Something Beyond Borders

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

I have stayed with my host family for 4 days and had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. This was the first time for me to have Thanksgiving Day so I was very excited to have the American traditional big holiday.

First, I was very impressed with their open-mind which can accept us or non-relative people to invite to such a traditional American day because I have never heard about Japanese invite people who are not relatives to New Year’s Day. While having Thanksgiving Day, I thought it was very similar to our New Year’s Day, in particular, at a point of showing our respect for many blessings we have received by enjoying foods, and that each food has a meaning. In addition, we gather with our relatives and families on that day so the Thanksgiving Day reminds me of my Japanese life.

I have been working on a presentation of Shintoism and I tried to compare with Christianity because our character or customs which come from religions are very different and also holidays are different. However, I feel that there is somehow something more same in spite of our different race or countries. When I was talking with Becki about our way of thinking about life, we could share our own answer or which, I have founded through my experience I have spent in Japan. She has studied about her religion very much, but I hadn’t studied about it and I hadn’t read the Bible. Even though at first look, they seem religions or beliefs which we have learned so far in their own country are very different, we can share our same opinions or there are holidays which have the same meaning in the world.

Through this Thanksgiving Day, I could reconsider about cultural differences. We seem to have very different way of thinking about our life and worth. However, I can find a global view by focusing on something more same beyond borders. I’m sure I will have wonderful opportunities to meet people in the world in the future and I would like to have a global perspective from sharing from the bottom of our hearts.

Fabulous Southwest Trip

The Southwest trip was absolutely amazing because I leaned the culture of the area a lot. I spent 7 days in the southwest and I impressed by people who live there and by their culture. These things were totally different from Japan and the people there preserved their traditions carefully. I talk to a lot of Americans and I saw wonderful nature during the trip. There are three absolutely wonderfu and amazing places that I enjoyed. First, I went to a lot of museums and all of them were very interesting. I especially liked The Museum of International Folk Art. The museum has more than 130,000 objects from more than 100 countries! My favorite object was a smiling skeleton doll. This object’s theme was Day of The Dead. When I saw it, I remembered COCO which is a Pixar movie. I also liked The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist and she painted a lot of flowers and nature. I think her paintings are brimming with kindness ...

Respectable Voice of The Japanese American

Respectable Voice of The Japanese American Chisato Fujii When I saw this poem, I felt strong feeling of this poet like “I am an American,” and I also felt this poet’s voice like “Why am I not treated as an American?” I’ve never lived in this period of world war Ⅱ , and of course, I’ve never experienced this suffering and war, but I could feel people’s voice of this period thanks to this poet. Without these Japanese Americans’ voices, I couldn’t feel and understand their feeling and thought. When I understand this poem’s meaning, this poem made me sad, but I also understood Japanese Americans were proud of themselves in the middle of the war. I respect them and am proud.

Memorable Southwest Trip

I had an absolutely amazing time through on the southwest trip with fabulous teachers and friends for one week. I went to so many special places such as the Grand Canyon. I really wanted to go there and I was able to have a various experiences at the Grand Canyon. In addition, I ate a ton of southwest food and spicy food during this trip. This trip was most memorable for me for three reason for that. Amazing Grand Canyon First, I had many most amazing memories at the Grand Canyon. I really wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, so my dreams came true. We went to the Mather point at first. That was my first time to see the Grand Canyon. I was really surprised and impressed. It was like a picture, so I was really confused when I was saw that. Then I went to the next point to see the sunset. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous. I was really impressed. The next day, I woke up early. I went to Yaki point to see the sunrise with teachers. That day was really cold and windy, so whe...

MFWI Extension Writing Class

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