ESSAY: MINNESOTA

I went to Minnesota in America to study English and American culture. It was kaigaikenshu. The population of Minnesota is about 5 million. This is 21st in America. The state capital is St. Paul. And Minnesota has ten thousand lakes.

We stay with an American family for a month. My host family has 4 people, 2 cats, 2 small pigs . They are very kind and cats are so cute. I spent good time with them.They think me true family. I went out anywhere with them. My host mother is good at cooking. All dishes were delicious. And she cooked rice for me. I cooked Japanese dishes for them. I cooked an omlet containing fried rice, rice balls, gyoza. They liked them. Also I gave some Japanese dishes recipe.

Minnesota has good sightseeing place. We went many places, a museum, a farm, the Capitol and so on. Walker Art Center is an art museum. There are many pictures and carvings. We saw Picasso's works and Monet's works. All pieces are wonderful and so nice.
We went to a famous farm called Oliver Kelly Farm. There are many animals. Cows, sheep, houses, chickens and so on. We could experience how to feed, farming. Also we learned about former life.

Minnesota has good sightseeing place too. We went to the capitol. This building is so big and beautiful. We saw many special rooms. Meeting rooms, member of the Diet's rooms, the National Diet Library and so on. All rooms are so beautiful and elegant!!
And the another day, we went to Still Water. There are many antique shops and old buildings. We can get some fashionable things. Dishes, vases, toys and so on. But... they are a little expensive. I couldn't buy them.

In Minnesota, there is the most biggest shopping mall in America. Its name is Mall Of America. There are more than 500 shops, amusement park and aquarium. We bought many things here. Japanese likes shopping. We had a good time here. After 3 years, Mall Of America will enlarge. I think we need more time to go around this shopping mall. I want to visit here again.

We went to Minnesota Zoo. There are many animals there. I saw tigers, wolves, Japanese monkeys and so on. And we watched dolphin show. The dolphins were so cute and their performance were so excellent. And we can see most of animals riding a monorail. I rode it. But I couldn't see animals near. If you want to see them near, I think you had better walk around zoo.

I had many experiences in Minnesota. Our first activity is Mississippi River cruise. We cruised in the Mississippi river. We can see many wonderful views. And I reminded one movie, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. And we did canoe trip. We canoed for about 3 hours. I was so tired. But view was so nice and I enjoyed very much. There were many mosquitoes.

I have never visited a church before I went to America. I visited a church 3 times on ever Sunday. And I met many kind people. In church Christian pray for God and sing songs loudly with big gestures. I was surprised on my first day but I moved and feel happy gradually.And you know, American hamburger is much bigger than Japanese one. I ate so big hamburger in America. There are many hamburger shops. Of course, McDonald’s is. I think American hamburger is 1.5 times bigger than Japanese one.

I'll show you my teachers in America. First, Joe and Linda.They are our supporter. They helped us everyday. They are so kind. Thanks to them we could enjoy for a month in America. Next is Anita. She is our ESL class’s teacher. She spoke English slowly for us. So we could study English happily. I like her. And Taylor and Peggy. Taylor is our van’s driver. He drove us every morning. His character is so lovely and very kind. Peggy is his future wife and another ESL class’s teacher. They engaged during our course.

In America I had a special experience. I think that for a month is a little short. At first speaking English and listening English was very hard for me. But after 1 or 2 weeks, I could enjoy conversation In English. In addition to I could learn American culture. This is different from Japanese. Sometimes it makes us confuse. But learning and understanding another culture is very important. Someday I want to visit America without my dictionary.