Memories for Good

Ngoc To( Jade)

English 100

Lost translation essay

                                                  Memories for Good

High school time in Vietnam will never fade because it was a beautiful moment for each student, including myself. I realized that friends, teachers, and the environment of summer at school are the basic aspects that I have lost in the new country. Everybody says that the U.S is a country has high technology, and more opportunities to improve my skills, but the images of Vietnam always stay in my head such as holidays, culture, and high school time. In fact, high school time was the happiest of period life because I built the connection with friends, and good relationship with teacher. Now that I am in the U.S., the experience of that time has not continued, and my life has changed.

The first time I came to school in the U.S., I realized the first thing I have lost was my friends. I met all best friends when I start high school in Vietnam because it was a new environment for students. We contacted and understood the attitude of all the members in the group very well even though we had known each other for a short time. We always hung out and talked every other day after school at any cheap food store on the street. However, I have lived in Chicago for many years, but I have not made any best friend yet. In the U.S. finding a good best friend is hard because people come from a lot of nations around the world, and we have different languages and cultures. Sometime, I am confused about what I should and should not ask others in conversations. Therefore, I always miss my friends back home, and I wish when I go back my country, I can bring them back together like we did before.

In addition to losing the relationship with friends, I also lost the relationship with my teachers. In Vietnam, even if students have graduated or worked at the different location, they still come back to visit their old teachers and share their successes on Teachers’ Day, so our relationships continue building every year. I know the teachers in the U.S. are very nice, kind and very friendly with every student, and especially foreigner students, but I have never felt confident when I talked or asked them questions. Thus, I lost the connection with them, but I still keep and remember my old traditional holiday called Teachers’ Day.

Furthermore, I have lost the red color of the royal Poinciana and the sound of cicadas in the schoolyard, which are a signal of summer. In Vietnam, when the students see the red color of the royal Poinciana fall fully on the surface at schoolyard, and hear the special buzzing sound of cicadas, they released that summer has almost arrived, and it is the time say bye to old friends and teachers. The feeling of happiness and sadness mingle at that moment. However, the U.S. has not had any signals remind me the summer, besides feeling hot of the weather. Therefore, it is missing these bright color and buzzing sound that always represented  the end of the school year

I might be living in new country, but the images of hanging out with all best friends, celebrating Teachers ‘Day, and looking at special flower every summer are missing from my life. Those images connect with my students’ time, and I will carry those beautiful images for my entire life. Therefore, if someone asks, what is the most impressive thing when you think about your country, right away, my answer is my student time.