My Summer Activities

I usually go to the park and I’m going to the park this Sunday. I never go to the bar and I’m not going to the karaoke this weekend. I often play volley ball with my family. I usually eat outdoor on weekend. I go camping in the park sometimes. I never drink beer on Sunday. I go shopping on weekend. I’m going to the party this Saturday. This is a good weekend for me, because I’m going to a party on Saturday.

Victoria

If I were 20

If I were 20 years older I would live in Lebanon. If I were 20 years older I would live in a village. If I were 20 years older my healthy would be good. If I were 20 years older I would have a lot of money I would own a house in the village. If I were 20 years older I wouldn’t live alone. If I were 20 years older I wouldn’t want to be poor. The best thing is I would live in a village and I wouldn’t be for from my family.

Ahmad

A Good Place to Visit in my Country

I come from Belarus. My native country is located in Europe. We have 4 seasons in my country: spring, summer, fall, winter. The best time to visit my country is in June or August. If you visit my country, be sure to visit Mir Castle Complex because it is a historical and cultural monument of national importance and value of World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. When you go there, you will see on object with a well developed infrastructure, two conference rooms for high level activities, the hotel with 15 rooms, restaurant with an old cuisine, a gift shop with products of Belarusian artisans. When you go there, you can see beautiful parks and ponds, listen on concert stages of Mir music and Knight festivals. A lot of people like to visit this place because the Mir castle changed hands many times. It was built in the 16th century in gothic style by the Duke, Yuri Ilyinich. Wings, porches and balconies were added during the Renaissance. From the 1800’s to present the castle has changed owners and uses several times. You have to pay 50 dollars to visit this place.

Zhanna

A Good Place to Visit in my Country

I come from Togo. My native country is located in West Africa. There are 7.000.000 people. We have four seasons in my country: spring, summer, fall and winter. The best time to visit my country is in summer from July to September. If you visit my country, be sure to visit Lome. The capital and largest city of Togo, Lome is an excellent place to start your trip or business. When you can go there, you will see place of independence, Togo national museum, coco beach, independence stature, fetish market, Lome cathedral, motor taxi, bush taxi and the port. When you go there, you can go shopping, go to the beach, and visit the port. A lot of people visit this place because you will know about the city’s history. The city was founded in the 18th century by the ewe people by 1963. The city has two seasons of rain. The first one is from April to July and the second one is from September to November. You don’t need to pay before visiting this place. I hope you have a great time if you go to Lome. Everything is cheap; there are taxi cars to take you everywhere you want to visit and they are cheap too. Go there and you will see everything with your own eyes.

RICHARD

A Good Place to Visit in My Country

I come from El Salvador. My native country is located in Central America. There are about 7 million people. We have 2 seasons in my country summer and rain season. The best time to visit my country is in August. If you visit my country, be sure to visit El Boquerón National Park, because it is the principal volcano in the capital it has a smaller crater called “El Boqueroncito” (small mouth) created after the last volcanic eruption in 1917. When you go there, you will see Flowers, vegetation and if you are very hungry you can go to the restaurant and eat traditional food. When you go there you can walk, run, eat, take pictures and ride a bike. A lot of people visit this place because it is very beautiful, the weather is fresh and you can see the small crater in the volcano. You have to pay $1 to visit this place. I hope you have a great time if you go to “El Boquerón National Park”.

Patricia

Nasrah

I come from Iraq. My native country is located in Middle East. There are twenty seven million people. We have four seasons in my country; spring, summer, fall and winter. The best time to visit my country is in winter. If you visit my country be sure to visit Basrah because it’s a big city and a main port in Iraq and has 30.000.000 date palms, it’s the first in the world for date palms, and exports oil to the world. When you go there, you see a Sea museum, Shatt al Arab river, Al Sindbad garden, old markets and holy places. And when you go there, you can go shopping, fishing, enjoy dates and see a show at the National Theater. A lot of people like to visit this place because it played an important role in early Islamic history and the first mosque was built in Iraq called Al Kames. You have to pay $10 if you visit a Sea museum and if you visit the holy places you don’t pay any money; they are free. I hope you have a great time if you go to Basrah.

Nasir

A Good Place to Visit in my Country

I come from China. My native country is located in Asia. There are 1,300,000,000 people. We have four seasons in my country: spring, summer, fall, winter. The best time to visit my country is in the fall. Because when fall comes to Beijing, the temperature is cool. Leaves change colors and look very nice, you can eat many good fruit. When you go to sleep, you can feel very comfortable. If you visit my country is sure to visit Beijing because it’s the capital city and have long history, country’s center and culture center. When you go there, you will see the Great Wall; Olympic stadium, Temple of Heaven. When you go there, you can go shopping, walk along Chang Pu River and you can eat at Wang Fu Jing for food. A lot of people like to visit this place, because Beijing is one of the four ancient cities of China (together with Yian, Luoyang, Nanjing) the best preserved and famous around the world. Beijing is also known as a cradle of humanity as early as 700.000 years ago Peking man lived in Zhou Kou Dian area of Beijing. You have to pay $26 when you visit the Great Wall. You have to pay $35 when you visit Olympic stadium. You have to pay $39 when you visit Temple of Heaven. I hope you have a great time if you go to Beijing.

Li

A Good Place to Visit in my Country

I come from Viet Nam. My native country is located in Asia. There are one hunreds million people. We have two seasons in my country rain and hot. The best time to visit my country is in the spring. If you visit my country, be sure to Visit Ho Chi Minh city on February 14, because all people celebrate New Year. Baby plants sprout, plants grow new buds and flowers bloom in the place. All people are very happy. Many people go to church and to temples. When you go there, you will see many beautiful places. In spring around 3 million tourists visit Ho Chi Minh City. If you have $5000 dollar, you can visit my country also you can see a very beautiful ocean. You will be very happy if you visit Ho Chi Minh City.

Dinh

A Good Place to Visit in my Country

I come from Iraq. My native country is in Asia. We have 4 seasons’ .spring, summer, fall and winter. The best time to visit is in the winter. You should visit Bagdad, because Bagdad is the capital of Iraq .Anybody can go to Bagdad. Bagdad is the second largest city in Arab world after Ciro, Eugupt and second largest western city after Tehran; Iran.Ther is a large mosque in Bagdad called Moses alkadm.Shia Muslim comes from all over the word to visit it. There is Bagdad zoo which was the largest zoo in the Middle East. They have 650 animals. I hope you will have a great Tim if you visit Bagdad.

Atlal

Parents and Children

In my native country Togo the family size is seven a mother a father and five children. In Togo the mothers teach their children give them money help those with homework and Cook for them fathers usually have these responsibilities play with their children care for them and love them. In Togo raising children today is more difficult than 100 years ago because Technology is everywhere. I think boys are easier to rise because they don’t need something new
Every day. Fragment In Togo the minimum and maximum ages for men to have children today are around 25 and 29 but 50 years ago they had children when they were 20 years old. Women before had children around 18 years but today they have kids when they are 23 years. American children seem more spoiled than children in Togo and I think in the next 50 years children will be more spoiled than today because they are independent. I think family will be smaller in the next 50 years than today because people don’t like to have more than three children. Thinks change every day.

Richard

I remember...

I remember my first day of school. I was 12 years old when I began school. I was born in Togo but when I was three years old, my parents brought me to my grandmother who lived in another country named Benim, very close to Togo. My grandmother didn’t have money to bring me to school neither did my parents. One day in 2001 my uncle Yaovi decided to bring me to school and I was very happy because I liked school. When I went to school, the director said I was too old and he couldn’t accept me. But by grace of God, he accepted me and I felt happy that day. I saw many students. That day I learnt alphabet and numbers. At that moment I said to myself that it was too late for me but that day I could say that it was never too late when life continues. I believed in God. I said he could change my life and he changed it. I will never forget that year because if I didn’t begin school that year, I couldn’t go to school anymore.

Richard

Parents and Children

In Mexico the families are small. Every family has two or three children. In Mexico women work hard in their house and outside the house men work hard to give their families food in the house and to have plenty of clothes and shoes. Single mothers work inside and outside of their houses. It’s double work for them because they don’t have work, for example, secretary, cashier, hairdresser, housekeeper, pharmacist, sales person, seamstress, and waitress. Later, they come home and prepare the food, clean the house, wash the clothes, wash the dishes and check the children’s homework. There are also mothers who bring their children to work along with them. The work for the women in Mexico is very hard. Children play soccer on the street or in the fields, they chase each other, etc. some fathers come home late and help their children with homework. They help their wives with washing the dishes or other chores. They play with their children. Every family has two, three, or four children every family is formed out of six people include father and mother. Life in Mexico is very different. My family is big. I have two uncles who are the brothers of my father. I have one uncle who is brother of my mother. I have fourteen boy cousins and fifteen girls’ cousins. Live in Mexico is very different because there are more traditions. Every state and county has different traditions. People are very happy with their traditions.

Olivia

I remember...

I remember my family. My family was very nice. I remember being with my father and my mother when they carried me to the fair in my county. They bought candy and balloons for my brothers, sisters and me. I also remember my school friends. We played in the street and field. My friends were very nice too. I remember my uncles and aunts when they came to visit my home. My mother prepared food for us and we were very happy. I remember when my cousins came to my house. We played many games. I remember the traditions and holidays in my country because they are very different than here. I love my traditions and food. I remember the family parties because they were fun. We enjoyed them together and we were very happy. I remember all my friends and neighbors. They were very nice. I remember music band when we went to the county fair. It was beautiful. I miss all of these. I remember my friends when I went to the dance and enjoyed it a lot. We enjoyed a lot of dancing and my friends were very good. I also remember my school teachers. They were excellent. I have many great memories of my childhood.

Olivia

I remember...

I remember my mother. On March 23rd was the anniversary of my mother’s death. Her memory remains very strong inside of me and on this anniversary I am reminded of many memories.
I was the youngest of three children. I have an older brother and an older sister. My father was always serious and my mother always smiled. Each week my father would come home from his job so my mother was the only one who was always with us. My mother could not read or write but she could write our names. My mother was a very capable woman and was a very good worker. I admired her during New Year’s celebrations. Each year she would make a new dress for my sister and me and a new outfit for my brother. It was not an easy task. First she would go to a store to buy the cloth. Then she would look in the newspaper for ideas from models she saw. Next she would cut the cloth and then use the sewing machine to make the outfits. Every year I would have a different style of new clothing. My mother could knit sweaters, make pants, gloves and socks. I remember that my mother would wake up every morning at 5 am to begin making different types of pasta, rice, and soup. When I woke up my mother would go to work. My mother was never late for work. When I was very young and it was summer, it would be very hot because we had no fans at home. My mother would fan me so that I was able to sleep.
Although my mother has left me, I still remember her smile and that she supports me in my new life here.

Li

I remember...

I remember when I was five years old, my mom went to live in the U.S. I cried every day and I missed her. But my grandmother cared for me and she said, “Your mom is ok. She loves you!” My grandmother hugged me all the time. But life got more difficult for me when my grandmother went to the US too. When I was 12 years old, it was very difficult because two most important persons for me were very far and I missed my two moms. My cousin took care of me and she didn’t like me. My life with her was very difficult because she hit me and was very angry with me all the time. My mom paid her every month because she took care of me. But it was not real; my mom didn’t know what happened with me during the five years I lived with my cousin. It was very hard! But when I was 15 years old I came to the U.S. and I lived with my mom. I told her about my cousin and she couldn’t believe the story about my life with her. My mom cried and she was angry with her but my mom couldn’t do anything. I am happy now because I don’t live with my cousin anymore. She is very far from me. Now my life is different. I am happy now with my family and I try to forget what happened to me many years ago.

Lesly

Parents and Children

In China, the average family is three people, father, mother, and child. The men are usually between 28 and 30 years old when they get married. The women are usually between 25 and 28 years old when they get married. Mother’s responsibilities in raising children are to clean clothes, make healthy food, educate, play with a child, care for the child and some women are goes to work. Fathers give financial support and a little care for the child. Sometime they play with the child. Today raising children is more difficult than 100 years ago because today there are more needs and they are harder with technology. Parents are permissive, authoritative and authoritarian with the children. The meaning of the family is love, taking care of and supporting each other. I think girls are easier to raises because girls can help the parents and are easy to talk to their.
In China lot children don’t have play time, because parents think they should study more. Some children at college need parent’s support. In the United States, it is different children are independent early in life. They can take care of themselves earlier. Since coming to the U.S. my ideas have changed: I think it is OK for children to have fun with their friends and both father and mother.

Jianping

I remember...

I remember my father. I was very young. My body was very weak. I was often sick. For a long time I couldn’t go to kindergarten. Every morning my father took me to his work at the factory clinic meridians injection. My father knew painting is very nice. When lunch break he taught me painting Chinese. Sometimes taught me to play badminton. At the time China’s households don’t have a TV. Every week my father took me to nearby military clubs and cinema watch movies. When I felt tired he would carry me home, because my body was not very good. My father made me healthy. Every morning he went hiking, played badminton and did exercises with me. I slowly went back to being healthy when I was in high school. I was elected to the youth archery team.
My father was both a teacher and friend. He taught me many things. Although he is gone now, he will always live in my memory.

Jianping

I remember...

I remember when I was a kid in Iraq, I went to school. I remember some friends in elementary school who I played together with. I think we played football. I also remember some teachers. After school I went home and played with boys in the neighborhood after homework was ready. I remember when I was in middle school I missed my father because he was in the war. But life went on we were living the life of boys. We went to school and played. When the war ended, I was going to the University of Baghdad. But a happy life did not last because of Iraq went to second war. I remember after university my journey began with travelling to Jordan because of difficult life and moved on to other countries.

Imad

I remember...

I remember my first school room and I saw a lot of kids in the room. When I saw my teacher, my knees started shaking. I remember my school’s name. It was “Manuel Avila Camacho”. After three hours the bell started to ring to tell us to go take a break. After another 30 minutes we came back into the classroom. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the bell started ringing again. Time to go home!

Francisco

I remember...

I remember my own radio. I woke up every morning at 8:30 am, and I switched on my radio to listen to my favorite program on “Almadena FM” and the name of the program was “Good Morning, Syria!” First thing I listened to my favorite singer Fairoz. Her voice was very special and when I listened to her voice I remember my whole life in Syria. The best thing about this program was if you have a friend’s birthday, you can send his or her phone number to wish them a happy birthday. During the time of the program, it was like a surprise for your friend. I did this for my best friend Noor and she was happy. Now my special radio is in my house in Syria. I try to go back with my memory by listening to Fairoz’ songs because all the time in the morning I listened to her to remember beautiful memories with my friends and to remember my home ad my little black radio.

Fatima

I remember...

I remember the eyes and tears of my mother. But before I talk about my mother, I will describe my family. I have a very big family: eight brothers and five sisters. I’m the seventh in the family. I say “sorrows of my mother” (tears of my mom) because I am the only person from my family who is in exile: immigration commodes, escape into the unknown. It was the only way for me to maintain the safety of my family first, my personal safety secondly, where it became a source of concern for my family. Before 2000, some unjust people chased me every week. Why? Because they wanted people to be silent! How? Why? Where? When? What? I DO NOT KNOW! One day somebody came and said, “Get out!” so I decided to escape. This is where the suffering of my mother began. The day of the travel arrived. I put on my clothes. My mother prepared my travelling bag, talked to me and relieved me from pain. In a moment, she said, “Why do you need to travel? Why don’t you stay?” This is when the tears started to come down and I was not attentive but I realized that her voice changed. I looked at my mother crying but without sounds. I said that it was too hard to stay.
Position and the impact of my sight, but… but… but… but what could I say?? I came out of the house and I became a prisoner of tears of my mother and my own salvation.
We all live in a big prison and every person is a prisoner of suffering and pain.

Ahmad

Parents and Children

In my native country Iraq the average family size is six.But 20 years ago ,the average family was nine to eleven people because the life was easy and not expensive.
I the U.S. the averagy family is 3 or 4 people.The mother in my country has these responsibilitis in raising childrens :help with their homework,cook,clean,wash clouths,………etc.
In my country, the averagy age for marriage is 32 to 35 years for men and for women it is 25 to 29 years old.But in the U.S. averagy marriage age is 27 years for men and 25 years for women.In my country the father first of all has to provide financial support, what the family needs,play with their children,care for the whole family ,bay things,transport the family ,..etc.
But in the U.S. fathers help with their family less.Father provides financial support,care emotional support.I remember in my country the mothers sometime work and sometimes doesn’t work.
When I think about “parenting style”, I understand that all countries are different.I belive the structure and idea for oarents and children is different in the U.S. than in Iraq . In my country permissive style is used approximately 20% of the time, authoritarian -10%,outhoritative-66%. This is sometimes a problem because I don’t understand why people

Ahmad

Parents and Children

In my native country, the average family size is five people. Fathers in Mexico have these responsibilities in raising children: fathers in my country play billiards, football, soccer, watch movies and have fun with children. They go shopping for food on Sunday. Mothers in Mexico, cook, clean and send children to school. Mothers do not work. Raising children today is more expensive to pay for living in Mexico.
In Mexico in same cities it’s too hard to find jobs. I think girls are easier to raise because mother spend more time with girls. Girls I think never look for problems. Boys always find problem. The minimum age for men to have children is 22 years old. The maximum age to be a father is 50 years old. The minimum age for women to have a child is 24 years old. The maximum age for women to have a child in my native country is 45 year old.

Benjamin

I remember...

When I was a child I like to go to school. I had lot of friends but only one was my best friend. His name is Carlos Pimentel. We sat together and played together. We did a lot of things together. We were good friends.
In my family, there were seven people. My father died when he was 50 years old and my life changed from there. We didn’t have money to pay the bills and food.
I liked to go to school because that was my fun child time.

Benjamin

I remember...

I remember my childhood. When I was five years old my parents, three of my younger brothers and I lived in a small village called AL-Maih. It was near to Euphrates river in south of Iraq. The river would overflow seasonally in summer.
My oldest brother had a good summer. He looked for bird eggs, which made nest on the hills. He made a boat of a half of a barrel. I saw him jump hill to hill and the birds hovered around him. We all clapped when he arrived. That is one picture from many childhood memories. I would like to live in that time but the minute hand doesn’t go back again. We would like to do more than the dreamers without future because we live in real time. We will be getting from the childhood preachments to the advantage of others.

Nasir