By
Lucas Irmisch, ESAN University (University of Heilbronn in Germany)
Today
I will tell you about my favorite holiday of the year and one of the greatest
seasons of the whole year in Germany: Weihnachten, which is Christmas.
Germany
features a century old tradition and has some specific customs for Christmas
and the whole month of December as preparation:
Advent
Calendar (Adventskalender)
The
Advent Calendar counts down the four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve and is
one of my childhood’s greatest memories. Every day during the Advent season a
new door on the Advent calendar is opened. Each opened door proceeds to reveal
a chocolate or other treat. You always see where you are and the excitement is
growing each day!
Advent
wreath (Adventskranz)
Many
families in Germany put an Advent wreath on the living room table the fourth
Sunday before Christmas. Our wreaths have four large candles and,
traditionally, pinecones and berries. The candles provide a very cozy atmosphere
in dimmed light and are enjoyed by my whole family.
St.
Nicholas Day (Sankt Nikolaus Tag) on the night from the 5th tot he 6th of
December you put your cleaned shoes outside the door of your house and if you
behaved well in the year St. Nicholas will leave a little gift in the boots,
such as chocolate, nuts or fruits, or a bag of gummy bears
Christmas
Markets (Weihnachtsmärkte)
During
Advent season the historic city centers of every German city light up with
Christmas markets, known as Weihnachtsmärkte. Thousands of lights and
decorations captivate you, and invite you to stroll around the vendors of local
arts and crafts. We also have plenty of food! The Christmas market tradition
dates back to the 15th century in Germany. Famous there:
Mulled
Wine (Glühwein), hot mulled red wine, with an optional shot of brandy
(Glühwein mit Schuss).
Traditional
Christmas Foods
One
of the most anticipated German Christmas traditions is the Christmas dinner!
The traditional Christmas meal features duck, goose, rabbit or a roast. This
main dish is ac companied by German delicacies such as apple and sausage
stuffing, red cabbage and potato dumplings. Dessert typically includes
Christmas Stollen, considered one of the best Christmas pastries in the world!
So
these are the main customs and traditions we have and that I found only in
Germany in this form. For me the month of December is a very special month full
of togetherness and family time. The days are getting short and you make it
cozy with candles, Glühwein and all the good pastries. On the evening of the
24th you have the delicious meal and then enjoy your presents under the
Christmas tree and the time with your beloved ones.
There are a lot of
interesting events in France. First of all, the most important national holiday
is on the 14th of July. On this day, French people celebrate the day that people
stormed the Bastille Prison on July 14 in 1789, which lead the French
Revolution. On this holiday, many parades and processions are held while all
the shops are closed. Fireworks adorn the night sky at various places. The
streets are decorated with French flags.
A well-known and highly covered event in
France is the Tour de France, where many cyclists race through France over the
span of a few weeks. Many spectators go to see these athletes compete live.
Most of the time,
during the summer, young people participate in some of the numerous music
festivals that are organized all over France. Since we were 16 years old, my
friends and I usually go each summer to one or more music festivals. On average,
they last three to four days each, and there are a lot of different ones which
play all kinds of music. Normally, they take place near campsites where
festival-goers can sleep or, for some of them, party all night long.
Finally, a big
sporting event will take place in 2024, as Paris will host the Summer Olympic
Games.
For
many Peruvians Christmas represents a beautiful occasion in which all family
members meet and share happy moments remembering the birth of Jesus, our
Savior.
Peru,
as a Catholic country, has many different religious holidays, but I think
Christmas is the most prominent of all. Peru is a multicultural country, and
each geographical area has different customs and traditions. I would like to
show how Christmas is celebrated in the three geographical regions: the jungle,
the mountains, and the coast.
Christmas
in the Jungle
In
the jungle, children have an important role in Christmas. Many of them
participate in different nativity plays dressed as shepherds at the time of
Jesus. The best performing group receives sweets as a prize. In addition, there
are also performances by the locals as characters from the Bible who are guided
by the Star of Bethlehem.
Christmas
in the Mountains
In
this part of Peru, the image of the child “Manuelito” is revered. “Manuelito”
was the name the first Catholics in the mountains of South America gave to Baby
Jesus to distinguish him from adult Jesus. Each part of the mountains has its
own traditional Christmas celebrations, but most of them include special dances
and celebrations leading up to Christmas.
The
local “Santuranrikuy” Christmas Market takes place on December 24 in Cusco.
Different handmade souvenirs are offered by different artisans, peasants and
shepherds of the region who come together to offer their best products to
tourists. In this market, we can find crafts made of wood, metal, cloth, etc.
Especially popular are figurines of Baby Jesus, the “Manuelito
Child.”
Christmas
on the Coast
In
this part of the country the celebrations for Christmas date back to the
arrival of the first Spanish conquerors, and therefore different European
cultural aspects are preserved. Despite this, in Afro-Peruvian areas such as
Ica or Chincha, the “Niño Negrito,” or Black Baby Jesus, is celebrated, and he
is honored with numerous dances of African origin. The Virgin of Carmen is also
celebrated at this time.
However,
in Lima, Peru’s capital, most of the excitement centers around the purchases of
gifts for children, of the decoration of the house with Western-style Christmas
trees, lights and Christmas ornaments.
The
most important moment of the Christmas holiday for Peruvians is Christmas Eve
night. Most of us eat Christmas turkey, accompanied by panetón, a traditional
Christmas bread filled with sweet fruits and raisins, and hot chocolate. When
midnight finally arrives, families celebrate together the birth of Lord Jesus
and share beautiful moments. They set off fireworks and open presents, and
everyone is happy. Many families celebrate until 2 or 3 in the morning.
Do you know the country called Laos? I went
to Laos last August and this activity became a special experience for me. The
reason why it was a special experience is that I was able to experience something
new. Originally I studied the language of Laos by myself, so I was able to
speak the language of Laos with the people and play with the children of Laos. Also,
I was able to understand the literacy problem facing Laos.
Laos is one of the countries of South East Asia and it is next to Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. Because it is a poor country, some people can’t go to school because they don’t have money for school. It has two seasons, the rainy season and the the dry season. In Laos, when summer comes, it became the rainy season. Also, most people speak Lao, the language of Laos. The capital in laos is Vientiane. A lot of building is built, but it is smaller than Tokyo or Bangkok. There are some temple, we can watch religious mendicancy in the morning.
In Laos, I went to two libraries built by
Kiyoko Yasui in Vientiane and Sivirai. Kiyoko Yasui is the leader of the NGO “The
fund of library for the children in Laos”. She lives in Vientiane, Laos. She is
originally interested in work involved in children’s book. And she went to a
refugee camp in Thailand to do puppet show. Then she had interested in children
in the Southeast Asia and came to participate in the project of children’s
library in Laos. Now she do two activities, one is to protect the folk talk of
Hmong tribe, another is to support of
library’s management. I studied about literacy in Laos and the support
from Japan and other countries. In Japan, SVA(Shanti Volunteer Association)
mainly send the children’s book to Laos. When I visited the library, many
children came, so I communicated with them a lot. One day, they waited for me
for three hours this day because they are looking forward to us coming to the
library. I read Japanese book for them in Japanese, played with Japanese toys,
and danced. As Japanese toys, I introduce kendama, darumaotoshi, origami. They
play with them well soon because they are skillful with their fingers. They are
interested in Japanese books and Japanese toys, so I was happy. I was also able
to see their smiles.
In addition, I came to understand that Laotian people don’t read books and there are not a lot of books in Laos through the talk of Kiyoko Yasui and visiting some library such as national library and the library of national university of Laos. There is not custom they read books from young in Laos. In fact, national library, library in university and two library built by Kiyoko Yasui is all small and there are not books a lot.
Through this activity, I was able to enjoy and
gain more interest in Laos and its issues with literacy. I want to try to
continue to study Laos. Also, I want to tell a lot of people about my
experience because I want a lot of people to learn about Laos.
This summer I was working at Iwami Seaside
Park as a lifeguard. It was really fun because during my free time, I could
enjoy some activities with other lifeguards but also there were dangerous days.
It was a really hard job for me but I got a lot of experiences through this
job.
Hamada city, in Shimane prefecture is located
on western side of Japan. This prefecture facing the Japan sea so there are
many beaches. Iwami Seaside Park is the largest beach in Hamada city, the total
length of this beach is 3km! You can see beautiful sky and sea at this beach
but when typhoon is approaching, The waves get higher and nobody can swim. At
the beginning of the August, This beach was always crowded but Around late
August, the sea bathers were less than before.
There are lifeguards who belong to Hamada Lifesaving Club and they are lifeguarding at the beach during the summer season. The members are twenties to fifties. Also they did some activities like stand up paddleboarding, wakeboarding, and snorkeling. They are not professional because they are working at company during the week and if they have a free time like the weekend, they lifeguard at this beach.
The first day, I had free time so I did stand
up paddleboarding with sea bathers and other lifeguards. That was a hot, sunny
day so I got a tan but the sea was a really beautiful. That’s why we really
enjoyed this activity. In the middle of August, a typhoon came to Japan. This
caused big waves, These big waves took some sea bathers out to the sea and I
helped them by using a rescue board. The rescue board is looks like a long
board to surf but it has more buoyancy and thick. We have a lot of rescue board
and we use this like this situation. It was a really dangerous day but no one was
hurt. Around late August, there were less sea bathers than at the beginning of
the month, so we did wakeboarding. I think that wakeboarding is a little bit it
more difficult than the other activities but we really enjoyed this sports.
In
brief, it was really hard job but I learned that how to help people who are taken
away by the big waves, how to work as a lifeguard, and so on. My Lifeguarding
job became a great summer memory that I can not forget!!
This August, my life
of Japanese archery was changed. I participated in preliminary contest of the National
Sports Festival in the Chugoku region, held in Izumo, Shimane. Meeting great
teachers, teammates and other participants from other prefectures affected me
very much. I could learn many things and I grew as a player of Japanese archery.
Before
writing about my special experience, I will explain to you about Japanese
archery. Japanese archery is one of Japan’s traditional sports. We use a bow
and four arrows. We can get a point when we hit a row on the target. The length
from the center of the target is not related to the score. All we have to do is
hit the target. Players compete by adding up the total number of hit arrows.
The meet gave me three opportunities. First, it gave me a chance to meet many players of Japanese archery. I could see many players in Shimane; 10 teammates, 3 coaches and their friends and teachers. We could get to know each other through this meet. They told me not only how to play Japanese archery better but also how to repair and maintain my equipment.
Second, it gave me a chance to learn about the way to control my nervousness before a large competition. The meet was held in Izumo Dome in Shimane. Domes are larger than places where I usually practice and play. I have participated in a large meet held in a big dome like this, but I didn’t play well because I was too nervous to do my best. So, I didn’t want to make the same mistake again this time. To do my best, I did two things. First, I talked with my teammates to prevent me from thinking too much about possible mistakes I might meet. Second, I wrote out why I was so nervous. Before writing out about it, I didn’t know what made me nervous, so I wrote out what I feel anxious to visualize my worries. For example, I wrote “It’s important to calm myself down because I can’t hit my arrows when I feel heat.” These two things worked well.
Finally, the meet gave me a chance to improve my skill of Japanese archery. Through not only the day of the meet but also self-practicing for it, I certainly could make progress. The environment around me was great because people around us cheered me and gave me advice. I was very pleased when my teammates and coaches noticed my effort and praised about it and my progress. That helped improve my skill and motivate me. In addition, it helped me even more mentally. People around me gave me the power to practice more and more. I had practiced harder than ever for the meet and improved my skill because players around me were much better than me. However, they were not students and didn’t have time to practice hard, but I was a student and had much more free time than them, so I thought the only thing I could win over them was quantity of practice, and I practiced about 4 hours per day. As a result, I could hit 3 of 4 arrows on the target on the day of the meet. However, I noticed the quantity of the practice is as important as quality of it to prepare for the day of the meet, because our team couldn’t win the meet. I think I should have practiced with my teammates together more. I always practiced alone but it was important to practice like the real part.
Through the meet,
I learned that the more I practice, the better I can do. Also, knowing each
other with players of Japanese archery is important because they help me when I
fall in a slump. Also, I noticed the environment around me is very important for
upgrading my skill. I think the three opportunities I got through the meet held
this August and practicing for it changed my life of Japanese archery, and I
believe this experience will help me in the future.
On October 1st, I found again that getting ready is
essential for success. I got a job offer from the company I will enter after
graduation from university this April. The company held a “newbie ceremony” at
its building called the Comprehensive Center in Osaka on October 1st for
new recruits.
One day, I was given a mission by the human resources employee before the ceremony was held. The mission was to read an address replying beck to the president’s encouragement one for the new recruits. When I got the call, I felt honored, but at the same time, a little nervous, too. Referring to two previous addresses sent to me, I wrote an original one, and sent it to the company to check. After making sure my address was suitable for the ceremony twice, the time when I would have to read it got closer. Not to read it out loud with a shaking voice, I decided to practice reading and to give myself confidence. I went to a karaoke booth alone with my address paper and read it again and again through a microphone. That was the first preparation I did by myself for success.
My second form of preparation happened on
the day, October 1st. I arrived at the center two hours earlier than
the opening of the ceremony since I planned to practice the actions in the
ceremony and read out loud the address. One HR employee and I did it together,
and that was helpful because I could imagine how to behave during the ceremony.
After having lunch with him, at 1:00 pm, the ceremony finally started. It’s
held in a medium-sized hall, 23 new recruits including me were in the hall and
10 board members sat in front of us. After the introduction of each board
member, the receiving of the offer confirmation, and then the president’s
address, my turn came. I was not nervous but confident because I knew how to walk
in the front of the president, read out loud the address, and fold the paper to
give him, so I carried out the mission. Practicing those steps was the factor
for my success. Without this practice, I would have felt more nervous and would
have not been that confident when I was in front of all the participants.
Therefore, I was able to realize again that
to keep practicing is the huge factor for succeeding. Those two steps -reading out
loud alone in the karaoke box and practicing with a partner in the real
situation- gave me confidence and better understanding of what to do in the
ceremony. Getting ready for the actual performance is necessary for the
success.
When I was a high school student, I lived in an
old house. One night, I studied at night. It was a hot and humid night. I stood
up to go to bathroom and walked to the door, when I stepped on something. I
looked at the sole of my bare foot and found a maggot stuck on it. The maggot
was still alive. I threw it away and shouted, “Mom!”
My mother came to me out of the kitchen. She
asked, “What’s the matter?” I said, “There was a maggot on the floor!”
Then I felt something fall on my hair. I stroked
my hair. I found a shiny white maggot between my fingers. Horrified, I shook it
off madly, shouting “Oh, no!”
Then my mother said, “Look!”
I looked up and I saw a patch of maggots
wiggling on the ceiling, just about to fall down. They were extremely disgusting.
She said, “there is something up there.”
Bravely, she opened the closet door and climbed
on the upper board. She pushed up the ceiling board, stuck her head in the
attic. I followed her. She shone the attic floor with a flashlight. The musty
and dusty smell came to my nose.
On the other side of the ceiling, there was a mound of maggots eating a dead rat.
A Centipede
By Riku Nagata
When I was a junior high school student, I came
home always tired from my club activities. I used to stay up to midnight, but
on that day I slept earlier than usual, because I was really tired.
I went to the bathroom before going to bed. Then
I noticed the window was open. So I closed it. Then I went into my bed, plugged
my ears with earphones, then tried to sleep listening to music.
After a short time, I was getting sleepy. Then I
felt something on my right arm. I thought the earphone cord, and I swung it
off. Soon I fell asleep.
After that, I felt something on my neck. I
thought the earphone cord hit me again, so I shook it off. However, that think
moved from the neck to the mouth. I tried to remove it, but it moved from the
mouth to the ear, and then to the nose.
I got annoyed and caught it with my right hand.
I turned on the light and was alarmed at the identity of it. It was a big
centipede!
I got panicked and tried to throw it out of the
window. I tried to open the window near my bed. That centipede is moving to my
shoulder!
I shook my arm madly and it was thrown to the
wall. As a result, I lost sight of the centipede. It hid itself somewhere in my
bedroom. But I heard it moving around.
I was so scared that I ran out of the room. On
that night, I slept on the living room sofa.
The next morning, I looked around inside of my bedroom for the centipede. I found a dead centipede. The body was broken into pieces. At first, I was relived. But it was different from the one I saw the previous night. The dead one was smaller. The one I saw was at least 10 centimeter long.
A Spider
By Kazuya Miyashita
In one cold and silent night, I didn’t feel
good. So I finished my work earlier and came home. It was two o’clock midnight.
My apartment was very old. I went upstairs.
I opened the door. My room was dark and silent.
I heard some spooky sounds. It sounded like a rustle of old paper. I was
scared, so I immediately turn on the light.
My room was quiet. Nothing was moving. But I
certainly heard something. Then I heard the same noise again! Something was
there! I got panicked. I said “What was it? What was it?” Fearfully I looked
around.
At the corner of the room I saw an enormous
spider. It had long legs. It ran toward me!
I really hate spiders! I rushed out of my room.
I must kill the spider, I thought. I took a long
broom and got into the room again, trying to kill the spider.
When I tried to poke the spider, it suddenly
jumped at me. I madly swung the broom!
The broom that I shook somehow hit the spider.
The spider stopped moving. I thought the spider was dead.
Then using the broom, I tried to throw it into a
trash box. Suddenly the spider started to move! The spider was pretending to be
dead!
In a hurry I knocked it many times… many times…
all over the place. The spider was dead. I threw it away in the trush box in a
hurry.
When I took a deep breath, I heard another sound
from behind.
“Ruffles, ruffles…”
Alone in a Dormitory
By Sayuri
Kakuta
I live in a dormitory
where a lot of international students live. One summer night I was unable to
sleep. It was a quiet night, because all residents went back to their home
countries. I was the only person in the building.
So, I started to watch
YouTube videos. I found myself watching make-up videos for about 2 hours, but I
was so awake that I couldn’t sleep at all. So, I decided to watch something
else. Then I was attracted to a war movie, remembering that the end of the
World War II came on a hot summer day. I thought I should watch a war movie to
learn how people lived during the war. I started to watch the movie in my
silent room. I heard only movie sounds.
In the movie, people
were killed by guns. I was watching some people without arms or legs or other
parts of the body. I was listening to roars of airplanes and shots. Then,
suddenly I heard noise. I felt something was moving outside of my room. But I
didn’t know what was moving. The noise became bigger and bigger. I couldn’t
help remembering a scary scene in the war movie. I couldn’t move and held my
stuffed bear. But my stuffed bear couldn’t help me, because it couldn’t move
too. I froze on my bed with my teddy bear.
After a while, the sound
stopped. I was a little relieved and I went out of my room in order to check
the cause of noise. I walked through the dark hallway alone.
In the kitchen water was
dropping slowly. Then something moved again with big sounds. I was upset and
went back to my room, but I couldn’t open the door of my room, because my hands
were so wet with sweat.
At that time, the door
of the room next to mine opened slowly with dull sounds. It should not open,
because the student in the room was not here. I knew she went back to her
country during summer vacation. I cried out for help. Then the student who
standing in front of me cried out too.
After that, I learned she came back to Japan earlier and used the washing machine at night.
The Door of my Apartment
By Himeka
Fuchi
One day, I went home
after my part-time job. It was already dark, so I ran home.
I was panting when I
arrived at my apartment. I inserted the key and I tried to open the door.
However, when I grasped
the doorknob, the door opened. I was surprised, because I didn’t turn the key,
yet. I felt a spine-tingling chill. I thought that someone was in my home.
So, I called my friend
who lived next door and entered the room together, but there was no one. I
called my mother on the phone and talked about this thing. My mother was
afraid.
Two hours later, the
bell of my home rang. I thought of a man who wanted to open my house standing
with a knife in his hand. I didn’t open the door. The dell rang many times. My
heartbeat was faster, but it didn’t stop ringing. So, I reluctantly peek at the
peephole and I could see two policemen there. I got quite relieved to discover
so and opened the door.
The policeman said it
might be a case, but I wanted to believe that I had forgotten closing the door.
So, I told the policeman that I thought I just had forgotten locking the door
and asked him not to worry about it.
The next day, when I
went to university, I double checked the lock with my friend. I thought that
everything would be okay.
I went to my part-time
job, and came back as usual at night. I said to myself that that day everything
would be okay, and I told it to myself again and again.
However, when I grasped the door, the door was not locked. The door was not locked. It was the second time that the door was not locked. I felt a spine-chilling fear. This time I didn’t forget locking the door because I had my friend check the door closed. I thought that my house was in danger and I couldn’t live in this house. So, I stayed at my friend’s house for a while.
Phone calls at Night
By
Shusuke Toda
It was a
humid and spooky night. I was exhausted in my apartment. On that night at about
half past eleven, I got a phone call from the number I didn’t know. I did not
answer. Then I just left it and went to bed since I had class the next day, but
my phone started to ring again in the mid-night. It made me little scared so I
tried to pretend I could not hear.
The phone
stopped ringing but after a while I heard the noise of something knocking
outside. I listened to the sound since I could not sleep because of the
mysterious phone call. I noticed that the sound was the noise of someone or
something knocking on my window. I could not believe it because my room had a
porch and the porch was about three meters high from the ground! It made me
more scared, but the terrible night would not finish.
The phone
call came again from the same unknown number. I was freaking out by the phone
call and the knocking of the window. I wanted to try to ask my friend for help,
but my phone was ringing at the moment and I was afraid my phone was hacked.
I tried to
run away out of my house. Just I was about to to get out of my house, I heard
another knocking sound knocking on the next door. It came closer and closer to
my door. I was locked in my room without a way to get out of the house or to
call someone for the help. I was so scared in the house alone.
I went to the
bed and crawled inside the bed trying to pass this horrible night and wait for
the light of the shining morning, but I heard another sound in the knocking of
the window, door, and the phone.
I thought I was going mad because of the noise. Then I found the origin of the sound. It was my alarm. I was just having a horrible nightmare.
It has been a month since I started my new life in Wenatchee Valley
College. I found many differences between Japan and America. Also, there were
some difficulties and a lot of great experiences.
One thing I noticed is the difference between the number of courses
to take in a week. I have only three courses a week. The three courses are
English Writing, Career Life Planning, and English Communication. Each course
has a class every day and one class is only for 60 minutes. Although the number
of the courses is less, I get a lot of homework after every class.
I was surprised at the number of courses that I must take in the United States, because I used to take ten or more courses while I was in Japan. At the University of Shimae, I had many different courses every day, and one class meeting was 90 minutes.
It is hard for me to speak in class. So far I think that I am not good at group work because my classmates speak very fast and it is difficult to say my opinions quickly. So I raise my hand and answer to the teacher’s questions sometimes. In order not to fail to hear important things, I record my instructor’s voice in every class and listen to it when I come back to my dorm. On Tuesday and Thursday, free tutoring is offered for the international students. I usually ask questions to my tutors about difficult points of my homework.
The life in my dormitory is comfortable and I made many friends there. My roommate Chris is a nice person. He gives me his sodas, apples, and cookies sometimes. There is a common kitchen, and when I cook dishes, I often meet someone who lives in the same floor, and conversation begins. This is my way of making friends. I usually cook some sort of spaghettis such as tomato sauce, and cheese sauce. Recently, we decorated our common area for Halloween. This kind of events make me feel I am really in the American culture.
In my free time and during weekends, I usually go shopping. Fortunately, the students of WVC can ride on every bus for free of charge, so I use the bus to a supermarket. I like to buy fruits. Wenatchee is famous for apples, so if you come here, you should try them. They are very good! When I miss Japanese foods, I buy chicken, teriyaki sauce, and rice which can be cooked with microwave, and cook a bowl of teriyaki chicken. I also like to explore the town. I’ve been to Town Toyota Center, which is the biggest skate rink in Wenatchee, Pybus Market, and Columbia River. I went there by free bus and each place is very good.
My life in Wenatchee, including studying, is extremally enjoyable! I
want to try many new things while I am here and I will keep studying hard to be
able to use English fluently.
English Lessons and Homestay in Vancouver, Canada Eighteen students of the University of Shimane participated in a cross-cultural understanding course during summer in 2019 by joining an intensive English language program hosted by Langara College in Vancouver, Canada. The students had amazing experiences with their host families and students from other countries.
Overcoming my fear of speaking English
By Kaito Takechi
At the beginning I felt nervous because I was not good at speaking
English. And I didn’t know what it was like to live in a house in Canada. However,
when I first met my host mother, I felt instantly at ease because when my name
was called, my host mother said to me, “Oh blonde hair boy!” and all my classmates
and teachers laughed. So I felt relaxed. I thought she was a fantastic lady who
had a great sense of humor. She was very nice and made me feel comfortable by
talking to me gently on our way to her house.
However, I still had my fear of talking with my host family. So on the first day in Vancouver, as soon as my host mother finished telling me how to use the bathroom, when the dinner starts, and how to go to Langara College, and so on, I immediately went to my room and closed the door so that I did not need to meet my host family.
On the second day and third day, I was still nervous due to the same
reason that I had to use English all the time in the house.
But my host mother kept trying to understand what I wanted to say.
She was always calm and always cheerful. She laughed a lot. Her kindness gave
me a courage to speak English. I started to talk with my host family in
English.
While I was in my room and being alone, I asked myself why I paid so much money for coming to Vancouver? I thought hard, but the answer was simple. My answer was that I wanted to improve my English skills through this program! After realizing what I really wanted to do, I always tried to stay in the living room to talk with my host family in English, when I’m in the house.
Two weeks passed, and I realized myself enjoying talking with my
host family about host family’s cat Rio, culture, places to visit in Vancouver,
where I would go and where I went on the day, what I bought, and so on. I truly
enjoyed talking with my host mother and I felt using English improved my
English speaking skill.
Gradually the final day in Vancouver approached, and I felt I did
not want to go back to Japan, and I wanted to stay in Canada longer like one
year or more.
Now I am grateful for my host mother because she made my Canadian life enjoyable. Thanks to my host mother, all the things went well! I think I overcame my fear of speaking English.
On the last day I was sad because I need to say good bye to my host family. So I wrote a letter for each family member. My host mother enjoyed reading my letter and said, “You can come back to our house anytime.” When I have time and money in the future, I would like to go to Canada to meet my host family to say “Long time no see!”
Overcoming my asking for help
By
Yuko Madono
I had a scary experience in
Vancouver. My homestay family’s house was located in the suburb of Vancouver
and I needed to ride on a bus for 45 minutes. One day, I rode on a usual bus
and paid attention to the display that showed the bus stop’s name. On that day
there were not many passengers on the bus and the bus did not make many stops.
I saw the name of my bus stop, so I got off.
However, the place where I got
off was not at the usual bus stop. The scenery was completely different.
I managed to confirm my whereabouts, but I did not have Wi-Fi and there are no stores around, so I became anxious. But I kept walking because I was worried of asking people for directions. But after all, it didn’t help. I was completely lost. I was becoming very scared. It was getting late. I decided to ask for help.
I saw a woman and stopped her.
I said to her that I was lost. Then, the woman kindly taught me how to go and
then I could finally got home after walking about 10 minutes. I felt relieved
to see something familiar.
Thanks to the woman, I was
helped. It was very scary to get lost in land I don’t know, but I thought it
was important to ask people with courage.
While I was in Vancouver, I had some troubles, but people were always very polite. I realized that there were many kind people who would were willing to help.
Bothering others means trusting others
By Kazuki Enomoto
When I woke up in the bed of my host family’s house in the morning
of the second day in Canada, I realized that I did not have an important bag
with me. The bag contained the important item for overseas travel: my passport.
I turned pale. I usually try to solve problems by myself, but I immediately
reported to the teacher by LINE because this was serious. Unfortunately, she
did not reply.
It was early in the morning, but I wanted to tell this incident to my host family, so I went downstairs and waited in the living room for everyone to wake up.
Then my host father came down. After I greeted good morning, I immediately said to him, ”I lost my important bag, so I would like to go to college.” He said, “Today I was supposed to guide you to Vancouver, but would you like to go to college?” I tried to convey my problem in my own English, but I couldn’t think of good words at all and the silence continued between him and me. I thought that I needed to locate my passport immediately, and I used a translation app to communicate my problem. The host father kindly contacted the college and talked to a teacher instead of me. The teacher found the bag in the classroom where we had an orientation program in the previous night. I got the bag on the next day and found my passport.
Another incident happened on the 15th day of my stay in Vancouver. On
that weekend I went to Stanley Park, where I decided to ride on a bike. I
rented a bicycle and went along the bike lane around the beach. I approached a
small roundabout, and I tried to make a turn, so I just applied a little brake,
but I was speeding too much and I lost my balance and my body flew forward.
I was struck to the ground so hard. It was so sudden and violent that I could not tell how things happened.
People came near me immediately. Two men and women who seemed to be old couples and one young woman rushed to me immediately. At first, I heard many things in English quickly, but I did not have the translation app, so I was in trouble. They asked if I was okay with pointing their knees, because I injured my knees. They also asked me where I rented the bicycle and they help me to return the bike. Fortunately, the accident was not very serious and I only hurt my knees a bit. I sweat more in talking to them in English.
After staying in Canada for a month, I was able to experience the warmth and kindness of people overseas. My host family, my teacher and people in Stanley Park were very nice to me. They did not hate my bothering them. I think I learned a lesson that I was able to overcome troubles by trusting people. I usually act alone because I do not want to bother others, but I think it’s okay to bother others.
