chick-a-o

I was very excited to visit Chicago, one of the biggest cities in the US. And there, I were.

Sears Tower is the first place we went in Chicago. I thought it’s weird to stand on the glass floor but I did it and it made me feel like I can fly…1450 feet height above Chicago city.

The Field Museum displays thousands wonderful objects. I love taking pictures and I got hundreds of pictures from the museum…

There’s the word “water” in Thai!!

Ahh!! Thanks God for giving me the chance to watch “The Blue Man Show” Although I had never heard about them, their advertisements are so impressive that I told myself I shouldn’t miss such a crazitive (crazy+creative) show.

Bad news, I couldn’t record VDO clip with my personal camera during the show because I would be ejected out of the theater automatically by their ejecting machine installed in the chair…haha

Worse news, after the show, I need to go to the bathroom in hurry and the line was so long.

Worst news, when I got out of the bathroom, I found that it’s too late for me to take a photo with the blue man. I took too much time in the bathroom that the wicked blue man didn’t wait for me. T-T All my friends could take (at least) a photo with him except me.

Anyway, Eng Hwa was so kind that he share me the BLUE color he got from the blue man…Thanks, Eng Hwa!

Art Institute is marvelous! It’s filled with various types of art in almost every century. I wish I had more time to spend inside the museum so that I can appreciate the beauty of all pictures more.

and as you can see, my models are awesome!! J

We (actually, it’s only Eng Hwa) did wanna see the statue of Micheal Jordan, so we took the bus to the United Center. When we reached there, the fences’re closed but we squeezed between two fences and I was about to do something embarrassing…about the bathroom (again :P) If you want more detail, please feel free to call me..haha….I think I was a VIP in that moment, anyway. : ))

We took a walk around the Chicago City in the second night. These generous old lady and gentleman told us the direction to the United Center...Angels in the big city.

---Navy Pier, I’ll see you again! That’s not because of the fairy wheels or mascots but it’s because the Shakespeare’s Theater there. I found an advertisement about Aladdin the Musical performed throughput these two months. But, my trip there was too short, I don’t have enough time to witness that fantastic show on the next day…

Kluai Buad Chee - Bananas in Coconut Milk

Klui Buad Chee is one of my favorite dessert. It's easy for you to cook, and pleasant for you to eat.

My grandma is the best Kluai Buad Chee cook. When I's young, there usually be a party that we (my family and relatives) gather in my house and Kluai Buad Chee cooked by my grandma is always the major interest of the party because it's the greatest Kluai Buad Chee we've ever had. I used to ask her the secret of cooking such wonderful sweet and the answer is "Just put great attention to it." Below is how you can easily cook it...don't forget to put your great care to make it done!

Ingredients:

2 bananas
2 1/2 cup of coconut milk
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preparation:

1. Cut bananas into pieces.
2. Heat coconut milk until hot.
3. Put all pieces of bananas into hot coconut milk.
4. When bananas are cooked, add sugar and salt.

Note:

I've heard that bananas can be substituted by potatoes. I haven't tried it yet, so please let me know if it works. (=

Hmong--an important part of the US.

I've just learned at the English Table that there're many of Hmong people living in WI and some of them still speak Laos and maintain thier tradition. I's very surprised about that and it's more surprising that my (future) roommate in the fall semester is a Laotian-American!

In Jasmine's class, I learned more about Hmong people and culture and she gave us an assignment expressing my point of view towards the given picture or the poem.

The picture shows us the sufficiency of Hmong people. They enjoy thier simple life, growing plants, rasing domestic animals and even making the traditional clothes. Hmong means free people and their lives are also free, free of any facilitators. And they seem to be happy with their simple life with environmental friendliness.

The poem is pretty interesting for me. The writer can effectively convey his father's (and also the other Hmong's) struggle to be alive and free. There're many difficulties they faced and finally, they can survive in the free land, the United States.

Anyway, the first stanza brings me a question. As I dreamed to be a teacher, I questioned that...can this poem used as one of the material in the class (espacilly in the elementary school)? With the sentence..."We're from an uncivilized world. Laos, it was called"..., students might be instilled the negative thought about Laos and China (as it's mentioned in the history). Is this fair?

So, it's the teacher's role to clarify, I think. Ah, being a teacher's such a tough work..phew!

Trip to Madison, WI

On Thursday, Eng Hwa and I visited Dr. Lang, my host from Conversation and Cuisine Program. She's got a lovely house and cute children. We talked about Wisconsin in the past and Mr. David, Dr. Lang's husband told us that the school we went to at the Chippewa Valley Museum is originally located in the other place. He also showed us where it used to be. It's at the corner pointed to.

The next day, I went to Madison, Wisconsin's capital city. We went to the State Street which is very crowded and full of reasonable price goods. Is everything sold there on sale everyday, I'm wondering. To be honest, it reminds me of weekly market in Thailand which I thought there never be such market in the US. but it's proofed now that there is! One different things that the markets in Thailand don't have is..the performances.


















The Dairy Farm brings me many awesome experiences..I milked the cow, fed the calves and llama and drive the tractor!! haha




















Look! What's Becky doing?

OMG!! (Chris taught me this abbreviation :P) The Capitol is off the hook. (Chris, again) Because of my weak English and the extreme beauty of the Capitol, I can't find any words to explain how gorgeous (Traci) it is. It's off the hook, anyway. Okie? (Becky)

Do you remember the room above? It's Wisconsin Supreme Court where there are 4 female justices and 3 male justices and the chief is here........(below)

I'm kind of feminist =)
And...the fossils are very impressive!!

The Excursion to Chippewa Valley Museum

I went to the Chippewa Valley Museum this weekend. At first, I thought I'ld be taken to such a boring place with old stuffs but when I reached, I found that those old stuffs are fantastic. Museum isn't boring anymore.

As I said, everything there is awesome, so it's difficult for me to choose 3 most impressive thing in the museum. Hmm...I still have to make choices, anyway.



The first : The School House
As I'm a student of Faculty of Education, the school house is the most impressive in the museum. I learned students' lives in Chippewa and many educational materials are displayed there. I like the poster for practicing pronunciation most but I apologize for not having the picture of it...my camera ran out of battery at the time we're in the school.

The second : Paul Bunyan and Babe..
I've read many weird tales about them so what I's looking forward to is...seeing them. Finally, I met them!!



The third : Grandpa's fridge
I know that everything has its own history but I never thought that the fridge used to be made of wood!
Question. If I didn't tell you that it's a fridge..do you think that it looks like a wardrobe?