My New Life

The Sunset at the Grand Canyon

During the Southwest trip, I could learn many things which might change my life or way of thinking. I was surrounded by high buildings, artificial things or people in my busy life in Japan. I thought it was very “cool” because I really wanted to go outside from my countryside hometown. I felt embarrassed to have been in countryside. I wanted to be fashionable and I wanted to go into “a wonderful world” before. However, I could touch nature, kindness, and lives. People in the past had tried to get freedom for their next generation, or us. Through the Southwest trip, my way of thinking about history has totally changed. I could feel their spirits toward nature because our Japanese religion is very similar to Native American religion. I was very impressed with the kindness of local people. I visited the East coast last semester and now I visited the Southwest in America. These trips taught me what construction of the U.S. is. Through an experience at the Grand Canyon and from Native American Indians, I could realize why English have been chosen as a common language. I would never forget this precious trip and I would like to write about what I learned at the Southwest trip.

I could learn about why there are many picturesque places and secrets among Native American Indians through learning about history there. I was wondering at Acoma pueblo because I was told by the guide “Don’t take notes please” also, we need to ask permission to take our cameras. I couldn’t actually understand the meaning of that. However, I could understand that when the guide told me. “We would like to keep our secrets because our ancestors have kept them for protecting our culture even though our culture was almost taken away by Spanish. ” In American West class, I have learned about the history of the Southwest and I felt very sad and conflicted. In addition, their original religion doesn’t have the Bible. That’s why they use oral teaching style when they would like to tell about important facts, or teaching. There were some students who complained because we couldn’t take photos or notes. However, it is the style when people from Acoma pueblo would like to tell about important things and we should show respect. Therefore, I could learn about different perspective about history.

About the Pueblo Indians original religion, I could find similarities between Japanese religion and their religion. I have learned about Shinto for a presentation and I found that they are very similar. They worship nature very much and each thing they do has meaning. I could realize that we also have our wonderful culture and religion but it’s easy to forget as we get older because of our busy lives. That’s why the Native Americans attitude toward religion or their culture which has existed for a long time reminds me how important it is to remember our origins.

From their culture which worships nature or uses their own sense of time, I could figure out what kind of characteristics they have. Each place I visited made me comfortable and I could forget about the busyness in my daily life. I felt it was very interesting that people are totally different in each area even though the place is in the same country and it’s the same as Japan. It might be that people are changed by the atmosphere at the place which comes from the history of the place.

Through trips to the in East Coast and Southwest, I could understand about how America developed. Now in American West class, I’m studying about Louisiana which had belonged to France. I have learned 3 parts of America and each part has original history or culture so I was impressed with the width and it’s very important to understand America. America is called a diverse country. At first look, it’s difficult to understand but to learn about history through trips, I could understand today’s America. There are more cultures which came from other foreign countries in America so I would like to know about that through the history of America.

Finally, about Language, I have thought about why English is chosen as the common language in the world. I couldn’t understand exactly even though I have been in America. However, I could have found the answer about the question in this trip since I learned Native American language. When I visited Acoma pueblo, a guide told me that there are 6 languages which Native Americans use. They are Hopi, Zuni, Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, and Keres. Even now, these languages are regarded as precious culture to teach their religion or important secrets because they use oral teaching when they want to teach the next generation who would be able to take over to keep their culture. In the past, that they didn’t speak English means that they couldn’t communicate with immigrants or other Americans. When I think about a characteristic of English, it can tell our opinions because we can say what we want to say. It means subject and verbs come the beginning of sentences when we speak English. In my opinion, the answer of why English is chosen as a common language is that it is simple to tell about what we want to do. The time Native Americans met English or other immigrants, I think they tried to understand each other; however, wars often happened because of the conflict of communication. There are other reasons why there were wars, but language is one of the tools to understand true facts or important culture, or everything. I could realize how important it is to learn a language on this trip.

I had many chances to think about my life on this Southwest trip. The trip reminds me of my childhood such as an environment surrounded by nature, playing with nature and my hometown. Before, I was very busy and I forgot about important thing in my life. I could learn different perspective through this trip. I was afraid of changing my life and future, but now, I can believe in these words, “The sky is the limit” since I saw the sky at the Grand Canyon or in the Southwest.