特別ポスト: Places & Traces (Part 3)

Hello!

How are you? Here is Part 3 to some examples that will go into the collection of student writing about places and memories called Places & Traces. 

Read through these and post some short comments at the bottom. 

Let's keep going! The first one is unique - about more than one memory. Sometimes we have trouble choosing which of our memories are special because many of them are so important to us. So here's a great one about three memories. Take a look! 

My three memories

I have three memories. First, I tell you about my hometown. My hometown is Niigata. I lived there for 18 years. My family live there now. Niigata has a lot of charms. For example, foods and beautiful nature, a hot spring and ski. Rice called koshihikari is very famous and very very delicious. If you were to visit Niigata, you could eat koshihikari.

I went back home during Golden Week. I met my family and my best friends after a long time. I went shopping with my family. I also played and talked with my best friend. I was excited. When I parted from my family, I was sad. So I’m going to go back home in summer vacation. I love my family. I love Niigata.

Second, I belonged to a brass band when I was a junior high school student. I played the oboe. Do you know the oboe? It is unfamiliar, so I’m little sad. I practiced very hard to get a gold prize and to take part in the next round. Thanks to hard practice, I got through to West Kanto competition. I regret that I couldn’t join All-Japan tournament, but I was satisfied. I learned that it is important to cooperate with my companion.

Finally, I took a trip to Kyoto with my family. I went to Kyoto five times. I like to see the temple and shrine. My family like to see these, too. My favorite temple is Kiyomizu temple. The view from the stage of Kiyomizu is splendid. I also like Kinkaku temple. It is very gorgeous. And Kyoto’s foods were very delicious. I especially like Kyoto’s sweets. My favorite sweet is Gion’s parfait. It was delicious and beautiful. With a opportunity, I would recommend to you that you eat it. I sometime want to visit Kyoto with ma family or my friends.

I learned importance of people through three memories. when I have troubles, a lot of people help me. When I feel happy, I’m always with my family or my friends. So I think I want to value relationships with people in the future.

A great one! Now let's keep going with memories. Here's another one - not so much about a place, but a very special event: 

One great memory of mine is taking part in the English speech contest for the first time when I was a first-year high school student. After I entered high school, I was worried about being unable to adjust myself to new school life, though most of my classmates had already made friends and enjoy chats. Just in those days, my homeroom teacher recommended me to participate in this contest. This contest is organized by a certain university, and we give speeches for five minutes about our favorite themes. In addition, this has the regional competition and the prefectural competition, which one who won the regional competition will advance to the prefectural competition. At first, I thought it was impossible for me to give a speech in public, but I decided to enter it after I was told by the teacher this was also to improve my English.

As soon as I decided it, I began to make a draft. I determined the title “My Dream” because I wanted to give a fresh impression with a subject of future-oriented thinking. I started from about one hundred words, and in the end the manuscript of more than six hundred words was completed. However, here I faced the biggest barrier for me: I hadn’t been training in pronunciation until then. I’m not a returnee student or I don’t have any experiences of studying abroad, so I had to learn it from scratch. I managed to understand the minimum difference of pronunciation and get the secret of intonation after I practiced though few signs of improvement see, and finally the day of the speech contest has arrived.

That morning, the teacher said to me, “Don’t try to do your best. Enjoy!” These words eased my tension, and I could give a speech in a relaxed manner. As a result, I won the contest, and I advanced to the prefectural competition. Although I could not win a prize there, I had a lot of valuable experiences I could never have had in usual school life.

This would have marked an important turning point for me. It was a so big challenge. I also took part in this contest when I was a second-year and a third-year student, but the first time left the strongest impression in my mind. Through this speech contest, I learned the importance of “trying.” It was maybe because I assumed by myself I couldn’t do it in everything that I had gone into my shell until then. There may be something you regret doing, but you cannot get anything, much less reflect on it unless you try. I will never forget this memory. This is my pride. 

Another fantastic one, with great feeling to it. Sometimes, however, some places and situations aren't so nice, but help make us into who we are for the better, like this one: 

My school life

This is my best memory. I’ll tell you about my high school life. I refused to go to school twice, in junior high school and high school, because human relationship wasn’t good. I thought that I failed in junior high school, so I tried my best at high school. However, I also failed in high school. I entered from private junior high school alone, so I was seen strange eyes by around people me. For example they told me “smart” “rich” “can do anything”. That’s why I was a title of honor student at school. There were many people depending on me, but some people were jealous or someone who gave a grudging. The high school wasn’t very good, so I always had higher grades, so more jealous people increased.  

I advanced to a special class in the 2nd grade. It was good to be able to study more, but mild bullying began. So I had lunch at the stairs by myself, and I didn’t have free time off for class many times. Finally I can’t stay in class. Then decided to discuss with my mother and change to school the 2nd grade in February. I began to attend high school credits in February. There were children and individual persons, come in like me. So I was able to contact my friends and teacher at my own pace. I was able to face my new self at that school. So I don’t regret changing to the school and I thought that it was rather good. I could graduate safely and I also met good friends.

It was a difficult high school life, but without this experience. I won’t be myself now. So, I chose my best memory it.

Incredible - and brave. Of course, places are still special, and they are where so many of our best memories come from:  

My favorite place is Inuma-kata Park. To go there, you leave the Higashi-Urawa station to the strait, turn right at the scrambled intersection, and go strait.  When you turn right at the scrambled intersection, you can see a big tree. That is landmark. On the way to the park, you go through two restaurants.  So you can eat lunch there by you arrive the park. You can also buy a box lunch because there is a convenience store in front of the station.

Inuma-kata Park is bigger than other common parks in Japan, so the park has a lot of facility. For example, there is big pond. In the middle of the pond, there is small mountain that piled up stones, and some ducks live is there. Some people, mostly elderly people, give food for ducks, so ducks lives in there are a little fat. Well, there is a bridge across the pond and there is a bench in the middle of the bridge. You can see the mountain of stones from the bench, and you can feel Japanese feelings that beauty through a sense of austerity and antiquity. There is an open space next to the pond and there are cherry blossoms around the space. When the cherry blossoms bloom in spring, you can see the very beautiful landscape. At that time, there are people who walk with a dog at the park and people who enjoy a cherry blossom viewing. The park has the best place to enjoy the scenery. It’s a hill at the edge of the park. You can see trees and cityscape from there.

There are three reasons why my favorite place is that park. First, I feel free to go there with my dog for a walk. The area around Higashi-Urawa station is residential area, so I can easy to go for a walk for that park. Second reason is I can communicate with locals there. Because almost people are relax, so their heart become clam. Final reason is I can feel the four seasons by going to that park. In spring, I can see a lot of cherry blossom.  In summer, I can see fresh green leaves. In autumn, I can enjoy autumn leaves. In winter, I can see stars from the hill at night because the air is clean. Because of these reasons, I like Inuma-kata Park.

That was another great one! 

I hope you could enjoy these pieces of writing from our classes. So good luck with your other studies - and take care!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.