I was surprised by a lot of things in America. For example, there are a lot of flags in the United States such as on the streets and in the classroom. America also says the pledge of allegiance to the flag in school. In Japan, few people fly the Japanese flag on their house or street, and we never pledge to the flag. But it does not mean Japanese people do not take pride in their nation and culture as American people do.

I am an exchange student from Okinawa, Japan, and I will be in this school for about one year. My hometown, Okinawa, is a small island located in the southern part of Japan. It has a subtropical climate. Therefore, in the summer the temperature rises up to around 90°F and there is no such thing as snow there

In Okinawa, the ages 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 73, 85, and 97 years old are considered as “unlucky ages”, so in order to drive away the bad luck, we hold a big party and celebrate them with families. There are many different kinds of cultures in the world, and each country has their own belief, so we cannot deny them. Even in the same country, there are different cultures depending on the region.”

A man from China is also staying in my host’s house. That means there are 3 different ethnicities ; American, Japanese and Chinese in the house. So, I am feeling very “international” now.

Today, people can communicate with friends who are living all over the world through the internet. It is also much easier for people to take trips to other countries. However, people do not know much about other countries or cultures. Of course, it takes a lot of time to learn about the other nations, but people should not deny everything and persecute them without trying to know about them. I think we do not know much about other cultures. This is why people discriminate against other people. If people get to learn a little more about other culture cases,  such as when a policeman shoots African Americans dead, they won’t jump to conclusions. In order to make this world happy, we have to try to know about the other’s thought. If we continue to learn about and experience cultures that differ from our native habits, then we can contribute to the world wide effort of seeking peace.