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| Wonderful Grand Canyon!! |
First, I learned that Pueblo Indians experienced dejected discrimination. They had lived peacefully since Spanish came. Spanish wanted to get lands. The Pueblo Indians had to obey them and became their slaves. In 1598, Don Juan de Onate’s nephew was killed by Indians so he started to kill Acoma Indians. Also, he caught the leader of Acoma Indians and he cut his leg. “How cruel it was! “ When I heard this phrase, I thought that. They discriminated against lots of people and the Pueblo Indians were pursued of their land. Now, in America, the discrimination is still alive and it is the one of the problems in the US. I didn’t learn about Native American at school in Japan so I didn’t know what was happening in the past of the US before learning this topic. It was so pleasant to learn about Native American. I hope this discrimination will decrease increased and they could have a normal life.
Second, when I went to lot of museums during this trip, I was startled to learn that Pueblo Indian cultures still existed. We learned about discrimination of Ainu who live now in Hokkaido in Japan at the conversation class. The discussion leaders said they had to leave their cultures because if they hadn’t left their culture, Japanese would have discriminated against them and been violence toward them so they imitated Japanese in their behavior. However, in case of the Pueblo Indians, the culture was still exists strongly. I thought it was difficult for them to protect their own culture. However, there are many museums about Pueblo Indians, such as, their cultures and lives. When we went to the Sky City, I heard they spoke their own language and they have Indian names and American names. I thought they mixed American and their culture very well so they can keep their culture for a long time. To learn about other cultures are important for us and we should respect and know other cultures.
Third, we had brilliant conversation with University of New Mexico students. When I visited to University of New Mexico, we met students who are learning Japanese. Through this conversation, I asked students that why they started to learn Japanese. I was surprised that my partners thought Japanese has beautiful words. I have never thought this kind of idea so I repeated what he said. I don’t think Japanese is beautiful. I thought Japanese is more complicated than other languages because there are 3 types of characters we use; Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. However, they said it is so fascinating so I was happy because they said Japanese culture is so fantastic for them. We shared the difficulty of learning other languages and how fantastic it is to study other languages. I learned that we can’t stop learning languages and I should gain more confidence and be proud of Japan more than I am!!
Forth, I had a good opportunity to think about Catholicism more deeply. We went to many churches and I was so amazed The Loretto Chapel when I went there. This church is famous for it “miraculous staircase.” It means this staircase has no center pole. When I saw it, I was so surprised and it was so fantastic! I couldn’t believe it. How did people make it? We don’t know! Also, Karen taught me that this staircase has 3 mysteries. First, the man who made this stare disappeared so we don’t know who made it. Second, nobody knows where the wood came from. It means the wood can't be found in the world! It is so fantastic. Finally, you know that this stare has no center pole. In the rumor, this staircase was made by god. These kinds of mysteries surprised me and amused and I realized those mysteries are related to god. Also, we went to Saint Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe. The interior of church was so beautiful. However, I saw Jesus on the wall. I always wonder why he always is on the wall but I learned the difference between catholic and protestant beliefs. It is because catholic keep Jesus on the cross pray for and protestant don't. I didn’t know this difference so it was interesting for me. I think the religion is very abstruse.
Finally, I could have marvelous experiences at the Grand Canyon. When we arrived at Grand Canyon and walked around there, I heard lot of different languages so I felt a little bit weird. However, it was such a pleasant experience. I heard English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese and more!! I felt this place was like a small world. I was impressed I heard many languages at Grand Canyon. Also, I had a fabulous chance to speak French there. I met some family who came from France and we talked with them in French. I was so happy because they could understand what I was saying in French. I recognized that languages are very important for humans to communicate with other people. Also, I realized that I like to learn languages! I want to learn English well and I want to put my English skill to use in my life through these experiences.
As you can see, I had wonderful time and I gained lot of benefits during this trip. I don’t know how these experiences will affect my life but I hope I could improve my personality through this trip. This trip will be one of my bast memories on my life.