My_Essay

FINAL DRAFT # 107884569 Joon Sung, Hwang ESL193-15 Many people usually think that they want to go to other countries. Likewise, I considered traveling in other countries which I really liked to go. The country I had wanted to go to was Japan. Actually, there was one reason why I longed to go to Japan. I was stressed out my military service. I spent so much time in working the company. After finishing my service time, I was so exhausted that I just needed a period of time to refresh. For this reason, I was looking for some places where I could relieve my fatigue and stress. It was Japan that could satisfy all my needs. Considering all the situations I faced, it was the best time to fulfill my long-term dream which was going to Japan. On July 12, 2007, I took a trip to Japan with my friend. It was really exciting because I could get a chance to do many things which I had been thinking about. What I experienced in Japan was not only an interesting moment, but also a good lesson for my life. I had a schedule for traveling to Japan. Going to Odaiba beach which is a famous beach near Tokyo, Climbing Mt.Fuji which is the highest mountain in Japan, and experiencing many contents of games and animations were all included in my schedule. I thought that it would be easy to follow my schedule, but I got to know how hard it was to keep the schedule after traveling to Japan. Traveling abroad always involved many troubles. Since I`d never experienced these troubles, I did not know how to deal with them. Therefore, I couldn`t have any choice but facing into every problem directly. Actually, my plan led to a kind of dynamic moment in my life. The first dynamic moment during my trip was climbing Mt.Fuji. Since it is very famous for tourists, lots of people want to go there in order to see nature. However, people need to overcome difficulties involving harsh environment of the mountain. I had a plan to climb the mountain in a day. If someone consider my plan, they might think that I`m a stupid boy. At that time, I was filled with confidence in climbing that mountain within a day, and I thought that there was nothing I couldn`t do. On the contrary, it took a short time to realize how silly that was. In fact, Mt.Fuji has a height of 13,000 feet. It is natural that it takes more than one day to get to the top. Unfortunately, I had many problems with climbing, which were one of the most dangerous moments in my life. There were two main risks in climbing a high mountain. First of all, the higher we climb the mountain, the less oxygen there`s available in the mountain. At first, I didn`t have any trouble breathing while I was climbing until the middle of mountain. Soon after, I got to start panting and feel dizzy. It seemed that I couldn`t go further because of lack of oxygen. Also, another thing I suffered from the mountain was a chilly weather. In the evening of that day, the temperature fell down significantly. Since it was my first time to go up this high mountain, I didn`t know how many things I should have brought for hiking. I just forgot to bring long-sleeve shirts. I couldn`t stand the weather any more. At that time, the best thing I could have done was to just go down the mountain. Even though I was very afraid of not fulfilling my objective, it was essential for me to give up climbing the mountain. If I had kept going further, I might have faced an overwhelming crisis. Considering the situation, it was a good decision to go down the mountain. After coming back home, I just slept all day long. Likewise, my trip was a series of hardship. The second dynamic moment during my trip was conflict with my friend. A friend who accompanied me was one of my best friends. We graduated from same elementary and middle school, so he got to be my best friend. In Korea, we were unlikely to fight each other because there were no problems between us. However, the situation changed. During the trip, he started to complain about my decision in that I just selected where to go. Actually, the reason why I picked where to go was to show him some places I`d already seen. Also, since I could speak a little Japanese, it was easy for me to find famous places in Japan. However, after climbing the mountain, he didn`t believe me anymore. I didn`t know the exact reason why his attitude had changed. Due to this conflict between us, we fought very heavily. We couldn`t do anything in this situation. So, I decided to apologize to my friend for selecting the places by myself. At that time, we just needed a conversation to solve our problem. After a long conversation, we made a deal which was making a plan to go. By making a plan like this, we could reduce our conflicts during this period. Lastly, I think that the worst event of my life was losing my passport. A passport is required for every tourist to go abroad. Since it is a kind of identity in other countries, every tourist should keep it with hem all the time. Without it, they might have a hard time traveling abroad. The last day of traveling Japan, I met my pen pal at the Odaiba beach. In order to swim at the beach, I changed into swimming pants in a fitting room. After swimming, I noticed that my bag was gone. It was a terrible mistake because I just left my bag on the beach. I thought that it would be safe even though I put my bag at the beach. Also, I thought that there was no one who would steal my personal belongings because this country was a developed country and people in this country were so kind and honest. Anyway, I exerted myself to find my bag. I spent 3 hours in finding my bag. However, I couldn`t get my bag back. My Japanese friend called the police, and she explained our situation to them. Unfortunately, I couldn`t find it even though policemen took measures. I was so desperate because I couldn`t go back to Korea without holding a passport. In fact, my passport was in the front zipper bag of my bag. When I was dejected, my friends gave me strength to overcome this situation. Thanks to their dedication, I could think about my problem rationally. The first thing I had to do was going to the Korean embassy. Luckily, the Korean embassy was in Tokyo. Going there, I registered the form for missing passport, and so I could get my temporary passport for coming back to Korea. After that, I had to go to the airport in order not to miss my flight. If I had used public transportation, I might have missed my flight because the airport was far from Tokyo. However, my pen pal’s brother drove us to the airport, so we could come to the airport in time. I was really moved that he did a favor for me. I thought that it was one of the most dynamic moments in my life. With the help of many Japanese people, I could manage to get out of my troubles. Even now, I don`t forget that moment. It was a really good trip for me. This trip gave me so much pleasure as well as good lessons. I can summarize two lessons from my trip. The first lesson I learned is getting much information about before doing some actions. I failed to climb the Fuji Mountain because I did not have enough information about the mountain. Therefore, I suffered from many difficulties in climbing the mountain. If I was well-equipped with more information, I might not have experienced problems. I think this attitude which is getting enough information is essential for me to live my life. When I do something, I usually do it without information. Thus, it leads to making a bad decision, and it wastes lots of time. In order not to repeat my mistake again, it seems clear to me that I should have much information in case of any situation. In addition to being aware of much information, I get to know that I need a plan in any case. Since I didn`t make optimal plans to eat or go around some places, I got a trouble with my friend. Making a plan lets me have a clear vision toward my future. Actually, I didn`t know the effectiveness of making plans before my trip. But, now I know how effective making a plan is. I know this thing much better than any other person because I had a chance to apply it to my case. I will make plans as much as possible because it enables me to act more regularly. Also, it encourages me not to be confused and to deal with any situations. For these reasons, I was really glad to travel in Japan. If I have a chance to visit other countries once more, I will not miss it. I expect to do that in the near future.