My Sunday morning starts with playing with Benny. He is already 14 years old. Look at his eyes – full of gentleness and love

Today’s breakfast!

Went out to walk Benny and Milo with the hostess. Now I know that walking dogs is not that easy. They both are very strong. More often than not, they just drag me to run along.

I noticed this beautiful scene while I was walking the dogs. Out of nowhere, my hometown Korla in Xinjiang (the Uygur region) came across my mind. The views are actually different in the 2 places – Xinjiang is a desert area and has no big green land, but they both look very spacious and you can barely spot the end of the horizon.

Brunch time. The same rule: one family brings one dish.

To possess eyes which can discover the beautiful thing is more valuable than to possess the beautiful thing itself.

The program today is to make pumpkin lanterns. Halloween is coming. First, cut out the top of the pumpkin. You have to place the knife at a 45 degree angle , do you know why? (Don’t laugh at me my American friends – I know this is very junior level question to you-☺

Then, find a pattern you like from the graphic book. Use a roller to transfer the pattern onto the pumpkin. The roller reminds me of the roller used for clothing pattern cutting – they share the exact same theory.

You can tell from this procedure who often cooks, and who does not. I did not even touch the pumpkin and was just taking photos. My mom always wonders how I have managed to feed myself in all these years when I am travelling.

This is a professor in Department of International Relations at Shanghai Tongji University. He ‘suffered’ a while to cut out the pattern. Easier said than done. The pumpkin skin is so thick…

The pattern cut out by the professor and the young girl. None of us knows what this pattern actually represents?

Blue sky, warm sun, green trees and the golden autumn leaves, plus a group of energetic friends from all over the world – can you feel my happiness? I almost fell asleep in the warm sunshine!

This is what the finished pumpkin lanterns look like.

The little girl – Biyan’s mother is only 5 years older than me. Well! C’est la vie!

With another 2 Fulbrighters!