My first impression of the United States was very nice. Three years ago， I arrived at Bradley International airport at around 1 o'clock in the morning after 30 hours on the flight. Although I was a bit disappointed by the small airport I was instantly attracted by the music of insects and the smell of the grass lawn when I arrived at my apartment. The next morning， the birds woke me up and I realized the city I am going to stay for another two or three years is not like New York City or Shang Hai. It is a quiet and beautiful town and my apartment was located in the forest. I felt like I was camping in the mountains. The first time I saw a taxi here was two months later. There are no buildings more than 4 floors and you can barely find one inch of naked ground. The weirdest thing was that people never take one or two hour breaks in the middle of the day. They kept working until they finished their work for the day. Even now， I still miss the time when I can take a nap before I go back to work in the afternoon. After living in Beijing for four years， everything here is so different. But it is different in a good way. At least I can focus on my study now without too much distraction.
In the first month， I was taken care of by a visiting scholar， who was heading back to China soon. He taught me how to drive， cook， and took me around so that I was able to live independently when he left. I realized that it was a huge mistake that I didn't take my father's advice to learn some basic cooking. I can make food but it never tastes as good as it does at home. American food was not bad but that wasn't something that I can live on. Happy times always went by fast. Two months later， my independent life in the United States started. The first thing I realized was that I needed a car badly. Storrs is so small that there is no necessity for public transportation to be well developed. It will take me three hours to walk to the lab in the morning. So when the visiting scholar left， I bought the car from him. That was an old Toyota Camry with fairly high mileage but that didn't bother me. At least I have something that can take me to school and to grocery shopping. I did make some friends but it is a luxury here to expect other people to help you whenever you need. Everybody has their own difficulties to deal with.
When I decided to come to the USA graduate school， I spent almost a year to prepare for the GRE and TOEFL exams and get the application process done. Then I came to the states and realized that their college students spent their time so much better than we did. They have three months for summer vacation so they work as volunteers in hospitals because they want to go to medical school later. They do part time jobs in pharmaceutical companies because they are interested in how things are working there. In other words， they are learning practically and they make their decisions based on what they saw and what they knew. We make decisions simply based on what we heard from other people， which may or may not be right.
One interesting thing is that more and more students come to the USA for graduate school right after college. I was one of them but now I don't think it was very smart to do so. Doing research in the United States is not just doing what the advisor told me to do. I need to have my own ideas， which are usually based on a good collection of background knowledge and research experience. I had a very hard time understanding the significance and research approaches at the beginning of my study. It took me even longer to make my own thoughts and put them into an experimental test. I was lucky that my advisor didn't give me too much pressure but other professors might not be as nice. If he is not satisfied with your work， he has the full power to get you out of the lab because he is the one who pays you. American students usually work as a lab technician for a year so that they will have a taste of what graduate study feels like， then decide if this is what they want to do. So I strongly recommend students to work in a lab for at least a couple of months before they choose research as a career.
It is still a bit early to decide whether I will go back to China or stay in the states after I get my PhD. There are so many things that one has to consider. Living in the United States is very comfortable. I can buy a big house with a beautiful garden and it should not be a difficult thing. The relationship in academia is quite simple. If you do good science， everyone respects you otherwise there is no way to establish your own position. I can travel around the country any time during the year. Transportation will never be a problem. But things are also different for foreigners. There are a lot of other things that we can't enjoy in the USA. For example， I want to share the happiness with my family but my parents don't want to come to the states. I want to hang out with my friends but I don't have a lot of friends here. The American life style doesn't fit me very well and it is not possible to really become a member of this society. It is quite true that the United States is heaven for kids， a battlefield for young adults and the tomb for old people. I was so sad to see an old gentleman going to the shopping mall by himself last Christmas. More importantly， I believe that science doesn't belong to any country but a scientist should always remember his/her homeland. I might not be able to change anything all by myself but we can make a difference if everybody thinks this way.
我對(duì)美國(guó)的第一印象非常好。三年前，經(jīng)過(guò)30個(gè)小時(shí)的飛行，我在凌晨一點(diǎn)左右到達(dá)布拉德利國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)。盡管對(duì)這個(gè)小機(jī)場(chǎng)我感到一絲失望，當(dāng)我抵達(dá)我的公寓時(shí)，我還是立即就被昆蟲(chóng)的音樂(lè)聲及芳草的香味所吸引了。第二天，鳥(niǎo)兒將我喚醒，我意識(shí)到這個(gè)我即將待上兩三年的城市不同于紐約或者上海，這是一個(gè)安寧而美麗的城鎮(zhèn)，我的公寓就坐落在森林中。我感到我仿佛是在山上野營(yíng)。第一次看到出租車(chē)已是兩個(gè)月之后了。這兒的建筑不過(guò)四層，你幾乎看不到一處光禿禿的土地。最奇怪的是這兒的人們中午從來(lái)也不休息上一兩個(gè)小時(shí)。他們一直工作，直到當(dāng)天的活干完為止。即使現(xiàn)在，我依然懷念那時(shí)候，下午工作前能夠小睡片刻。在北京住了四年以后，這兒的一切顯得如此不同。但這種不同卻比較好，至少我能夠安心學(xué)習(xí)，沒(méi)有太多的東西使我分心。
來(lái)這兒的第一個(gè)月，一位即將回國(guó)的訪問(wèn)學(xué)者很照顧我，教我開(kāi)車(chē)、做飯、帶我四處閑逛，這樣當(dāng)他離開(kāi)時(shí)我就能獨(dú)立生活。那時(shí)我才意識(shí)到?jīng)]聽(tīng)父親的建議學(xué)些基本烹飪技巧，真是犯了個(gè)天大的錯(cuò)誤。我雖然會(huì)做飯，但從來(lái)不像家里做的那么好吃。美式食物縱然不錯(cuò)，但卻不能作為主食。幸福時(shí)光很快就過(guò)去了。兩個(gè)月后我開(kāi)始獨(dú)立在美國(guó)生活。首先我意識(shí)到我急需一輛車(chē)。斯托斯城如此之小，以致公共交通工具都沒(méi)必要全面發(fā)展。早上我花三個(gè)小時(shí)才能走到實(shí)驗(yàn)室。因此當(dāng)那位訪問(wèn)學(xué)者離開(kāi)時(shí)，我買(mǎi)下了他的車(chē)。那是一輛舊式豐田車(chē)，行車(chē)?yán)锍桃呀?jīng)相當(dāng)高，但這并沒(méi)妨礙我。至少我有了交通工具，可以去學(xué)校和雜貨店購(gòu)物了。我也的確交了幾個(gè)朋友，但在你需要時(shí)想得到別人的幫助，實(shí)在是個(gè)奢侈的期望。每個(gè)人都有自己的困難要解決。
當(dāng)我決定來(lái)美國(guó)研究所時(shí)，我?guī)缀趸艘荒甑臅r(shí)間來(lái)準(zhǔn)備GRE和托?？荚嚕酝瓿缮暾?qǐng)程序。來(lái)到美國(guó)后，我意識(shí)到他們的大學(xué)生活比我們的要豐富得多。他們有三個(gè)月的暑假，因此他們可以去醫(yī)院做志愿者，因?yàn)橐院笙肷厢t(yī)學(xué)院。他們也在醫(yī)藥公司做兼職，因?yàn)樗麄儗?duì)那里事情的運(yùn)作感興趣。換句話說(shuō)，他們是在實(shí)踐中學(xué)習(xí)，把所看與所學(xué)結(jié)合起來(lái)做出決定。而我們只是基于別人的話來(lái)做決定，還不一定正確。
有個(gè)很有趣的現(xiàn)象，那就是越來(lái)越多的大學(xué)生畢業(yè)后便立即來(lái)到美國(guó)研究院。我也是其中的一員。但現(xiàn)在的我認(rèn)為那并不是很明智的決定。在美國(guó)做研究不只是做導(dǎo)師告訴你的事情。我需要有自己的思想，通常要建立在良好的背景知識(shí)和研究經(jīng)驗(yàn)上，在學(xué)習(xí)的初級(jí)階段，我費(fèi)了很大的勁才理解了其意義和研究方法。我甚至花了更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間來(lái)調(diào)整我的思維，全心投入到實(shí)驗(yàn)測(cè)試中去。幸運(yùn)的是，我的導(dǎo)師并沒(méi)給我太大的壓力，其他導(dǎo)師恐怕沒(méi)有這么好心。如果他對(duì)你的工作不滿意，他完全可以自主決定把你趕出實(shí)驗(yàn)室，因?yàn)槭撬麨槟阒Ц秷?bào)酬。美國(guó)學(xué)生通常先在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里做一年技術(shù)人員，以便了解到研究生的學(xué)習(xí)是怎樣的，然后才決定是否繼續(xù)研究。因此我強(qiáng)烈建議同學(xué)們?cè)谶x擇研究為職業(yè)之前，先在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里待上幾個(gè)月。
現(xiàn)在決定我是否在獲得博士學(xué)位之后回國(guó)或是留在美國(guó)有些為時(shí)過(guò)早。有那么多事情有待考慮。生活在美國(guó)很舒適。我可以買(mǎi)一座帶有漂亮花園的大房子，這也不是什么難事。學(xué)術(shù)界的關(guān)系也很簡(jiǎn)單。只要你科研搞得好，所有人都會(huì)尊敬你，反之，你就無(wú)法確立自己的地位。一年內(nèi)我可以在任何時(shí)間做全國(guó)旅行，交通決不成問(wèn)題。但對(duì)外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)事情又有些不同，待在美國(guó)就會(huì)有許多其他事情無(wú)法享受。例如，我想分享家庭的幸福，但我的父母不想來(lái)美國(guó)。我想與朋友出去逛逛，但我這兒的朋友并不多。美國(guó)的生活方式不是很適合我，想真正成為這個(gè)社會(huì)中的一員也不可能。美國(guó)是兒童的天堂、年輕人的戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)、老年人的墳?zāi)?，這句話一點(diǎn)不錯(cuò)。上個(gè)圣誕節(jié)我曾看到一個(gè)老年人獨(dú)自去商場(chǎng)購(gòu)物，真為他感到悲傷。更為重要的是，我認(rèn)為科學(xué)并不屬于某個(gè)國(guó)家，一個(gè)科學(xué)家應(yīng)該永遠(yuǎn)牢記他的祖國(guó)。我個(gè)人可能改變不了什么，但如果每個(gè)人都這樣想，我們就可以使它發(fā)生變化。
In the first month， I was taken care of by a visiting scholar， who was heading back to China soon. He taught me how to drive， cook， and took me around so that I was able to live independently when he left. I realized that it was a huge mistake that I didn't take my father's advice to learn some basic cooking. I can make food but it never tastes as good as it does at home. American food was not bad but that wasn't something that I can live on. Happy times always went by fast. Two months later， my independent life in the United States started. The first thing I realized was that I needed a car badly. Storrs is so small that there is no necessity for public transportation to be well developed. It will take me three hours to walk to the lab in the morning. So when the visiting scholar left， I bought the car from him. That was an old Toyota Camry with fairly high mileage but that didn't bother me. At least I have something that can take me to school and to grocery shopping. I did make some friends but it is a luxury here to expect other people to help you whenever you need. Everybody has their own difficulties to deal with.
When I decided to come to the USA graduate school， I spent almost a year to prepare for the GRE and TOEFL exams and get the application process done. Then I came to the states and realized that their college students spent their time so much better than we did. They have three months for summer vacation so they work as volunteers in hospitals because they want to go to medical school later. They do part time jobs in pharmaceutical companies because they are interested in how things are working there. In other words， they are learning practically and they make their decisions based on what they saw and what they knew. We make decisions simply based on what we heard from other people， which may or may not be right.
One interesting thing is that more and more students come to the USA for graduate school right after college. I was one of them but now I don't think it was very smart to do so. Doing research in the United States is not just doing what the advisor told me to do. I need to have my own ideas， which are usually based on a good collection of background knowledge and research experience. I had a very hard time understanding the significance and research approaches at the beginning of my study. It took me even longer to make my own thoughts and put them into an experimental test. I was lucky that my advisor didn't give me too much pressure but other professors might not be as nice. If he is not satisfied with your work， he has the full power to get you out of the lab because he is the one who pays you. American students usually work as a lab technician for a year so that they will have a taste of what graduate study feels like， then decide if this is what they want to do. So I strongly recommend students to work in a lab for at least a couple of months before they choose research as a career.
It is still a bit early to decide whether I will go back to China or stay in the states after I get my PhD. There are so many things that one has to consider. Living in the United States is very comfortable. I can buy a big house with a beautiful garden and it should not be a difficult thing. The relationship in academia is quite simple. If you do good science， everyone respects you otherwise there is no way to establish your own position. I can travel around the country any time during the year. Transportation will never be a problem. But things are also different for foreigners. There are a lot of other things that we can't enjoy in the USA. For example， I want to share the happiness with my family but my parents don't want to come to the states. I want to hang out with my friends but I don't have a lot of friends here. The American life style doesn't fit me very well and it is not possible to really become a member of this society. It is quite true that the United States is heaven for kids， a battlefield for young adults and the tomb for old people. I was so sad to see an old gentleman going to the shopping mall by himself last Christmas. More importantly， I believe that science doesn't belong to any country but a scientist should always remember his/her homeland. I might not be able to change anything all by myself but we can make a difference if everybody thinks this way.
我對(duì)美國(guó)的第一印象非常好。三年前，經(jīng)過(guò)30個(gè)小時(shí)的飛行，我在凌晨一點(diǎn)左右到達(dá)布拉德利國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)。盡管對(duì)這個(gè)小機(jī)場(chǎng)我感到一絲失望，當(dāng)我抵達(dá)我的公寓時(shí)，我還是立即就被昆蟲(chóng)的音樂(lè)聲及芳草的香味所吸引了。第二天，鳥(niǎo)兒將我喚醒，我意識(shí)到這個(gè)我即將待上兩三年的城市不同于紐約或者上海，這是一個(gè)安寧而美麗的城鎮(zhèn)，我的公寓就坐落在森林中。我感到我仿佛是在山上野營(yíng)。第一次看到出租車(chē)已是兩個(gè)月之后了。這兒的建筑不過(guò)四層，你幾乎看不到一處光禿禿的土地。最奇怪的是這兒的人們中午從來(lái)也不休息上一兩個(gè)小時(shí)。他們一直工作，直到當(dāng)天的活干完為止。即使現(xiàn)在，我依然懷念那時(shí)候，下午工作前能夠小睡片刻。在北京住了四年以后，這兒的一切顯得如此不同。但這種不同卻比較好，至少我能夠安心學(xué)習(xí)，沒(méi)有太多的東西使我分心。
來(lái)這兒的第一個(gè)月，一位即將回國(guó)的訪問(wèn)學(xué)者很照顧我，教我開(kāi)車(chē)、做飯、帶我四處閑逛，這樣當(dāng)他離開(kāi)時(shí)我就能獨(dú)立生活。那時(shí)我才意識(shí)到?jīng)]聽(tīng)父親的建議學(xué)些基本烹飪技巧，真是犯了個(gè)天大的錯(cuò)誤。我雖然會(huì)做飯，但從來(lái)不像家里做的那么好吃。美式食物縱然不錯(cuò)，但卻不能作為主食。幸福時(shí)光很快就過(guò)去了。兩個(gè)月后我開(kāi)始獨(dú)立在美國(guó)生活。首先我意識(shí)到我急需一輛車(chē)。斯托斯城如此之小，以致公共交通工具都沒(méi)必要全面發(fā)展。早上我花三個(gè)小時(shí)才能走到實(shí)驗(yàn)室。因此當(dāng)那位訪問(wèn)學(xué)者離開(kāi)時(shí)，我買(mǎi)下了他的車(chē)。那是一輛舊式豐田車(chē)，行車(chē)?yán)锍桃呀?jīng)相當(dāng)高，但這并沒(méi)妨礙我。至少我有了交通工具，可以去學(xué)校和雜貨店購(gòu)物了。我也的確交了幾個(gè)朋友，但在你需要時(shí)想得到別人的幫助，實(shí)在是個(gè)奢侈的期望。每個(gè)人都有自己的困難要解決。
當(dāng)我決定來(lái)美國(guó)研究所時(shí)，我?guī)缀趸艘荒甑臅r(shí)間來(lái)準(zhǔn)備GRE和托?？荚嚕酝瓿缮暾?qǐng)程序。來(lái)到美國(guó)后，我意識(shí)到他們的大學(xué)生活比我們的要豐富得多。他們有三個(gè)月的暑假，因此他們可以去醫(yī)院做志愿者，因?yàn)橐院笙肷厢t(yī)學(xué)院。他們也在醫(yī)藥公司做兼職，因?yàn)樗麄儗?duì)那里事情的運(yùn)作感興趣。換句話說(shuō)，他們是在實(shí)踐中學(xué)習(xí)，把所看與所學(xué)結(jié)合起來(lái)做出決定。而我們只是基于別人的話來(lái)做決定，還不一定正確。
有個(gè)很有趣的現(xiàn)象，那就是越來(lái)越多的大學(xué)生畢業(yè)后便立即來(lái)到美國(guó)研究院。我也是其中的一員。但現(xiàn)在的我認(rèn)為那并不是很明智的決定。在美國(guó)做研究不只是做導(dǎo)師告訴你的事情。我需要有自己的思想，通常要建立在良好的背景知識(shí)和研究經(jīng)驗(yàn)上，在學(xué)習(xí)的初級(jí)階段，我費(fèi)了很大的勁才理解了其意義和研究方法。我甚至花了更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間來(lái)調(diào)整我的思維，全心投入到實(shí)驗(yàn)測(cè)試中去。幸運(yùn)的是，我的導(dǎo)師并沒(méi)給我太大的壓力，其他導(dǎo)師恐怕沒(méi)有這么好心。如果他對(duì)你的工作不滿意，他完全可以自主決定把你趕出實(shí)驗(yàn)室，因?yàn)槭撬麨槟阒Ц秷?bào)酬。美國(guó)學(xué)生通常先在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里做一年技術(shù)人員，以便了解到研究生的學(xué)習(xí)是怎樣的，然后才決定是否繼續(xù)研究。因此我強(qiáng)烈建議同學(xué)們?cè)谶x擇研究為職業(yè)之前，先在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里待上幾個(gè)月。
現(xiàn)在決定我是否在獲得博士學(xué)位之后回國(guó)或是留在美國(guó)有些為時(shí)過(guò)早。有那么多事情有待考慮。生活在美國(guó)很舒適。我可以買(mǎi)一座帶有漂亮花園的大房子，這也不是什么難事。學(xué)術(shù)界的關(guān)系也很簡(jiǎn)單。只要你科研搞得好，所有人都會(huì)尊敬你，反之，你就無(wú)法確立自己的地位。一年內(nèi)我可以在任何時(shí)間做全國(guó)旅行，交通決不成問(wèn)題。但對(duì)外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)事情又有些不同，待在美國(guó)就會(huì)有許多其他事情無(wú)法享受。例如，我想分享家庭的幸福，但我的父母不想來(lái)美國(guó)。我想與朋友出去逛逛，但我這兒的朋友并不多。美國(guó)的生活方式不是很適合我，想真正成為這個(gè)社會(huì)中的一員也不可能。美國(guó)是兒童的天堂、年輕人的戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)、老年人的墳?zāi)?，這句話一點(diǎn)不錯(cuò)。上個(gè)圣誕節(jié)我曾看到一個(gè)老年人獨(dú)自去商場(chǎng)購(gòu)物，真為他感到悲傷。更為重要的是，我認(rèn)為科學(xué)并不屬于某個(gè)國(guó)家，一個(gè)科學(xué)家應(yīng)該永遠(yuǎn)牢記他的祖國(guó)。我個(gè)人可能改變不了什么，但如果每個(gè)人都這樣想，我們就可以使它發(fā)生變化。