which people copied several sentences
from various books. I even found some
Chinese handwriting. I had a great time
in San Francisco, and the chocolate of
Ghirardelli was so good!
Zhang Ling on the San Francisco cable car
Meanwhile, I don’t like Los Angeles
very much. It didn’t give me a good
first impression when we saw the smog
around the city on our way. And
Hollywood is disappointing. Yet, Getty
Center, which Margaret showed me
around, is gorgeous! In 1983 the J. Paul
Getty Trust purchased about 750 acres
in the foothills of the Santa Monica
Mountains. <strong>The</strong> following year, after
an international search, Richard Meier
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