My Middle School

August 15, 2013 was the date that I entered high school. I had high hopes for the upcoming high school years to be my best years ever since I was in sixth grade. I expected that I can make more friends, join more club activities, and can choose classes that I really like. Although I was very enthusiastic and eager to start the all new school years, I also had a lot of worries and confusion about it also. The night before I start my freshmen year, the thoughts of failing classes, and be able to graduate high school kept

I was about to face my greatest challenge in my new life. How to fit in with people in middle school. Arriving in America was already hard to adjust, what more can it be with my school life. It was in August when my school started. I was already nervous, and I haven’t even step foot from this mysterious school that I’m about to spend 2 years of my life.

I am ready to travel to a new country, experience a new way of living, open my horizons, and grow as a human being. It is time for me to step out of my comfort zone and become more independent. Spain’s energetic culture will allow me to view life differently and have a new appreciation for

From sandy beaches to rocky mountain ranges, astounding big cities to mosques and gothic cathedrals, vibrant festivals to the theatrical historic bullfights, Spain has about everything. Spain has been the center of culture in Europe for thousands of years. Spain is an astonishing place with rich heritage and lively festivals and art. Spain is not just about the flamenco dancing, bullfights, and the religious festivals, it has so many things to offer. Even Lenny Kravitz the American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer said, “It’s like a dream to come to Spain and stay a for a couple of years and get somebody to teach me Spanish music.” Today I am going to inform you about the well-known features of La Siesta in the Spanish culture, the creative and energetic Flamenco dance, and the historic subculture of Basque.

Who knew High School would be over in a blink of an eye? Four short years and a whole chapter of your life is over. The goal everyone was striving to achieve was completed, yet an even bigger thing was approaching “Life”. All 365 of us would venture out into the world and start new journeys hundreds of miles apart.

I look forward to fully immersing myself into the Spanish culture and spending time outside of class with other students from around the world. Sharing our experiences and learning to adapt to new surroundings will deepen my understanding of different cultures. As an artist, Spain’s great architecture and landscapes are quite inspiring and I am looking to further develop my sketching and digital art, and photography while visiting neighboring cities. The tools that I have gathered- patience, courage, resilience, and curiosity- will aid in building an unforgettable

Losing friends, meeting new people, first job, first car, boyfriend, getting my license. Throughout the last four years of high school I’ve experienced a lot of new things and learned a lot on the way. I remember walking into school on the first day of freshman year; I was thinking that these are going to be a very long couple of years. I was wrong; these past four years have gone by so fast, so I guess my dad was right when he said they’d fly by.

I remember sitting in my Spanish class Junior year and falling in love with Spain more and more with every slide of my teachers powerpoint. It was my third year of Spanish class, and my teacher Señora Leisure decided to teach us more about the variety of cultures that speak Spanish. She started with South American countries, and we eventually got to the powerpoint about Spain. As I watched images of the castles, the cafes, the architecture and the people flash across the screen, I was captivated. Sra. Leisure talked about Spain in the medieval times, and how it is a bustling center of commerce. We talked about the Flamenco dancers, the Tapas or small dishes that are served in almost every bar in Spain and the open air markets that line the plazas. I went home that night and dreamt of walking down the bustling streets and studying in cafes. From that point on, I read all that I could about Spain. I watched TV shows set in Spain, I studied more about it in my Spanish class and I talked with friends who had visited it. I feel that Spain is such a wondrously diverse mix of cultures because of it’s proximity to a variety of countries such as Morocco, France and Italy. These cultures, and many others, have added to Spain’s own

This unique fair has many different types of food for the people to enjoy. It

Finally and, somewhat miraculously, we made it through to the middle schooling years, those years where our future plans were wrung from our tenuous ‘maybe I might like to be a …… journalist……no, wait a minute, an architect…….. no, OK, I am sure this time that I want to be a juggler in the Cirque de Soleil. By this time too, our friendship groups had probably shattered, been pieced together again and then morphed again as old friends and new ones redefined our social relationships. These years are one of the most memorable moments of our lives, because these were the years that things started to get real. We had just that little bit more freedom and sass to boot. We were finally able to choose our subjects that we wanted to do, such as choosing

When I go to Madrid, I like to go eating something with friends. I love the characteristic food of Madrid like potatoes' omelette or “Callos a la Madrileña”. Another thing I like to do it's going to a Rock Concert in a representative

Looming in front of me was something new, a fresh start. Despite being this, it seemed cold and trying, something that sent shivers down my spine. Mixed emotions of uncertainty and optimism had filled my first day of middle school; and as my final year is drawing to a close, I realize that this place-this transitional time in my life- is something that I never want to leave. I created a home away from home, and a family, over the short three years spent learning here. Each school year, from first to concluding, brought new experiences in which have altered my life. These are the things that I am hoping to carry over into high school-my next chapter. Every experience in which middle school has brought leaves me changed indefinitely, shaped for the future ahead.

I have chosen the country Spain. I think Spain is very interesting country because it has a long history and fervent people. Most people think about Spain as football WorldCup, a fighting bull and Flamenco. However, Spain is very famous with its cuisine. Also known as Spain 's food is very intense and flavorful. In fact, in a previous block, I wrote an essay about compared with Spain and South Korea 's food culture. Food of Spain and Korea deal in common. Both countries have love of the spicy foods, and rice is a main ingredient. So Korean food is often popular in Spain and also, South Koreans are also very fond of Spanish food. Actually, I recently worked in a Spanish cuisine restaurant in Takapuna. I feel like that Spanish food has so fast cooking method and it uses many ingredients. My friend, who is a Spanish cuisine chef, told me that Spain has a lot of food such as tapas.

I am leaving Spain with a multitude of new memories, experiences, perspectives and friendships. I want to call attention to the things that made my trip so wonderful and memorable, but I also want to mention some things that I regret. Being a personal reflection, it would be wrong of me to only focus on the positives of this experience, when there were also a few negatives and bumps in the road that affected my time here. I learned so much about myself, the people of Seville and Barcelona, and the culture of Spain in the last five weeks that I will have stories to tell for the rest of my life. Join me for a tale of siestas, food I can neither describe nor pronounce, drama, observations from an American perspective, and all the rest that comes along with traveling with a group of 34 guiris in Spain.

Located in the Iberian Peninsula, Spain boasts of one of the most unique cultures in Europe. At different times, the country has been ruled by the Romans, the Visigoths, and the Moors from North Africa. Later, the Spanish colonized the Americas and contributed greatly to the emergence of the New World especially through the impact of Spanish explorers such as Christopher Columbus. The historical contacts left a lasting mark on this European nation especially in relation to culture, which has made Spain a popular tourist destination. Among other cultural aspects, Spain is reputed for its raucous festivals as well as ruby-red sangria. Today, Spanish culture still varies from one region to the other although there are some common traditions that serve as the nation’s iconic elements (Rodgers, 2002). With its distinctive blend of food, entertainment, art, and social conventions, Spain stand out in the whole of Europe as far as culture is concerned.