"Night Cafe" by Van Gogh

Art gallery is a place I try to avoid wherever I go, which partly explains why I didn't go to Yale University Art Gallery until today.

The moment I stepped into the Art Gallery, I was amazed by the tranquility.  There were visitors but they were very quiet and in good order.  I brought a cup of tea with me and was kindly reminded I could put in the locker.  The receptionist at the information desk offered me a quarter coin to use the locker.  

There were special exhibition, sculptures, modern decorations, oil paintings... Security personnel in uniforms stood straight, watching over any behavior that might destroy the atmosphere for enjoyment. I walked up and down and quickly finished half of the gallery without knowing where I was in the building.

Then I came to the Indo-Pacific Art.  A beautiful girl was explaining something to a tour group.  She had a beautiful smile and sweet voice.  I couldn't help standing behind them and listening to her interpretation.  They were trying to figure out the decoration of a work and the tour members actively reported that they saw women, animals, vines... in the work.

 That was interesting, far more interesting than I looked blankly at those masterpieces for a while and had to admit that I practically saw nothing.  The tour guide invited me to join them.  I was very happy and carried a folding chair to follow them.  Along the way, Carly,the girl, told us what to expect, how to find the originality of different artistic work, the special settings of various exhibition section, stairwalls inside the building.

Then, we came to this oil painting.  It was named "Night Cafe", depicting the interior of a cafe in the 19th century. There was a half-curtained doorway in the center background leading, presumably, to more privare quarters.  And a waiter stands to one side of a billiard table near the center of the room, facing the viewer. Before pointing out the best part of the painting, Carly let us step forward and carefully examine the oil painting.  The tour members were extremely of artistic feelings and they said the paiting was special in its texture, and most noticeably, the use of color.  Green, red, and yellow contrast each other.  There is something strange with the painting.  All the guests in the cafe are not looking at the viewers, and they seem drunk. Carly said the paiting was made for the owner of the Cafe to whom Van  Gogh owed a lot of money.  A lady from the tour group talked about her feeling. "I see a lot of green in the paiting.  Green shows jealousy.  This paiting conveys the poor economic condition of Van Gogh and the fact that he envied the cafe owner."  We all laughed.  This could be a better way of feeling the paiting, giving them our own interpretations.

The tour impressed me a lot.  I think I will spend more time visiting this Yale Art Gallery.

Taking Pictures

As I was wandering the street in Yale University, several vistors ahead caught my eyes.  A couple, a boy of college age, and a girl in her twenties.  They were of Chinese origin. The couple were standing in front of a building, posing a picture for the girl who was holding her mobile.  

The lady saw me as I walked closer, she said in an exciting voice, "Could you take a picture for us?"  "OK," I replied.  The lady waved to the girl and boy to stand in line with them.  The girl gave me her mobile.  The four of them smiled beautifully.  I checked the view and said, "Stand a little apart from each other,and it'll be better."  They did so.  With a long "Cheers", I took three vertical pictures and another three horizontal ones.  They seemed so happy because they hadn't expect that I would be so considerate and they thanked me.

Traveling and taking pictures go hand in hand nowadays.  Without anyone to help with the pictures, we can only take selfies, which explains the popularity of selfie sticks.  I would like to have someone take more pictues of me so that it is more likely to find some better ones among several choices.

What Makes a Good Party?

What makes a good party?  This was the fluency writing topic in Kirk Hughes' class last Monday. At that moment I thought of a party more than a year ago.  The day before yesterday I had another great party.

After class in the afternoon, we headed for Dwight Street where my friends are living.  We would do a Chinese party in Yale, far away from home.  It meant a lot for all of us. Carrie and Siggy, our ELI teachers at Yale University were invited.  When we arrived, Marina, Cherry and Joyce were busy cooking.  Actually, I heard that they began preparing two days before. It was a three-bedroom apartment,very clean and cozy. The small kitchen seemed crowded with so many people.  Wherever I set my sight on, the table, cupboard, windowsills, refrigerator... I saw bowls, plates, containers full of food, some were prepared, some half-prepared.  And they were still washing, cutting, sorting, frying.

We gathered around the table in the sitting room. Linda was amazing. She kneaded dough.  Marina, Joyce and Marina already prepared dumpling stuff so that we could do jiaozi.  They didn't have rolling pin to make the dumpling wrapper.  But they were genius to find a long thin beer bottle to do instead.  I found it so amusing and volunteered to make the wrapper.  It was not as efficient as a real rolling pin. However, it did work!  Cecelia, Anna, Leoking, Junia and Linda couldn't wait to wrap the dumplings.   Four or five people did the wrapping, I kind of lagged behind their pace.  


Lorry, Jennifer and Lily came, bringing their cooking.  They lived in the same neighborhood.  Jason came back and he bought more food material.  More people joined in Jiaozi wrapping.  They made fun of boasting their own work and laughing at others' Jiaozi.  Carrie and Siggy arrived, bring a beautiful gift.  They walked around, showing great interest in the Chinese dishes.  Carrie and Siggy even tried to wrap dumplings.  They were so smart and did perfect Jiaozi with little instruction from us.
  

Finally, the party began.  Arnold bought beers.  We ate, drank, talked, and laughed.  The apartment was filled with happiness.  My friends were chefs in five-star hotel and each dish was praised.  It was so nice to have those familiar dishes 10,000 miles away from home.  Potato and beef, pepper and pidan (Chinese preserved eggs), pork and pepper, mushroom and chicken soup... Carrie had special feelings toward one Chinese home cooking: cold dressed cucumber.  "I haven't had it for almost 30 years!" She was thrilled.  Carrie talked about her experience in China many years ago.  Siggy moved here and there taking pictures of everybody.  We had so much fun.



After dinner, my friends danced in the lobby.  So great were their Chinese dance that Siggy and Carrie could hardly move their eyes off it.  It was not our home.  The cooking devices are western.  The music can only be played in mobiles.  So what?  We were still having a great time.  After all, what makes a great party is always the right people. 

Susan's Class

I had Susan's class on Wednesday morning.

It was a torture to stay in WLH 003.  Half a minute after I stepped into the classroom, I felt it was really cold there. I was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and flip-flops. As time passed, cold was eating me out. The whole room was a big refrigerator. I got goose bumps.  I tried not to tremble.  Minutes were like hours. From time to time I had the urge to flee out of the classroom. No, I was supposed to observe the class.  There was no reason to give up.

Susan was amazing. She can make a good actress. She screamed, smiled, frowned and whistled. She imitated so vividly how people would react in different situations when interpreting new words that all the students knew instantly what those words mean. She drew a little. While the rough sketch of parachute within seconds amazed me, the clumsy but lovely image of a camel threw us into an understanding smile. "Don't look up in the dictionary," she said, "Susan is a walking dictionary."

It was a reading and writing class. She had the students read the passages about introduction and conclusion of a writing. "Introduction is like your first impression of a person," Susan said. Then, she went out of the classroom. I felt it a little strange. But the students didn't seem to be surprised. Well, let's wait and see.  In a few seconds, Susan came in. "Hello, nice to meet you." She greeted in a mild way lowering her head while giving a quick look at everyone. Before I could figure out the whole thing, Susan came in again. "Hi, you guys!" She stranded in a whirlwind and brought a rap style typical of those black pop stars. The third time, there came the ring of a mobile, and with it Susan rushed in. "Hi!" Hardly did she hurry a greeting when she dashed to her bag and answered the phone. "Hey, what's up?" All those happened within a minute, in which we saw three different types of people and understood there are hundreds of different ways to begin your writing and impress your audience.

Being a teacher needs overall development. I knew that before. But I never expect a teacher can be so creative and expressive. It really was a worthwhile experience to observe a class so different .

A Colorful World-- My First Impression of America

There was a drizzle when I arrived in america.   
It was cool. Nobody was waiting outside of the terminal building.  I went to the welcome center of the airport and asked if i could get a shuttle to Yale University.   The woman in red uniform kindly recommended two companies and called them.  Then she said one of the company could arrange shuttle in 20 minutes.  After a while a man came.  He was the driver. He helped carry my luggage to the shuttle.  Then I saw it.  Green logos run all over the white shuttle-- "Go Airport Shuttle".  I like it.  See? what impresses me most in America is the colors.   



Besides the 'go-airport-shuttle' I see a bold mix of colors wherever I go.  Red hair. blonde. black. even green hair...with shining scarlet lipsticks, lavender eye shadows and ridiculous high-heels, yellow and orange store logos in black background... Everything is reminding me that I am in a total strange land.   





Among the variety of colors. I see Yale's official uniform-- indigo and white  T-shirt. Students from around the world come here in summer session.  They wear indigo and white proudly, vests, ribbons, bags, water bottles...  

Julie, our counselor in Yale Summer Session, showed us posters about the recent school activities.  The words are written in lovely font.  Midnight blue lines, red curves, green titles... Each poster is designed differently.  When all the posters are pasted onto the stair walls, they build unique atmosphere and attract me a lot. 

Back in our country, there is a growing trend of being colorful.  Still, I can see some differences.  Americans are good at using the colors that are only seen in palette package in China.  And they are more creative in applying different mixtures to various purposes.  Being bold and creative is their way of expressing themselves.

Organ Concert, July 1