reports:Chizuki Watanabe reports:
This summer I went to U.S. with
my best friend, Chizuru
,to visit
my friend, Chad
. I met him at Aichi
University of Education when he came to Japan in his university
trip. He is from Muncie,Indiana. His family is German-American.
One study indicates that about 74 % of Americans have European
origin. As you can see, America is a country of immigrants. That
is why you feel it is easy to get used to America because you
can be an American the first time you land in America.
23rd August I had a flight of
about16 hours with Air Canada. Chizuru and I had to transit at
Vancouver in Canada and then arrived at Chicago Airport which
is known as the busiest airport in U.S.A. It wasn't a bad idea
for us to meet Chad and his friend, Jermy
,
who is half Japanese and half American. His father is an American
who fought in the Vietnam War and lost one leg in the war. They
drove up to Chicago to pick us up at the airport. Chicago is very
far from Muncie. It took us 6 hours. We left Japan at 14:00 on
23rd then arrived at midnight on 23rd...we have 15 hours difference
in time...so....I was exhausted by then....By the way there is
an easier way to get to Indiana. Actually we found this later
on but you can fly to Detroit and then take a domestic flight
to Indianapolis Airport which should be much easier.
Next day, it was strange that jet lag appeared differently to
Chizuru me. She was sleeping all day next day. On the other hand
I couldn't sleep well. I stayed up very late, almost overnight.
The next day, while Chizuru was sleeping, Chad, Jermy and I went
to the biggest supermarket I had ever seen to get some ingredients
for a dinner. I cooked some Japanese food, OKONOMIYAKI which
is unsweetened pancake with vegetables and spices, and sushi.
Chad cooked an apple pie for us. Because he promised he was going
to cook a traditional American food for us. An apple pie was the
only American food which could occur in his mind. I thought he
was going to bake 10cm thick steaks.That is one of the stereotypes
most Japanese have that Americans eat a big chunk of meat..Anyway
we enjoyed dinner very much. Especially, sushi is loved
by lots of people all over the world. It seems that lots of American
families go to restaurants to eat more often. I found eating at
restaurants is cheaper than either Britain or Japan. Portions
are very satisfying!! It was very filling.
During my stay in America I found lots of pros and cons. The first thing I thought uncomfortable in America was cars and roads. In a town like Muncie, most roads have no pavements (sidewalks). Especially on a big road it is just for cars. It seemed difficult living in America without a car. Also, if you don't have a car wherever you go is a long distance. In Japan shops and stores are all over town. Although they are not always close to each other, it is okay because towns are not too big to walk and go around by bikes. But in America they have a huge amount of land. So, shops,stores and restaurants are gathered in a small area.They go to a place called "MALL". Malls have lots of shops and restaurants in them. I guess that a shopping mall is necessary in America.
One day I went to watch a major
league game in Cincinnati,Ohio. There was a big baseball stadium which was just built next to a older one. There
was not so crowded as I thought because it was a weekday. Baseball
is a national sport in America as well as basketball and football(American
football is not soccer but more similar to rugby.) Unfortunately
when I was in America it was in the off-season of NBA. It starts
in October. But Chad took me to a basketball arena in Indianapolis.
I guess that there will be thousands of crazy fans about basketball
in the arena.
Americans love basketball. Indiana is reputed to be a state which
has good basketball players. I am not sure about all over America,
but in Muncie lots of houses have a basketball hoop in a space
in front of the garage. It is common that people who play basketball
in a street have games even they are strangers. That is the way
they learn and improve their basketball skills and become a great
player in the world. In Indiana is said that it remains a typical
traditional American lifestyle. If you go to another state you
will pass by beautiful green fields besides the motorway. Indiana
is known for a huge production of corn. You cannot see anything
but corn fields out of the town. Chad told me that it was just
boring, but for me it was a very beautiful and exotic view.
On the way to Cincinatti we met a man in black wearing a hat who was on a coach. Chad told me he was an "amish". Amish are a group of people who still live without electricity and gas. I have read about them in a book. I was very surprised but excited to see him.
Finally I want to write about Ball State University. BSU is one of the sister universities of Aichi University of Education. One day I attended one class which was an Asian Studies class. Because America has lots of people from different countries the professor was from Thailand. He was very friendly to the students including me. In the class I felt that the students were more relaxed in a good way. It made a good atmosphere which gave every students chances to say their opinions and questions. I found it very good. I thought that American students knew that school is a place that you learn how to think and not to learn how to make your notebooks look good.
Experience always helps you grow.This time I went to America and changed my impressions a lot.I had a kind of bad preconception about America. In fact I found people were nice, kind and very friendly. Maybe it was because I didn't have a chance to touch the serious problems America has, such as guns, violence,drugs and other inner crimes....But on this trip, I found America is as interesting a country as the UK.(I don't know why people compare US with UK..) and was made aware that I love travelling and meeting new people!!
