ISALC, Lewis and Clark College

Ryoko Sakurai: An Introduction

Let me introduce myself. My name is Ryoko Sakurai. I am from Japan. I came to the U.S. on June 25, 1999. I enjoy my American life fully. Although it is very hard for me to deal with classes and homework in the ISALC, every day life is very exciting. I have made a lot of great friends and I swam in the pool with them in the middle of the night in September. Moreover, I noticed afresh my affection toward my family and their affection for me because I miss them badly and I know how much they love me and are anxious about me through their heartwarming letters and telephone calls. They have always supported me when I was in trouble. So, my American life has acted on me wonderfully in many ways.

I came to Lewis & Clark College in order to study anthropology, and I am studying English and computers in preparation for my undergraduate study. The reason I chose Lewis and Clark College is very simple. It is because I heard that I could eat sticky rice in the cafeteria. It was very important for me. As I mentioned before, although classes are very tough and I have to cope with much homework, I have tried to do my best because it is good for me. I hope that sometime I can chat with Americans the same as I do with Japanese. Although I have not decided my future concretely, I dimly dream that I will travel all over the world and will make many friends, who have various backgrounds, by studying all sorts of people and cultures. I think it would be wonderful if I could not only travel to mere tourist attractions, but also visit friends from all over the world who I will meet in Lewis & Clark College.

Ryoko Sakurai: The Writer

If I compare my writing with an animal, I can express that my writing style is like a snail. My writing speed is extremely slow like a snail and the whorl of a snail shell is the most suitable word in order to represent my roundabout way of composing. I can also express that my writing style is like a snail when I write Japanese compositions because my writing speed is very slow and I am not good at organizing sentences logically in Japanese. Although at first I could not decide between a snail and a turtle to express my writing style, because we, Japanese, regard them both as a symbol of slow-footed animals, I finally chose a snail because a turtle implies a persistent person. In an old Japanese tale, the turtle defeated a rabbit in a marathon race. I think that a snail does not have special images except it is slow.

I desire to improve my writing by taking this class. Especially, I want to acquire the skills to organize my essay logically and shorten the time which I need to write the essay. Although I know that I need a long time to make my writing better, I want to do my best without comparing myself with other people.

Please EMail me!

Click here to see the writing assignment.

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Created by: krauss@lclark.edu
Updated: 9/16/99