Hello!
How are you? Here is another gathering up of your great writing over this year for a different collection about special places called Places & Traces. What do the special places in our lives mean to us, and what kinds of great memories do we have about them?
You will again see that this is a Part 2 post. The first post I did for this kind of student writing was back in 2015 - like the Small Book of Big People collection, I haven't had any time to get back to posting examples of student writing for this until now. I'm just too busy! But I'm happy to get back to this and to show what students are able to do - and how well they can write.
If you would like to see the first part of this from 2015, click on this link here.
So let's take a look at these. Here's the first one!
My
best memory
My great memory
is school trip to Australia two years ago. We went to Cairns. It was first time
to go abroad, so I was excited and nervous. When we got to Australia, I felt
strange. Because before we left Japan, it was winter. But we got to Australia,
it was summer. It was very hot and humid.
First day of
school trip, we went to zoo and botanical garden. There were a lot of animals
and plants. Koalas were very cute. Then, we rode on a flying gondola. Since the
bottom was transparent and its construction was simple, I was very scared.
After we rode on it, we met our host family.
On the second
and third days, we stayed at a host family’s house. There were many troubles.
But thanks to many troubles, I could learn a lot of things, such as difference
between Japanese culture and Australian culture. Third day, I had my 17th
birthday!
On the fourth
day, we went to the Great Barrier Reef. When I saw it, I was so impressed,
because the sky was blue, a brisk wind was blowing and sea was very clean and
the surface of the sea sparkled in the sunlight. I had never seen such a
beautiful sea. I was so enjoyed swimming. Then I went to shopping with my
group. I bought many souvenirs for my family.
Last day, we
boarded on airplane to Japan. When airplane took off, I felt sad. But at the
same time I thought that I want to come here again.
My school trip
was very fulfilling. So I will keep this memory forever.
Travel really can make our lives and memories more meaningful. Let's look at this next one!
Memory of mine
One great memory of mine is school trip. When
I was 17 years old, I went to Canada with my friends and teachers. It was my
first time taking an airplane and going abroad. So I had a lot of anxiety and
anticipation. It took about 9 hours to fly from Japan to Canada. We would stay
in Victoria for three days and Vancouver for two days.
First, we went to Victoria by ferry. And
we were divided into the group. My group did a home stay in Singla-husband and
his wife, for three days. They were very sweet to up. They took us to many
places. For example, large shopping center, the totem pole which is the highest
in the world and the sea. Especially, Beacon Hill park is very memorable. There
is the bronze statue of Terry Fox. He was a famous runner of the artificial
log. I thought he was a really wonderful person. And I was inspired by these
words, “Dreams are made possible if you try“.
Finally we went to Vancouver and stayed
for two days with my friends. We enjoyed shopping and sightseeing there. There
were many beautiful places. But I feel regret for not speaking English with
many people. If I could speak more English, I would have had a lot more
communicated. I learned from this school trip, “Don't be afraid of making
mistakes.” I often said this words but I couldn't. So I want to study English
hard and communicate with many people around the world.
That's another great one! Now here's another one:
My best memory
My best memory is a school trip. I went
to Okinawa prefecture when I was high school student. I stayed at a hotel for a
night. The hotel was very gorgeous. There were pool and wedding hall in the
hotel. But the hotel’s meal taste was bad. Especially, curry and rice. It was
very cold.
I stayed at a pension for two nights. The
pension’s staffs was very friendly. So I felt relieved. The pension’s meal was
very good. For example, soki soba and sata andagi . They were very delicious. I
helped to make it.
In Okinawa, I could have very rare
experience. For example, I did diving and canoe. It was very interesting for me
that I did there first time. The sea was very beautiful that I was impressed
it. I went to Churaumi aquarium. The whale sharks were very big and great.
There were sea turtles and rays. I saw it that I was very fun. I bought a lot
of souvenirs. For example, Prawn rice cracker, Sea grapes, rare seasoning and
Arthur figurines. I was able to spend much time with my friends. It was fun.
I could learn many things from this trip.
For example, Okinawa’s history, about sea, fish, traditional and local people’s
mind. Okinawa’s history and traditional were very important. We should tell
there next generation. Because war was very sad, so I hope we didn’t have to occur
war again.
Indeed. Now sometimes, our most special places aren't so far away from us, like the next three about neighborhood places!
My hometown
My hometown is Asakusabashi. There is Asakusabashi
in Taito ward, Tokyo prefecture. There are Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara in neighborhood
and it is very convenient. I often go to there with my family or my friend on weekend.
There are various shops in the neighborhood of my house. For example, a mall and
a public bath a cheap candy shop. The grandma is very kind.
My grandmother runs the public bath at the
neighborhood of my house. I go to there every day. My grandmother’s public bath
was built in before the war. There suffered damage for the Tokyo blitzkrieg but
there is it there without changing in old days. My grandmother becomes 80 years
old. However, she has spirit so as to knock down a cockroach. An elderly person
living in my hometown is very fine, because there are many people working as self-employed
people from old days. For example, meat shop, Japanese snack shop and vegetable
store.
In my hometown, the festival is prosperous
too. The festival is held in June. It is full of many tourists every year. My mother
very like it. She is missing when it becomes the festival. She carries a miniature
shrine on her shoulder all day. It is the town which my hometown has vigor, and
it is very livable. I love the place.
Now, this one:
Jounuma Park
My favorite place is Jounuma Park. Jounuma
Park is the whole area surrounding Jounuma which is a lake in Tatebayashi,
Gunma. There are parks children play, and playgrounds young people exercise
there. It has been loved by local people for a long time.
I visited there for the first time when I
became a high school student. It was very quiet and abundant in nature. When I
stepped into there, a scene of the lake spread before me, and when I strained
my ears, the sounds of plants swayed in the breeze and little birds’ chirps
were heard. I remember it was so fantastic that I had been there for about six
hours. Since then, Jōnuma Park has been my favorite place.
Jounuma Park is such a peaceful place,
but in spring, it is crowded with a large number of visitors every year. One
reason for that is “Koinobori-no-Sato Festival” which is held in late March –
the early part of May. This is an event more than five thousand of carp-shaped
streamers are put up in five places in the city. This became popular at a
stretch by having been recognized its number as World Heritage in 2005. The
scene is really powerful and people are overwhelmed. Another reason is “Azalea
Festival” which is held in April – the early part of May. This is an event that
fifty varieties and about ten thousand azaleas are in full bloom in a park in
the city. The park is dyed their bright red and pink, and it is very beautiful.
Maybe you notice to know the periods when each event is being held, but in
April - May, you can see a collaboration between carp-shaped streamers and
azaleas. It’s so wonderful that I can’t express it in words. It’s not too hot
in spring, so please visit there once.
I dropped by there after school almost
every day when I was a high school student. I sometimes visit on weekends even
now. I sit on a chair in the park, and close my eyes, then I just stay still
until idle thoughts in my mind are disappeared. I become relaxed and positive
feelings. Everyone needs inner peace of mind. Without it, you damaged both your
mind and body. Jounuma Park gave it me.
Tatebayashi is the countryside and Jounuma
Park is only one of the parks in such a place. There is no attractive facility.
However, all of the park is special for me, and nothing is more precious than
it. I could be always what I really is there. Do you have such a place? I
believe Jounuma Park has become my starting point.
Hakkeizima Sea Paradise
I’m
going to write about Hakkeizima Sea Paradise. Last summer, I went there. It is
an interesting place. I remember it was so hot because I went there around the middle
of August. It lies in Yokohama in Kanagawa. Every year, it is visited by a lot
of people. The number is about 4,500,000. Especially, that is crowded with families
in summer vacation. I think it is a place that children and adults can enjoy. The
cast distributes a lot of balloons that children like, and there is a spot that
everyone can play in the water. You can see the sea, and feel sea’s smell from
there because Kanagawa prefecture is next to The Pacific Ocean. By the way, do
you know this place? It is an amusement park that is constituted by an
attraction, a shopping mall, and an aquarium. As I have said above, it is very
popular by children. But in addition to the children, it is visited by husband
and wife, and many couples. I’m living in Higashi-Matsuyama now. It takes me 2
hours to go there by the train. It’s so far. If I leave the house early in the
morning, I am in time for opening of the park. It is already full of visitors
at about 9:00a.m. It is like Tokyo Disney Land.
After
having arrived there, I got on the roller coaster first. There was a long of
the line. I was surprised. I waited for a turn for middle long time under the
hot weather. I was all of a sweat and my heart was pounding. The name of the
roller coaster is the Leviathan. This is the meaning called a huge animal
coming out to the Old Testament. The picture is very scary. Because speed was
fast, it felt like a body floated to me when it made nose dive. The water
splashed on the way, too. There was thrill and was fun. This was impressive for
me. The aquarium had a calm atmosphere unlike an attraction. Because there was
cool, and it was dark I was healed. There seems to be 700 kinds of fish. The
place has the most beautiful tunnel. It called the Aquatube which a fish swam
close. There is projection mapping that project a picture on the heat. After
enjoy an attraction and aquarium, I ate an ice cream because I was hungry. It’s
yummy. I like ice cream very much. Around the 8 o’clock p.m., a lot of
fireworks were displayed with music. It was very beautiful and colorful. Many
people watched and took pictures. The time was about 15 minutes. It’s short,
but I felt summer. In the shopping mall, I bought cute straps.
Hakkeizima Sea Paradise is an
interesting place to be able to enjoy enough during a day. I want to go this
summer if I have time. A BBQ and the fishing are possible there, too. A few
years ago, I often went fishing with my father, and my brother. So I like
fishing. I wasn’t able to do them last year. It is one of the place that I want
to recommend if there is the person who is worrying where you go to in this
summer. Everyone can enjoy if you go with a friend, or a lover. I have not seen
such as amusement park in Saitama. Therefore I felt charm. You must visit this
place.
Wonderful! Comment on these in the comments section at the bottom of the post, and look for the Places & Traces Part 3 post to come after this.
Have fun!
Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.
