Long before I entered university, I learned from my high school seniors that going on exchange is the thing students must do during the 4-year study, and the university provides various choices—after that, going on exchange became what I always wanted to do.
I applied for exchange programs at several universities in the USA and got the one to the University of Washington. I took IELTS on the first or second weekend after school starts in Sept. And I submitted two recommendation letters instead of joining the interview.
UW is located in Seattle, WA, which is a beautiful city worth traveling. There are too many things to do in UW and Seattle-joining the house party, going hiking, visiting the museum (Museum of Pop Culture is AWESOME!!), buying coffee from the first Starbucks in the world, taking the Seattle Great Wheel, rowing a boat in front of Bill Gate's house, watching the football game, picking up pumpkins in Halloween... Exchange life is meant to be fun and colorful.
Besides Seattle, I traveled to several U.S. cities. During Thanksgiving break, my friends and I went to Portland, Oregon. It was a wonderful journey because we went to shopping (Oregon does not have tax for shopping), having thanksgiving dinner (We were so lucky that we booked the last table in the Tavern, and they do not accept walk-in. Moreover, we had the best jam here in the world.) and visited the Columbia River Gorge.
After the term ends, my friends and I visited San Francisco, Los Angles, San Diego, Grand Canyon, Chicago, and New York City. In San Francisco, we saw the great Golden Gate Bridge and drove to 17 Miles, where, according to the guide, we saw the hugest waves in years. In Los Angeles, we lived just a block away from the Walk of Fame, and we saw an NBA match at Staples Center. The Getty Museum is also one of the best museums I have ever been to. Due to the heavy traffic, we almost missed the train to Great Canyon (thanks to the Uber driver who did his best). When we arrived at Flagstaff, the small town near Great Canyon, it is 6 o’clock in the morning. Then the shuttle bus we booked picked us up and drove us all the way to the Great Canyon. We saw the view that we have seen hundreds of times in the photos. Even though it is freezing cold here, we still went out at night to see the stars. And what I saw was the brightest sky I have ever seen in my whole life – literally, a sky full of stars. Then we took the train again all the way across the United States to Chicago. I remember in Chicago, I took the subway from downtown to the Shameless house (my favorite TV series Shameless is shot here) alone, and a strange guy followed me all the way. I was scared to death and stood near the gate. The black lady who worked at the station asked me and said the man was stalking me because he wanted to steal my phone. I then took the uber to the Shameless house. My friend and I arrived in New York City on Christmas Eve. During our stay here, we saw The Rock Age in Broadway, which is my first time watching musicals. After that, we flew back home and my exchange ends...
This is the husky of UW.
There are countless squirrels in UW, and rabbits, ducks, swans everywhere.
