The Portland trip was one of the delightful events in the semester for me. I was looking forward to doing many things on the trip, and things that I experienced and learned were invaluable for me. Also there were many kinds of American culture such as, people, arts and history. All of them gave me a strong impact and whenever I learned new things, I was extremely excited. There were three topics were Columbia Basin College (CBC), the Japanese-American Memorial and Powell's City of Books. These places were especially impressive for me.
To tell the truth, I had been really excited to visit CBC, before I went there. I had a friend in the college and I knew that I was able to see her at the school. The friend came to Mukogawa Fort Right Institute last semester as a trip and I talked to her for a long time, so I was extremely glad when I saw her at the college. I talked about my topic and it was the first time to talk about my topic to an American student, so I worried about whether she understand my topic or not. However she was interested in my topic and asked me many interesting questions. Also she talked to me her future dream and I encouraged her. It was a valuable time for me.
Next, I got a strong impact at the Japanese-American Memorial. This memorial was built for Japanese American people who had to live in some camps during the Second World War. Sawing the memorial was a very meaningful time, because the memorial appealed to me how they felt in that time. There were stones, engraved with short poems and it was the first time to see poems in memorials. I felt anger and sadness from most of them, but one of the poems expressed the hope. I think the author wanted to write the happiness of returning to the author's home. Actually I didn't know about Japanese-American, before I studied about this, so I realized how hard it was for them to live in that time. I think this memorial was a necessary thing for Japanese people and American people.
Finally, Powell's City of Books was an amazing place for me. There were a lot of books which were not only old books, but also new books. I love reading books, so I like to go to book stores in America, but this store is the best book store in my life. I think it is a rare case that old books and new books are in the same book store. I found some books which related to my research topic. I was surprised because my topic was quite a specific thing of Japan, so I realized how big this book store was.
As you can see, the Portland trip taught me many things and it was a precious memory for me. I want to keep in my memory how I felt when I found new things. It was sad, hard, happy, and amazing. Also these feelings are connected to my knowledge. In this trip I had many feelings, and each feeling was important for me, so I am proud of learning American culture on the Portland trip.
To tell the truth, I had been really excited to visit CBC, before I went there. I had a friend in the college and I knew that I was able to see her at the school. The friend came to Mukogawa Fort Right Institute last semester as a trip and I talked to her for a long time, so I was extremely glad when I saw her at the college. I talked about my topic and it was the first time to talk about my topic to an American student, so I worried about whether she understand my topic or not. However she was interested in my topic and asked me many interesting questions. Also she talked to me her future dream and I encouraged her. It was a valuable time for me.
Next, I got a strong impact at the Japanese-American Memorial. This memorial was built for Japanese American people who had to live in some camps during the Second World War. Sawing the memorial was a very meaningful time, because the memorial appealed to me how they felt in that time. There were stones, engraved with short poems and it was the first time to see poems in memorials. I felt anger and sadness from most of them, but one of the poems expressed the hope. I think the author wanted to write the happiness of returning to the author's home. Actually I didn't know about Japanese-American, before I studied about this, so I realized how hard it was for them to live in that time. I think this memorial was a necessary thing for Japanese people and American people.
Finally, Powell's City of Books was an amazing place for me. There were a lot of books which were not only old books, but also new books. I love reading books, so I like to go to book stores in America, but this store is the best book store in my life. I think it is a rare case that old books and new books are in the same book store. I found some books which related to my research topic. I was surprised because my topic was quite a specific thing of Japan, so I realized how big this book store was.
As you can see, the Portland trip taught me many things and it was a precious memory for me. I want to keep in my memory how I felt when I found new things. It was sad, hard, happy, and amazing. Also these feelings are connected to my knowledge. In this trip I had many feelings, and each feeling was important for me, so I am proud of learning American culture on the Portland trip.
Source: Ayumi Kotsuji