From America_Report on Pleasant Hill High School_Mar.30th 2016

From Oregon, USA.  Ellie Goto made her report on Pleasant Hill High School updated on March 30^th,  2016.  We are very highly of her making every effort in her studying at PHHS.

Hey guys!  How are you doing?  Spring has been coming day by day!!  I'm so scared that time has been flying so fast…it is so serious to me.

There are some surprises and exciting events I want to tell you about.

First I was chosen as the Sophomore Student of the Month!  This is an award presented to the excellent students who were chosen by teachers.  I didn’t even know about this award, so I was wondering why the office called me.  I am so grateful to be presented this such a great award during my school time here as an exchange student.  I'll keep working hard and doing my best till the last day of school. Fortunately a lot of people support me so I'm sure that's why I really haven’t had any troubles here so far.

Next, I hope you guys don't mind that I have written so much about myself. I turned 16 last week and my family and friends had a party for me!  I didn't expect any friends to come over to our house and surprise me.  It was the craziest and funniest birthday ever!!  We played games, had cake, did karaoke and few stupid things.  Here, the United States, turning 16 is a big event called Sweet 16 for teenage girls.  In Japan I don't think it is. American people think the 16th birthday is a step up towards becoming an adult.  The main purpose of the party is to celebrate the girl becoming "older" and entering a different stage of her life. Typically this is the last big birthday party a girl would have.  By the way I didn't know teenagers can get their drivers’ license at 16. Anyway, I'm very lucky to be 16 here!  If I was in Japan I would be a junior this April but in America the school year ends in June, so I am a sophomore till then but honestly I don't feel like being a junior and I don't want to think that I have two years left till my graduation.

Last week was our spring break.  We had a week off of school.  My host family and I went on a road trip through Oregon to California.  Most of our trip was near the coast. I mean we could see the Pacific Ocean the whole time. I've been to the coast once, but this time we went to the Southern Oregon Coast and some of the Northern California Coast.  We visited the Oregon Caves, which is a National Monument and one of the famous spots to visit in Oregon.  We went into the caves and saw how wondrous it is. At our guide walked us through and showed us various stalactites and stalagmites. Each area of the cave had a name such as "Banana Grove" because of how it looked like, "Imagination room" had a lot of stalactites that you could imagine as other things like an elephant and a heart.  Below is a picture of "Banana Grove".

We felt nature not only from caves, but in the very large forest called the Redwood Forest.  The trees in the Redwood Forest are actually named Red Woods.  I know I see trees every single day around me but the red woods were so much taller and wider than those of the ordinary trees. Some trees were so large that a car could drive through them.  One thing not very common in Japan are wild elk that we saw in Oregon and California.  When I first saw them I thought they were on a small farm but they actually were not. I was surprised because they don't have fences and some people were too close to the elk. It was too dangerous…

If you have a chance to come to Oregon, I recommend you to go the Oregon caves and the Trees of Mystery where there are wonderful amazing woods. I really want to tell you about other cool places but I’ll just show you some pictures instead.

The last thing is Easter! It was on March 27th.  Probably it’s not that famous in Japan but here it is an important Christian holiday celebrating Jesus resurrection. We got to look for own baskets from Easter bunny and got treats:-)

Most people in Japan will start new life in spring. I hope you all had great spring break and get ready for the next steps to your dreams!

I so much appreciate that you read the whole report of mine.  See you next month bye bye!:P

皆さんこんにちは！春が段々と近づいてきていますがいかがお過ごしでしょうか。ここ最近1日1日がとてつもなく早く感じるので、時間の流れの早さに少し恐れをなしています。今月はサプライズと共に楽しい出来事がたくさんありましたのでご報告させていただきます。

初めに、ありがたい事に月間の学年生徒最優秀賞を頂きました！高校の先生方が投票して決める賞のようで、私は職員室に呼ばれるまではその存在すらも知りませんでした。今回このような賞を頂いて本当に感謝の言葉しか出てこないのですが、これから残りの期間も引き続き頑張ろうと思います。

続いて私事で申し訳ないのですが、先日16歳の誕生日を迎えました。16歳の誕生日はアメリカではとても大きなイベントで、車の免許が取れるようになったりなど”大人”としての階段をのぼるという意味も含まれています。私の場合は、現地の友達がサプライズとして来てくれ、お祝いをしてもらいました！あれほど賑やかな誕生日は今まで迎えたことがなかった気がします…とても楽しかったです。ともあれ、アメリカでちょうど16歳を迎えられたことは本当に幸運でしたしとても良い思い出になりました。実質的には私はもうすぐ高校2年生になります。卒業もあっという間に来てしまうことでしょう。

さて、このレポートを書いている今、こちらは春休みの終わり頃です。私はホストファミリーと一緒にオレゴンとカリフォルニアを渡る旅行に行きました。今回は太平洋沿いをずっと車で走っていき海岸に停まったり観光スポットを巡る、という形だったので終始車窓からは海が見えていました。

海岸でゆっくりした次の日、oregon caveという天然記念物の洞窟に行ってきました。中には自然の神秘がひっそりと詰まっています。ガイドの方の説明によると、中の鍾乳洞は様々な形になっていて名前もつけられているそうです。バナナの形に見える鐘乳石がたくさんある場所は"Banana Grove",象やウェディングケーキ、色々なものに想像できる鐘乳石が集まった場所は"Imagination room". 下の写真は"Banana Grove" です。

Oregon caveだけではなくオレゴン南部やカリフォルニアで見られるセコイア（ヨーロッパアカマツ）の木々も、専用の植物園がある程人気で普段では中々見ることは難しいものなので、とても貴重な時間でした。その他野生のヘラジカを近くで見たり水族館に行ったりなど本当に楽しかったです！

そして3月27日はイースター。私の家ではお菓子が詰まったバスケットを探したりと、日本ではあまり有名ではない珍しい行事を楽しみました。

日本では春に多くの人が進級、進学、新生活など新しい日々を迎えます。皆さんの新しい日々のそれぞれが、夢への一歩となりますように。

今月も読んで下さり本当に有難うございました！