One day, while I was strolling through Central Park, a temporary seating area suddenly popped up, and many fences with “NYPD” written on them began to surround the park. I wondered what was going on. It turned out that the famous New York City Marathon would be held the following Sunday. On the day of …
Tag: Japan
The Crazy Birthday Cake
“Being loved.” For me, these words are stuck to a memory of a disaster. It happened on my younger sister’s third birthday. My family was a typical, average-income household in a rural area of Japan. From my sister and me to my great-grandmother, four generations of our family lived together. My parents always managed …
Why I Am Here
My mother was born and raised in Japan. She loved cats, piano, and English. In college, she majored in English literature and got an English teacher’s license. I was born and raised by a mother like that. I loved cats and piano, but I was not interested in English. When I entered junior high school, She …
Dogs’ Paradise in Manhattan
I love to go for a walk in Central Park early in the morning. It is a paradise for dogs and dog lovers because from when the park opens at 6 a.m. until 9 a.m., dogs are permitted to go off leash, and they can run around on the grass. The scene looks like real New York, and the dogs look like they are enjoying the real dirt, grass, and huge space as real wild dogs.
About My Favorite Sentence
* “Have a nice day.” This is my favorite sentence. Because it’s a magic sentence. Hearing that sentence makes me happy. Some people might wonder why it makes me happy. Because people in countries where this custom is commonplace may not think it is a big deal. Isn’t it wonderful to wish for the happiness …
My Charming Old Lady
This is my family’s fun story about a lie. I often spent summer vacation at my grandparents’ house when I was child. Reversi was our favorite board game I remember playing with my grandmother.
The Yellow Bucket
* I think I have lost a lot of objects in my life. A scarf, a necklace, an earring . . . I accidentally dropped them somewhere and never found them again. Every time I lose something it simply hurts at first, but later, an odd image comes to my mind: an octopus nestling in a yellow bucket …
Reflections on 2020: Our Six-Word Memoirs
Six feet apart from my shoes.
—Ashly Cabral Arno
Eating to live; oops, the opposite!
—Vanina Bousquet
A bad time for lipstick lovers.
—Francis Almonte
Sincerely, from the Future
Dear Past Self,
Let me tell you about the excitement I felt when I looked down at the extravagant city lights from an airplane window on the day I arrived in New York. I was all by myself and felt relieved after the nerve-racking immigration inspection in Minneapolis and catching my connecting flight to LaGuardia. I broke into a smile once I saw that my husband had come to pick me up. I could hardly speak English at that time, so I have no idea how I got through everything.
My Uncle’s Story
Have you heard the word “kamikaze”? In Japanese, this word means “the wind of god.” In older times, Japanese people believed that the wind of god would suddenly blow in and help us when we needed it. But kamikaze is more well-known as the name of a Japanese special-attack unit in the closing stages of World War II. The kamikaze pilots flew suicide attacks against the enemy’s naval vessels. My uncle, Misao, volunteered for this unit when he was just 16 years old.
New York City and “Mickey”
Before I moved to New York, I heard there are many “Mickeys.” (I will use Mickey, instead of rats or mice because that sounds much cuter.) So, after moving to New York, I’ve been seeing these Mickeys on subway platforms, on the streets, and in some shadowy corners. One day, I finally saw a dead …
The Key
One day, I came back home from school and stopped in front of the door to my house. I put my hands into the pocket of my pants to get the key, but only sand smoothly came out of the pocket. Since I had started to go to elementary school, I had had the key …
What I Learned in Free English Class
One and a half years ago, I arrived at LaGuardia airport in order to start my new job in New York. Although I had studied English in my home country, Japan, I was really disappointed when I realized how difficult it is to communicate with New Yorkers in English. They spoke much faster than I …