In the year of 2005 when I was still an ordinary Chinese junior 2student who had nothing to do with the United States，a country so dis-tant away from where I was born and raised，my mom made a tough de-cision which switched my life in the upcoming 2006 in an 180 degree．
Without understanding why and how，I flied to the United States in January 2006，arriving at a city named Iowa City．Having no knowledge how my life and school education would turn out，I stepped into the local high school Iowa City West High School no more than 3 days after ar-rival．As difficult as you could ever imagine，I started my journey there like an adventure during which I made numerous ridiculous mistakes，experienced terribly embarrassing situations，and suffered severely from home sickness as every adult would do when coming to America for the first time．Overwhelmed by such an entire newness，I paved my way hard，trying with my best ability to assimilate and explore．When I amaz-ingly found me used to every small detail of my life here，I was stunned myself．I could take every one of my classes flexibly and swiftly，com-pleting a history essay with no difficulty，finding my English being lifted to an entirely new height．Though short，my stay in Iowa has left me with one of the most valuable fourtunes of my life-an experience of gleaning up my confidence，faith and courage to overcome every challenge lying a-head．I was grateful of my mom who has made such a wise decisionmaking me learn and grow．
Most．of the articles collected were written when I was in Iowa where my language was still children-like．In the last 3 years when I came back from Iowa，I have been working to add memories I consider worth recording to the original parts forming the complete book that you are reading right now．I might not be a typical representation of students traveling to us having varieties of colorful experiences of honor，but I wrote sincerely with all my heart only wanting to keep down my trues memories and thoughts．I would like to thank my parents for giving meso much support when I was once in a depression in us and endowing me with such a strong belief and faith that we are together going to face all of the difficulties coming about in us ．
Author Weifan Liu August 2009 in Beijing
