The weather was so great on this weekend, sunny and mild. I drove to Pittsburgh to visit one of my best friends and elder sisters. However, it turned out to be not only a visit but a crazy shopping.

I drove for Pittsburgh at 6:30am. I felt a bit nervous because of the darkness. Gradually, my driving feeling was back. Whenever I drive on highways, I will be very excited because I feel so free and my heart is like flying. I drove toward the East, so it was like I was greeting to the sun. The last time I saw the sunrise while I was driving happened two years ago on the way to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. . It was terrific to see the sun rising little by little from the horizon. This time was different since forests and small hills were along the highways. The sun light coming through the tree branches was like a soft hand  touching the deeply-sleeping earth and people.  The forests shimmered in the haze, which reminded me of 薄薄的青雾浮起在荷塘里。Although there was not any pond or lotus, the haze and the forests were still beautiful. Driving through the haze was very exciting. When the car was driven in the haze, it was like the end of the road. However, when getting out of the haze, new scenes were waiting there. Like 山穷水尽疑无路，柳暗花明又一村。After three hours driving and enjoying the scenery, I arrived at friend’s house.

Friend and I had not seen each other for more than five years. She came to this country in 2001, just after 911. Her family joined her one year later. They moved to Pittsburgh in this August. We were much closer since then. She was in her 40s now. Her baby girl’s birth brought her happiness and responsibilities. She was still very talkative. However, many of her talks were complaints now. She wanted to earn more money. She felt tired of what she was doing, but no idea what she could and would do in the future. Somebody told her that she could take the examination for licenses, such as pharmacist, financial counselor (or something like this). Due to her age, she did not think those were better ways to go. Her husband gave up a small company in China and sacrificed for the family. I did not read any happiness from either his face. What I really felt was the depression. Even his smiles were bitter and forced ones. I could imagine the imbalance in his heart. This is a tough subject to maybe every Chinese family in this country. We all try to balance all the time, self and family, career and family, emotion and career and so on. This is definitely a process of living. I did not blame her good wishes. We are living to be get better. But once make up mind, just do it. There is an advantage to live in this country, which is one can find himself deeply, can train himself better. This country provides more relatively equal opportunities to people. As long as one has his own idea and try to make it come true, one will obtain some reward. No pain, no gain. On the contrary, the more one complains, the more frustrated he would feel, the less motivation he has. Is it an ordinary living status of Chinese people in this country? I hope after several more years accumulation of life experiences, she and her family would feel satisfied.

The best part of the trip was crazy shopping. Our destination was a branch of prime outlet, which included many famous brand factory stores. All goods were cheaper than regular retails. All apparels and shoes were tax free. It was like that we had not shopped for millions of years, and also like nothing needed to be paid for. In fact, I am a rational shopper. My mother always says: every penny one spends for unnecessary things will be a waste. However, maybe because I was excited to see my friend, maybe because I was contagious by her concerns to future, maybe just because I wanted to indulge and spoil myself once, I bought a lot. I also found a high-sounding excuse which was I will go back to China soon, I behaved like those who buy things without second consideration and those whom I don’t like. Although we only chose some of brand stores to look, not go through every one, we still spent  a whole afternoon until our legs were sore. What did I buy? I bought two tees and a pair of very cool walking shoes in Nike. Two sweaters in Ann Taylor, one was black crew neck, the other was white turtle neck, which was for my bright orange long coat; a J.Crew dark blue pant and a London Fog bright blue outfit. When I drove back home, I casually hung my new clothes into the closet and put old ones aside. All of a sudden I remembered a Chinese saying: 女人如衣服, which means men change women as often as changing clothes. I was confused. Am I taken as an old clothes now? Whatever. Women should learn to assess themselves by their standards not by men. Women should be confident to be cherished in men’s hearts. Women have their own keys to happiness. If I were dumped, I would rather train myself as perfect as possible, as charming as possible, as attractive as possible than cried and complained why I were dumped. Life is full of changes. So does relationship between men and women. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The bottom line is never lose yourself, always keep yourself a personal space. Alright, now I am going to  check online to find some practical methods for training 妖精woman.