Saturday, March 4, 2017

Do as the Romans Do

                                                                   Do As The Romans Do

I have thought that I could live well in a short time when I arrived in Chicago. Apparently, I was wrong, especially in Chicago. When I arrived here in the first time, I saw the blue sky, a lot of amazing buildings and I felt excited, but no one ever told me that I would be lost something right behind these beautiful things. Since I moved to Chicago, I have never played badminton, eaten my favorite barbecue food at the food stalls at night or gone to the cyber cafe. For these reasons, I often feel bored in Chicago because I lost my favorite activities.

I don’t know if I should try something new in Chicago. In my hometown, XinHui, I could see many young and old people played badminton in the playgrounds at night. Before I came to Chicago, I played badminton with my friends two to three times a week. I like badminton because it does not require a very high level of physical fitness, and I do like the action which is called the smash shot. That make me feel so great if I use it and get a score. When I moved to Chicago, I didn’t play badminton anymore because of Chicago, also known as Windy City. I can’t imagine what it could be like if I play badminton in the wind. If I want to play it at night, I have to find an indoor badminton court which it is far from my home, and it takes a long time to get there. Even when I do go, I can’t play badminton for a long time and enjoy it because the court closed early and it full of people and crowded.

After I played badminton, I also went to the night markets with my friends in Xinhui. I still remember the lively night markets, people talked to each other and waited for the midnight snack at the food stalls. However, it seems like it won’t happen in Chicago. In the night markets, I could talk about that feeling of played badminton with my friends or what we did together before. We could laugh and talk to each other loudly. Even though there are some food stalls nearby the Chicago Riverwalk, and I can enjoy the surrounding scenery, but the atmosphere is different, many of these restaurants look very elegant,  if I laugh or talk loudly out there, it might be weird.

In addition to badminton and night markets, I also went to the cyber cafe with my best friends at night on the weekends. It was a place where I could relieve stress. Right there, I could forget some unhappy things, and I could play games with my friends to vent my frustrations. However, I can’t find the same kind of place in Chicago. Even though there is a cyber cafe which is called Ignite Gaming Lounge, it is expensive and it is not open 24 hours, I can’t play a long time out there with my friends, and I can’t find that feeling anymore.

Nothing in the world is immutable. Although I can’t do some activities as I did before, it doesn’t mean I can’t live well in Chicago. I believe that I can find some new and healthy activities in this city in the future, like playing tennis, riding a bike along the lake or camping with my friends. I need to do as the Romans do, begin a new journey of my life. Maybe one day I can build my own indoor badminton court and food stall in my backyard.

6 comments:

  1. "Although I can't do some activities as I did before, it doesn't mean I can't live well in Chicago." Mutual encouragement!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I got you Wanhua. I don't play badminton but my friends in Haiti used to play and we known some very good moments together.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rhyman, have you ever visit Roman? If not, you should travel to Roman and explore it. However, I usually play badminton with my friends and family since I moved to Chicago :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. In China, I often play badminton with my family on weekends. Badminton is one of the health activity. When I came to the United States and I also continued to play badminton in the summer, which means my summer more fulfilling

    ReplyDelete
  5. In China, I often play badminton with my family on weekends. Badminton is one of the health activity. When I came to the United States and I also continued to play badminton in the summer, which means my summer more fulfilling

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like your topic "do as the Romans do", and is a good thing you've decided to do something new because, so far as you're still in this country, you have to be fluent with everything here.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.