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| Cute Adobe |
We, MFWI Extension students went on a wonderful trip
to South West, in America from October 12th to 18th. It was really amazing.
Southwest is also in America, however, I felt as if I were in different
country. Everything was quite different from of course Japan and even America,
especially the architecture, people, and scenery.
First of all, we can see cute Adobe architecture
everywhere. Adobe architecture features round edges and the color of walls are
earth color and turquoise color. It comes from the idea of mother earth and
father sky. I don't know why, yet I feel comfortable and I felt a sense of
relief to see them. Surprisingly, there are some colors of the earth color,
deep ones, a little dark ones, various reds, and something like that. I didn't
find the difference, though. In addition, there are not only traditional buildings,
but also modern buildings, including ordinary people's houses. The most
surprising thing is we need permission from the government to build the new
house. They examine a few things, such as "Is it a suitable color?”
"Is it used Adobe architecture?”. I think this is a very good way to continue
tradition. Unfortunately, Japan is not keeping up our tradition, I think. I
heard a lot of foreigners feel disappointed because the Japanese architecture
is quite different from their images. It is because they have an interest to
Japan from the comic book or TV shows. Keeping traditions is difficult,
however, it is the most important thing. I am inspired by the Adobe
architecture and the people's spirit toward their traditions.
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| With Native American |
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| Native American Dance |
Secondly, I met a lot of Native Americans during the
trip. I was surprised that they were very different from my image of American
people or Native people. They don't have bronze hair, blue eyes, nor were
ethnic costume, made from animals' skin. They have black hair, black eyes, and
wear similar cloth as us. However, language was the problem for me. I can enjoy
talking with native speakers, such as my host family, and teachers, however, I
couldn't communicate with Native Americans very well. I couldn't understand exactly
what they said and they also couldn't understand what I said at all. They have
their own 5 languages, Tewa, Tiwa, Navajo, and Hopi. This is the traditional
language for them, but they learn them from their family. They also speak
English, however they have strong dialects. I cannot explain about it, however,
it was quite difficult to communicate with them. They said that they speak
English with their friends. This is because their native language is different
from each other. Since I have never used different language for different
purpose, this is interesting for me. At the Native Americans' high school,
students show us their Native American dance. It was a little bit difficult for
me to understand the storyline, however I was fascinated by them so much.
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| Rode Bicycle!! |
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| Great Scenery |
Above all, I cannot forget the amazing scenery from
the Grand Canyon! I was inspired by the scenery so much. I cannot explain how
beautiful it is. I was not interested in the scenery before, but it changed my
view completely. We had a lot of free time on the 2nd day of the Grand Canyon,
so we could do some activities. I rented a bicycle and did cycling! It was
super fun and enjoyable!! This was the first time to ride an all-out bicycle,
so I felt nervous before I started. However, at the moment we started, the
anxiety had gone and I was filled with joy. What is better, since there is a
cycling course, we could see the special scenery from the high point. I feel so
sorry that I cannot explain because of a lack of my vocabulary. I cannot
believe that there is such an amazing place in the world!! While riding on the
bicycle, we could see the rainbow! We are so lucky girls.
Anyway, I really enjoyed my Southwest trip. The trip
expanded my world and changed my way of thinking. I think knowing different
culture thorough studying culture is very interesting. I am sure that it helps
me in a lot in many ways. This trip taught me that there is a lot of culture
and a lot of differences. I want to extend my view to know the different world.
