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Heroines                                                By Elena Tang

Usually people, especially young people, look at old people as unusual people, and do not like them or esteem them. In fact, old people are ordinary people also, but some of them are very resolute, confident, and independent. We might learn a lot from them.

I knew an American lady who was more than 80 years old. She was sick, she waked slowly, and her hands always shook. However, she liked to do everything herself. Every day she prepared breakfast herself. The box of cereal was placed on top of the counter in the kitchen, so it was very difficult for her to get it. But she refused my help. She said, “I can do it. I don’t need help.” You see what and independent lady? I thought that she struggled with disease, but still was independent.

Another woman was 90. She liked to take a walk after breakfast. Before walking, she put on makeup and dressed herself tidily. She did not want me to support her with my hands. She told me, “Makeup lets me be happy and confident.” ”

That reminds me of my aunt, another honorable woman. She got ill, which occurred intermittently. Between occurrences, my aunt took a shower and put on makeup. She said, “I must be confident and staunch. Meanwhile, I don’t want to look like a patient.”

For my last honorable woman, I want to introduce an author, Nian Cheng. She wrote an autobiographical novel, Life and Death in Shanghai. She was persecuted by Chinese political bandits in Shanghai in 1967. She must have been in prison about 10 years. In 1980, she came to America and wrote this novel, when she was 80. She wrote that when she was in prison, her hands were bound together with handcuffs in the back, so she couldn’t’ eat with her hands or tie per pants herself. But she did not submit and strove to do everything. Therefore, her wrists were broken by handcuffs. She said, “I had to do everything, including my pants, and that encouraged me to struggle.”

Nian Cheng’s daughter was killed by the Chinese political bandits in Shanghai, while Niang Cheng was in prison. Then Nian Cheng lived alone in Washington. She is a brave and intelligent woman.

I know other women like this also. They all have a nice temper and the ability to handle their lives themselves. They are heroines in my mind.

My Favorite Tour                                                                Written By Elena Tang                                                1     2

I had a nice teacher who taught us music in middle school. She did not only teach us to sing songs. She taught us to listen to Western classical music and introduced us to famous musicians of the world like Mozart, Beethoven, Johann Strauss, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. Since then, I like Western classical music very much. When I am doing something at home, I always listen to this music, which allows me to feel happy and relaxed.

Last year, I finally took a tour of Western Europe. On the plan to London, I was excited. I could not believe it. It was like I was in a dream.

We went to London, Paris, and Lucerne in Switzerland, Vienna, Rome, Venice, Pisa, and Milano. We also visited some small countries, such as Monaco, the Vatican, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg. Many historical places are in those countries and there is very beautiful natural scenery everywhere.

I got a strong impression of Vienna. We arrived in the National Park of Vienna in the morning. It was a nice day. Beautiful flowers were growing around the statues of a musician. The flowers formed different shapes that looked like musical notes. Some of the flowers were in the shape of a clock. It was marvelous. I took some pictures of the statues. Meanwhile, the beautiful music, “The Blue Danube” and “Tales from Vienna Woods” played in my mind. I was intoxicated with that scenery. I did not want to ever leave there. That night, we went to a famous theater, the Golden Hal, to hear the concert.

In Switzerland, we saw the castle where the famous movie “The Sound of Music” was made. In Rome, we saw the fountains which appeared in the film “Roman Holiday”. I think Venice is a romantic city, but I was disappointed with it. It was too dirty.

In the city of Lucerne in Switzerland, we went mountain climbing. I was very interesting. There it was winter: white snow covered the top of the mountain. However, it was early summer on the plains. From Austria, we rode a bus along the Adriatic Sea to Italy. There were wonderful sights displayed everywhere. I though the scenery in Europe was very different for the scenery in America and China. Oh! In Paris we passed through the tunnel where Princes Diana’s tragedy happened. I was very sad when I saw it.

There are a lot of exquisite churches in Europe. Every on is different from the others. Some of them were built several hundred of years ago. I liked them. If I have the opportunity, I’ll visit Europe again.

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