Introduction

5/29/15

Throughout this year the main theme of my writing has been linking my new life in America to my old life in England. When I was first given the assignment of writing a descriptive essay in September (less than two months after I had arrived here) I knew exactly what to write about. This subject, for me, was very easy to write about, and I was able to include my emotional memories into it. This is reflected in my short story about a French girl with parents from different nationalities who moved to another country and about how she dealt with it. There were some elements in that story that were true to me. I think this theme has made me improve as a writer, because I have been given the freedom to write down all my thoughts and emotions over the past year and hand it in as a paper.

Thus, writing has been very important to me this year. In the past I always struggled to find something to write about, but I have very much grown to the idea of creative writing. The narrative essay about “Clémence Petit” was very much the transition point of my view of literature. I loved writing as this “other person” and I wrote whatever I wanted to. Especially now, as I’m moving on in my school career and my stress levels are going to go up, writing allows me to just escape for a little bit and concentrate on being another person. I am almost inclined to continue Clémence’s story and see where it takes me (and her). Furthermore, comparing the two pieces of works about The Taming of the shrew has also been important to me. I have never gone so in depth in two pieces of drama before. Writing about them has given me a new view on how I look at books, movies, plays etc. I have noticed that I pay more attention to aspects of the film such as characters, plot, setting etc.

One thing I noticed with my writing this year is my style seems to repeat itself in each paragraph. In my short story, I wanted Clémence to have a thing that she likes to say all the time. Thus, I used a word for when she annoyed. “God, that is so annoying.” This repetition definitely adds to the character and having little things like that, I think, makes the story just a little bit more relatable. Furthermore, in my compare and contrast essay, I tried to structure my paragraphs in a specific way. Using a method that I learnt in England called, “PEE” (Point, Evidence, Explain) I write my thoughts down as clearly as possible. I start by writing something that I want to prove, followed by evidence to prove it, and then I explain in thorough detail how it relates to the point and why it matters. In most of my essays about books that I have written this year you can see this same structure. It has definitely worked out well for me, and as I go through the rest of my school years I hope to improve this method and find the perfect way that works for me.

Non-Fiction Essay – Train Journey from Winchfield, England to Angers, France

5/23/15

I spent a week holiday with my mom in Beaupreau, France. How I got there however, was through a series of train journeys through North West Europe. It took the whole day but was definitely worth it. The only car journeys involved were from Angers st Laud station to the village where my family lived, and from my house to the local train station, which serves the South West Trains service.

The train is a blue/orange color. I sat inside the train for approximately one hour, which took me to the big and bustling London Waterloo station. I had to roll my suitcase on top of all sorts of surfaces. The station used to house the revolutionary Eurostar train, but it got moved to St. Pancras due to space issues. It’s a very diverse place. Trains going to Southhampton, Wimbledon, Winchester and so many other places in the South. Unfortunately, Waterloo is able to make its money by charging 50p to use the restroom. The main hall is full of vendors selling magazines, snacks and all sorts of train goods. It’s particularly grey, matching its dull style from the old times from when Waterloo was built.

Going down to the metro station the colors change a bit. The underground ticket room has many colorful maps of the London public transport system. The station very much resembles the area upstairs. The train is a very modern semicircular-like shape. Filled with sweaty businessmen trying to catch their train, the atmosphere in the underground is very dense and hot.

While in the tube there is a huge diversity of people – tourists from all over the world, teens looking for trouble, and young adults on their way to a party or a club. This definitely contrasts with what it used to be. Back in the 19^th century steam trains ruled the underground. Victorian style women and classy men who could afford to use them would be traveling London in style. Now, it’s a norm. One can use one’s “Oyster card” to get around London for free with a certain payment every year.

Arriving in St. Pancras, the air is different from downstairs. A cold, British breeze flies through the also bustling international station. South Eastern, Thameslink, East Midland all leave from here. This station is the gateway to the North and has been since 1868. But the one fascinating train here is Eurostar. Eurostar is a high-speed train that was built by Britain in France and made to link London and Paris directly. Going through the Channel Tunnel, the Eurostar goes underneath the seabed of the Channel between Britain and France. The Eurostar is pretty much the only high- speed train in use in Britain. It can reach a top speed of 186mph – which exceeds the speed of any other “old fashioned” train in Britain. Even though Britain has huge and great rail links, it will never be able to top the infrastructure of Europe. After a two hour Eurostar ride, we arrive in Paris.

Paris Gare du Nord is one of Paris’ eight stations, all of which hold the key of getting around Europe. Gare du Nord is famous for Eurostar, but it also has Thalys trains that go to Belgium and the Netherlands. It’s significantly bigger than Waterloo and St. Pancras. It holds a lot more platforms than them. Coming off the long Eurostar train one can see the extent of the variety of trains. Once again, the station is a rather dull and grey station with a few advertisements here and there. Thousands of busy French and English people are swarming around the station finding their train to go home. Therefore, if you’re looking for help, you aren’t going to be able to ask anyone.

Aboard the Paris Metro, a bunch of Toulouse rugby players are shouting about their latest win. There are lots of bright colors around, which contrast with the dullness of the big station above. The Paris subway system is organized differently than in London. Like in New York, the Parisians decided to use a confusing number and letter system for their line design. From Gare du Nord, the 4 line connects with Montparnasse, which is where one of the big TGV (Train Grande Vitesse) hubs are (along with Gare de Lyon). It’s a long ride between these to places – a 20-minute train ride sat in silence. Small talk doesn’t really exist in this underground world.

The train arrives into Montparnasse. The walls are covered with signs indicating where to go for which train. Businessmen and women are heading home for the day – whether it be Chartres, Versailles or Le Mans. On the first floor, a large tree resides in front of the various ticket booths, It adds that little bit of nature that is missing from the dull atmosphere. My mom and I are feeling nebulous at this moment, with people moving here and there; the mass of platforms, and trains going all over the country. We get to the train. Grey TGV’s are lined up in a parallel style. TGVs were the breakthrough in European infrastructure. The idea that one could get from a business center to another (Paris and Lyon) in two hours was almost revolutionary. For a while Europe ruled the industry until the development of bullet trains in South East Asia.

Aboard the train from Paris to Nantes, the journey slowly comes to an end. Roaring through the countryside, the TGV shows off its beauty alongside the wide fields of France. Eventually, the will stop in Angers, and the train will continue to serve its country.

Compare and Contrast – The Taming of The Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You

4/15/15

10 Things I hate about you, directed by Gil Junger, is a modern take on the famous play Taming of the shrew, written by Shakespeare. Taming; set in Padua Italy, was written in the Elizabethan age. Although it is in modern English form, it is still very different from our perception of modern literature. 10 Things; set in Padua high school, Seattle; differs very widely from the original, and I think that it is the better form. This opinion is going to be expressed by characters and theme; then more in depth in the specific scenes of the relationship between Kate and Petruchio and the “taming” of Katherine.

One aspect of the two works is characters and their resemblance in them. In Taming, the few “main” characters are Petruchio, Lucentio, Katherine, and Bianca. The men are both very masculine and seem to be good at making girls fall in love with them. The women are both beautiful, and many men are attracted to their looks (not necessarily their personalities). Petruchio is a very confident man who is in a good position to “tame” Katherine. Lucentio isn’t as confident, but he still has his eyes set on Bianca, and she does fall in love with him. Bianca is a beautiful, pleasant, woman. Her sister Katherine is mean and horrible – but still beautiful. However, in 10 things, Cameron (who portrays Lucentio) is the “new kid” in a typical American high school. He is quite small and not very confident in trying to romance her. Patrick Verona (who portrays Petruchio) is a larger teen that is feared by other kids at the school. He has no problem getting what he wants and has lots of confidence. Kat (who portrays Katherine) isn’t liked by teachers, friends and sometimes not even by her dad(but eventually he likes her in the end). This is mainly because she is quite a mean person and isn’t good at keeping a nice conversation going. Bianca is a beautiful woman who is looking for love. She is generally a nice person but does not get on with her sister and often finds arguments with her. One similarity between two of the works is that Lucentio (a very masculine, confident man) needs Tranio’s help to approach Bianca in Taming; and in 10 things Cameron is a small, unconfident teen boy. He needs the help of his companion Michael to get Bianca to like him. The difference here is that it makes sense in 10 things that a scrawny little boy tries to get the beautiful woman, yet there shouldn’t be a reason why Lucention couldn’t make the move himself. This is a reason why I think that 10 things is the better version, as making “Lucentio” a small and unconfident man gives him a bigger challenge in the movie. He has to use his personality and looks to get Bianca – but in taming money seems to be the big factor, and Lucentio has a lot of it. As an audience the main goal that you want to see is how a character reaches his/her goal (in a traditional movie style). If there were no obstacles then it would be a boring movie. We have Katherine as an obstacle in Taming, but the fact that this movie adds that one bit more of challenge is what makes it great. Cameron has to man up and not be the “new kid.” He has to approach bigger and scarier people like Joey and Patrick to get what he wants.

Another aspect of the two works is the themes of the works. In Taming, one of the main themes is “love can’t always be achieved.” Hortensio, Gremio and Lucentio all love Bianca. Petruchio loves Katherine. Bianca loves Lucentio. There is almost a triangle of love, and almost always whenever the subject of love comes up in the play; the person that they are talking about may not love them back. This is important as it adds more depth and consternation in the novel. Who loves whom? This makes the play more interesting. In 10 things another theme is that love can come in different forms. The small, new kid (Cameron) in school loves one of the most popular girls in school (Bianca). Another example that complements this theory is that Patrick Verona – who is seen as a lower class, lonely, teen who falls in love and gets together with another popular and beautiful (in a different way) girl (Katherine). There is also the love between Bianca and Katherine who have a rollercoaster of a relationship during the movie. In conclusion, there is a similarity between the two works’ themes. They both involve love – and there is lots of different relationships that go on during them. The reason I personally prefer 10 things is because of the fact that the story doesn’t make the people who you would think gets together, together. In the original play all the main characters are rich and high class, and as it is set in the old period, money and dowry’s was the big deal in a marriage. In 10 things, they make the lower high school social class get with the higher class. This adds a bit more tension to the story and gives an interesting plot line on how they are going to go about it. Once again 10 things is adding that little bit more of a challenge.

Moving on to specific parts of the play, one area, which holds an interesting contrast between the two, is the climax of each. In Taming, the climax happens right after the wedding. In this climax, Bianca falls in love with Lucentio, Hortensio runs off to marry the widow after finding out he isn’t loved and Petruchio starts the taming process. This is when the final relationships are formed and disguises come off. This is the most attractive part of the play (as an audience member) due to lots of action happening. These events all take place after the wedding – at Petruchio’s house and at Baptista’s house. In 10 things there is a big party hosted in Bogey Lowenstein’s house. There is alcohol involved, which would be usual in a stereotypical” suburban high school party. Bianca learns about Joey’s past with Katherine and punches him after he punches Cameron. Cameron and Bianca kiss after the party, and Kat tries to kiss Patrick but gets rejected. This specific part can be interpreted as the first step of taming Kat. These scenes are both very action-packed, and as an audience member I find them both enticing and they both make me want to watch/read more. However, I feel that the differences between them make me prefer 10 things more. The reason is that first; the “almost-kiss” between Kat and Patrick gave the audience a false reaction – only to later see that Patrick rejects it. This adds to the central conflict; now we know that Kat does like Patrick, but the fact that he rejected her gives a different opinion on their relationship. There is an atmosphere of awkwardness that emanates from those climatic scenes that I don’t feel from the play.

Another specific part of the works that is quite interesting is the idea behind the taming of Katherine; “She ate no meat today, nor none she shall eat, last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not.[…]This is a way to kill a wife with Kindness.” Taken from Act 4. Sc. 2, Petruchio talks about his plan to “tame” Kate. As he says, his method of taming Kate is rather barbaric – he plans to starve her and deprive her from sleep so that when he stops she will appreciate him. This idea is backed up by Grumio, (Petruchio’s servant) as he teases her. In 10 things there is no such idea projected throughout the story. However, one can infer that Patrick does tame Kate. First, he only tries to be with her as he was being paid. Later on, he lies to her about it until she finally finds out. Another is rejecting her kiss – embarrassing Kat and letting her know that they can only kiss if he wants to kiss. Patrick very subtly does slowly tame Kat (mainly for money) but he does fall for her. There are some similarities in these two works. Both Petruchio and Patrick both try to prevent Katherine from getting what she wants. Petruchio deprived Katherine of food and sleep, and Patrick stopped Kat from getting her kiss from someone who actually likes her. I prefer 10 things in this situation because I find Taming a little too harsh. Taking away food and sleep from someone is very bad, and Patrick was able to do the same job but in a much easier way. He looked for the things that she really wanted and tried to “tame” her that way. The reason that it makes 10 things better is that it adds a bit more complexity to the story. This is the 21^st century, and Patrick had to find new ways of getting Kat, which is entertaining for the viewer.

In conclusion, I prefer 10 things to Taming because it makes the “basic” storyline more entertaining; it adds complexity, more challenges to the protagonists and increases the tension and the emotions that the viewers feel. It may be that as a teenager living in the 21^st century, I can relate to a modernized version of the Elizabethan play, but nevertheless it is still an enjoyable and compelling movie.

Short Story – Little Adventure

2/19/15

“Au revoir Clémence!” My parents shouted across the airport. God, they always embarrass me. I ignored them, I didn’t want to look at their faces ever again after what they did to me. I’m on my way to England to go to some posh school in Derby, England. God, Derby – what a stupid name. It sounds like Herbie the car or something. So I’m going to this stupid school, probably because my parents hate me. All my life they’ve embarrassed me. My Dad is French and my Mom is English, and somehow we ended up in Los Angeles. They never grew accustomed to the “American culture,” so they always embarrassed me – whether it was at school, with friends or just anywhere. God, it annoyed me.

So I’ve just checked in my bags and left my parents. Once again they found someway to embarrass me while the bags were being weighed. “Did you know that our beautiful Clémence is going away all on her own? She is such a brave little girl.” God, they annoy me so much. My name isn’t Clémence with the French accent like my parents say it. It’s Clemence, without the accent. Clemence Petit, if you were wondering what my last name was. Anyway, I’m on my own; I can do whatever I want. Heck, I could go and buy something. I went to the duty free shop and looked around. I kept looking, but I couldn’t buy anything. I don’t know why, but something was stopping me. It was odd. I felt like I needed to ask before I bought something. But ask who? No one was with me. Whatever. I just had a really weird moment.

I decided to take a break and go and sit down in the lounge. I needed it. The new school I was going to probably would make me sleep at seven o’clock or something. God, I hope that won’t be the case. I started to close my eyes and imagine today. What happened to me earlier? I saw my parents waving at me. I wanted to wave back but I couldn’t. Something was stopping me. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t. I could feel tears down my eyes. Then someone grabbed me. An old man wrapped a blanket around me and dragged me away from my parents. I awoke with someone tapping me on my shoulder. I was drenched in sweat. A middle-aged woman in a blue, flowery dress stared at me.

“Are you okay ma’dear?” she spoke loudly into my ear. I didn’t want to respond. I couldn’t let anyone see me like this. So I ran off to the bathroom.

As I walked in, I noticed a horrible smell that is a public bathroom. I looked into the mirror. Ugh, my hair looks so different now. All the sweat must have changed it to a darker color than my blonde hair. I stared at myself, trying to apply makeup where I could. I still looked pretty good, if I have to be honest. My short hair still matched my jacket. The eyeliner that Mom bought me went perfectly with my blue eyes. Anyway, I tried to dry myself as much as I could, and I decided to look at the time. It was 4:00. This couldn’t be. My flight was at 4:30. I ran out of the door, and rushed towards the big board in the middle of the shopping area. My flight had been delayed to 5:00. Thank God. Still, I ran to my gate and waited once more. I didn’t want to go anywhere after what had just happened to me. God, I hope my flight was going to be a calm one. 12 hours – it better be calm. I watched out of the giant window, looking at all the planes going back and forth all over the runways. One day I hope to fly away. I don’t know where, but away.

A flight attendant walked over to me. She had long, beautiful black hair. She said, “You must be Clémence! My name is Samantha, and I’ll be looking after you on this flight. If you have any worries or questions I’ll always be around to help you.” God, I wasn’t in the mood right now. But she did make me feel a bit safer if I have to be honest. She realized that I didn’t want to talk right now, so she sat down next to me. I waited about half an hour, before I finally built up some courage to talk to her.

“Hi, sorry I didn’t respond earlier, I wasn’t feeling well. Will you be with me during the flight?”

“It’s quite all right. If you would like me to that is fine. I’m your personal carer for this flight.” God, did I feel better.

My plane finally arrived and we boarded over the hour. My parents put me in economy seating. Typical of them; we have the money yet they can’t afford to spend a little bit on their only daughter who is leaving them for three months. God they are annoying, they don’t understand anything. I was put in the second to last row in the plane. Next to me was a young man in a suit, and on the other side was a very old man. God he was old, what was he doing there? I just relaxed for a bit, not wanting to do anything, thinking about life. Suddenly the young man asked me a question. He asked if I was traveling on my own, and I said yes. We struck up a conversation. His name is Kyle and he is on his way to London to take on his first job at a law firm. He said he was really scared and that he missed his parents and he wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to cope with it.

“So Kyle, when will you see your parents again?”

“Probably not until a while, but when I was saying goodbye in the airport they told me they would come over as soon as possible to see me.” He started crying. He said that he gave them a big hug at the airport and now he just wants to go back now and see them again. His words struck me. Why didn’t I say goodbye to my parents? What if they are sad that I’m gone and I can’t do anything about it? Oh God, what did I do? I called Samantha over and I hugged her for two minutes straight. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her everything about my parents.

“Why did I do this? Why was I such a troublemaker in school? Why did I give my parents no choice but to send me away? How will I cope?” I burst out with questions and tears, once again ruining my makeup. Samantha kept me in her arms and wouldn’t let go. I wanted to go home. I didn’t want to be in this weird new school in Herbie town, England.

Samantha finally let go and told me to try to sleep for a bit. It was already nighttime, so I guess I would try. I was getting ready, when I looked at the old man again. I hadn’t seen him smile the whole time we had been flying. He was reading a book – How to cope with loss. God, what’s up with this flight? He noticed me staring at him, but he turned away. He probably thought I was some kind of hippie or something. I looked at his hand, and there was a bit of his skin that was paler than usual on his ring finger. I think he lost his wife. He probably doesn’t have anyone to take care of him anymore. He was really old, poor guy. I decided it was best to just go to sleep now, but I wanted Samantha to bring me an extra blanket first.

I woke up with a cup of tea on my seat-back table. Kyle looked better, and he was watching a movie. Suddenly, I saw my parents sitting with me in our basement. I had ice cream and a blanket and we were curled up together. There were tears down my cheek, but my mom was keeping me warm. We were watching a movie. The lights were off and it was a great time. God, I really miss home. Kyle saw that I was awake and asked me how I was feeling. I told him I was feeling great, but if only that were true. He carried on watching his movie. I turned to the other side and the old man was gone. I called over Samantha and she told me that he was ill overnight, and that they put him in the flight attendants’ bedroom. God I hope he was okay. He seemed really old; an illness wouldn’t be good for him. If only he had a wife to care for him. God, I swear my eyes have some kind of watering disorder. Why are all of these people left with no one to care for them? Is this what life is all about? It’s so unfair. Can’t everyone have someone by their side to look after them and be there for them?

There was about half an hour of flight time left. I’m usually good on sleeping in uncomfortable places. When I was younger my parents and I took a road trip around the East Coast and it was great. I used to sleep on the back seat and I remember my mom putting a blanket over me as I slowly fell asleep… God, I miss those times. Samantha came over and told me that I was really brave. That kind of made me mad. I’m not a kid; you don’t have to tell me that I’m brave. I could see the countryside of Britain out of the window. It didn’t look anything like back home. There were so many different colored farms and loads of small, dirt roads scattered around them. I wasn’t really looking forward to it, if I had to be honest.

As the plane landed, I took off my seatbelt like everyone else – to Samantha’s disliking. Kyle looked like he was in a rush. I hugged him goodbye, and he told me that I would be fine in my new school and I told him the same about his new job. Within a few seconds after we stopped talking, he ran off. I walked a few rows back, looking for the Flight Attendants’ cabin. I asked Samantha if I could go and see the man. I wanted to tell him goodbye. He didn’t know me, but I wanted to let him know that I was there for him. But Samantha said it was too late. She told me that he passed away in the morning. It happened an hour before we landed. I looked out of the window and I saw an ambulance driving away. I couldn’t believe it. He was gone. A person who had just entered my life left. Samantha told me that he was going to join his wife in heaven. She slightly lightened my mood on the outside, but there was nothing she could do on the inside. I exited the plane, and I made my way to the baggage area, where Samantha was waiting for me. I looked around for my suitcase but I couldn’t find anything anywhere. God, I hate airports. I saw my bag, but to make sure it was mine I looked inside of it. Nothing inside was mine, it had a bunch of old clothes – they looked like they were men’s’ clothes. It had a pretty gold ring on top of them, and a letter. It was addressed to Cornelius Agerton.

My dear Cornelius,

I know this is going to be a tough ride for you, but you must always remember, my love, that I will always be there in your heart. I don’t have much longer, my love. I want to be buried in England, where we were happiest in our lives. Keep my ring with you everywhere you go, and use it as an item of our everlasting love.

Sincerely,

Margaret

I put it down, but Samantha had saw me look at the letter and she started shouting at me, telling me not to look through other people’s bags. I was kind of sad after that, and I made the connection. I wish that bad things never happened in this world.

I hugged Samantha goodbye, and we parted ways. It was a long taxi ride up to the north, but we finally arrived in Derby. I saw the school that I was going to spend my high school years in. It was very big and majestic. It was like 1000 years old or something. The headmaster introduced me to the school and gave me a tour. He wore this expensive suit. God was this a posh school. Everything was quite different in this school. The schedule was weird and they ate dinner much later than I do back home. The headmaster handed me over to my new dorm head. She was really nice and told me that if I had any questions and all the usual stuff they would say to you. I walked up to my room, which was shared with three other girls. One of them was wearing a pretty white dress, but she looked quite sad. Another, with beautiful, long blonde hair was laughing and talking to this other girl – who if I have to be honest, was pretty ugly. I introduced myself to the two girls who were talking and within a second they realized I was someone else. I couldn’t even finish my sentence.

“What kinda accent is that?” the ugly one said.

“I dunno, but it sounds really weird. Where are you from then?” The blonde shouted. I couldn’t speak. I was too scared to talk to them. I escaped the room and ran into the nearest restroom I could find. I sat in the cubicle and I cried. The girls followed me in and started laughing.

“She’s crying! She’s crying!” they chanted. I didn’t want to move an inch. I then heard another voice come in.

“Leave her alone! Get out!” I heard my dorm head come in. I came out of the cubicle and hugged her. I told my dorm head that I was sorry and that I didn’t know what to say. She said that I cried over nothing. She let go of me and told me to be nice and introduce myself. I couldn’t believe it. Who was this woman to tell me that I was oversensitive?

The rest of the day went pretty quickly. I didn’t feel like eating or anything. I didn’t talk to anyone once. I even ignored people who were trying to be friends with me. I found myself as this duck who had lost its mother and family and was trying to find a way back, and was scared of everything that approached it. At night I went under my cover and decided to write a letter to my parents. I wanted to go back. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to cope with the boarding lifestyle and living in this strange place.

Dear Parents,

I really don’t like it over here. These girls made fun of me the first day and now I can’t interact with anyone without thinking that I am going to cry. I have realized my mistakes that I made in the past. I should have listened to you when I was told to behave in school. I should have talked to you more often, instead of ignoring you for my friends. Most importantly, I should have said goodbye to you. I should have hugged you and never let go. I was upset that you were sending me away. Mom, Dad, I need you to be there in my life. I can’t cope without you. I’m not old enough yet. Please, I beg you, reconsider keeping me over here.

Your daughter,

Clémence

The next morning there was orientation. I wasn’t ready for any of it so I skipped all the events in the morning to find the post office. I found it and I posted my letter, buying a stamp with the small amount of change that my parents gave me. So typical of them to not give me a lot. Now I had to wait. I wasn’t going to perform well in this school. I didn’t care if I became homeless or something later on in my life. I just wanted to see my parents and be in my home country, where I am accepted.

A few weeks have passed. I have only met one person properly, and that is that girl who was wearing the white dress on the first day. We didn’t talk much, but we still knew each other, and that made me feel a bit better. My dorm head told me that the mail would come tomorrow. I was excited, because I knew that a response would come from my parents. I knew it. I managed to score a D in most of my classes except for French, which I got a B in on my first test. I still wasn’t enjoying this school, and hopefully my parents would understand.

Today is Saturday. The day that the mail arrives. I did get a response from my parents. I would tell you what they wrote to me, but I don’t have the emotional capability to say it again. Once I read through it three times I threw it away. There was no point keeping it. However, I will tell you one thing. My mother told me that I should always keep a blanket with me.

Descriptive Essay on My House in England

9/12/14

One place that I will always remember is my house in England that I lived in for seven years. It is a very special place because I have had lots of memories made there. Each room had shown a significant importance to me. This is a very different style than normal houses in America, but it was my home and I will always remember it.

From the outside, my house was one of many big, brick houses, but inside, was a whole different world full of emotion and joy. This house was lowered down from the others and had a steep, grey driveway. Next to it was a large green patch of grass which was shared with our neighbors. Once you walked down to the house there was a beautiful dark blue door with stained windows staring at you with anticipation, waiting to be opened. Even in the cold, gloomy, British weather, it always stood out. At night, the small quiet street was illuminated by one lamp – but always seemed to provide enough light.

As you walked in, a long hallway with laminated wood floor lied in front of you, with a dull blue staircase on the left. The floor was very slippery, I remember sliding on it in my socks, trying to get as far as I could. And on the right, was the dark red tiled kitchen with black lines in between the tiles. It was a relatively small kitchen, but enough to fulfill a family of five’s needs. There was a long white counter with a big steel sink sitting near the cooker. Above, were pine cabinets full of warm, clean plates and glasses of all sorts of shapes and sizes. In the middle of the kitchen, lay a small family table and on top was all sorts of papers and magazines that belonged to everyone. There was always a busy atmosphere roaming around this room because everyone was always up and moving.

At the end of the hallway, was the living room. This was where my siblings and I spent most of our time. There were long dark wooden beams shadowing above us under the ceiling, and underneath was a big, traditional fire place that always had powerful, blazing flames raving; keeping us warm. Above it was a long shelf which held our family’s pictures which elicited fun memories and stories whenever looked at. A dark blue fluffy rug was in the middle, where our dog loved to roll around in all the time; and a big coffee table sat on top which was full of our family’s things. Three big, comfy, (but cold in the winter) leather sofas surrounded the rug, facing the big wooden stand with a TV on it. Giant windows would let in the outside light, and during the summer, you would be able to smell the odor of flowers and freshly cut grass.

Up the stairs and left was my room, which was painted in red, white and blue. A dark blue carpet was laid across the floor; it was cozy to walk on with bare feet. In the corner, next to the radiator was my bed with a big, thick duvet with an American flag on it. On the opposite side, an old, small, desk clogged with school work and stationery stood. From my window you would able to see my neighbor’s garden as well as our one. The umbrage of the trees stopped the sun from shining through my window, which made my room nicer to be in.

But, my favorite room in my house was always the sun room. It was very homely and in the summer you could feel the heat. Being newly built, it was at its best quality and provided comfort to all of us. There were small, old, paintings and objects hanging on the walls and a big, see through dining table fit for 8 people. You could feel the warmth and coziness of the atmosphere. White, soft sofas sat around with pretty quilts with intricate designs on top. There were giant windows all across the rooms, where you had full access to observing nature, like birds feeding of the bird feeder and squirrels running around and up the tall trees.