Alek Suni, 十七岁， 从 宾州Murrysville来。他是明的中文学生，前三个月在中国给人做家教。他写了一刊庆祝新年的文张。描写了北京如何象Andes山，吃烤蝎虫和鸭嘴。
BANG! goes the firecracker or M-80 or, heck, maybe its a grenade for all my ears can tell. Everybody's excited. I can't see or breathe because there is so much smoke. What seem like missiles are fired up through the tight spaces between adjacent apartment buildings. Ma Wei (my host) comes walking up to me smiling, "They almost blew up my car!" He seems rather amused by this, as do the rest of the onlookers and participants, most of whom also have cars, children or apartment windows in peril.
噼！鞭炮放了，或者是M-80. 哼，我听起来也象是手镏惮。个个都很激动。因为烟很多，我看不见动西也喘不了气。看上去象火箭的东西从窄窄的大楼之间被点放上天。马纬（我的房主）边向我走来边笑着说：“他们几乎把我的车给崩了。他好象很好玩， 就如其他旁观者或放鞭炮的人。他们的车，骇子和公寓门窗大多都在风险之下。
And this is Beijing. People are crazy, but generally seem happy, especially if it’s the last day of Chinese New Year celebrations. I guess it’s possible that they are obediently happy, instead of like a Westerner who sits somewhere on a spectrum between being genuinely happy and just whining all the time. And what my dad said was true: people actually do stop in the middle of four lane highways just to lean against the trunk and discuss how to proceed from their fresh fender bender.
这就是北京。人门像似疯了，但总的来说都很快乐，特别是庆祝新年的最后一天。我猜想人门守规具似的快乐，不像西方人坐在快乐和抱怨之间。我爸爸说的是事实，有些人会停在四条高速公路中间，靠在车库上讨论如何去找到新车杠。
Because of its immense size, Beijing is sporadically chaotic. All in all, it’s a humbling place. When I walk on the street, I am just a fish in the sea. When I observe this sea from the 22nd floor of my high rise, I am a bee in a hive. People sometimes refer to sprawling metropolises as “concrete jungles,” but when I look out the window at the tiny people below and the expanse of huge buildings that stretch the horizon wider and wider until my face collides with the green-tinted pane, it seems to be more of a concrete mountain range. I would have to say that this city is nothing like a jungle, but has just the right topography--hazy but cloudless skies--and lack of foliage to remind me of the Andes.
因为它的规摸，北京有些乱糟糟的。总的来讲，这是一个谦卑的城市。当我在街上走，我是像大海里的一条小鱼。当我在我住的二十二层楼往下看，我像蜂窝中的一个小蜜蜂。有时人门说不断扩张的都市像”水泥热带森林“，但当我从绿玻璃窗往外看到小不点的人和巨大的高楼越建越远，高楼看上去更像水泥山群。我得说这城市一点也不像热带森林，但且有合适得城市风格。灰蒙蒙的，没有云采的天空。缺少绿叶使我回想到Andes.
Oh, and I guess I should tell you guys what I've been eating. Last night at dinner I chewed on hard fish eyes until the sweet juice came out. Then out came the whole baked scorpions, which stuck to my teeth. The exoskeleton is crispy, making the stinger harmless but delicious. I had three (they were small though). They are good for your health. The duck hearts were amazing! Definitely better than I expected. Livers were gross as always. There was jiaozi (dumplings) too, but of course that's not as out of the ordinary. Today for lunch I chewed on duck cheeks and then scraped the brains out of the sawed-open skull with my canines. Breakfast includes oily greens and bits of rabbit for dunking in rice soup, or twisted bread and eggs to be dipped in bean curd. Maybe one of those was a lunch...they sort of run together in my head. It’s not fruit loops, but it’s still very good. I haven't gotten sick once yet. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
哦，我应该告诉你门我吃的东西。昨晚晚饭我嚼鱼眼腈直到甜汁淌出来了。然后端出了一盘烤蝎虫。蝎虫沾在了我的牙上。虫骨头很脆，虫刺失去了扎人的功能，很好吃。我吃了三个（它门很小）。吃此很益身。鸭肝很有趣，肯定比我想像的好吃。肝脏总是很恶心。也有铰子，但不出色。今天 的中饭我吃了鸭嘴，然后用牙啃吃了鸭脑。早饭吃了油乎乎的青采，一点兔肉沾在粥里吃。或吃油条和鸡蛋沾豆腐。也有可能其中之一是中饭，我脑子里已分不清了。这不是果条，但还是很好吃。止今我还没吃坏，让我门交叉手指（好运的意思）。
