My
name is Karsten. I am 15 years old, and I was born on December
28th of 1990 in Portland Oregon, where I still live. I
attend Central Catholic high school where I am a freshman.
I have studied Japanese since kindergarten, and I have
found it to be a very difficult language. Yet, I still
plan on continuing to learn Japanese throughout high school.
To this day I have been to Japan twice. Once, in 5th grade
when we visited cities near Tokyo, and again in 8th grade
when we visited cities near Hiroshima.
My hobbies include playing basketball, baseball, and football.
When I was 11 years old I got a massive concussion and
the doctor said I could not play football, but I still
enjoy watching it. Everyday I try to practice baseball
and basketball. Other hobbies include watching movies,
which I usually see once a week. My favorite movies are
Anchorman and Zoolander, which are comedies (my favorite
genre).
At the end of 8th grade, me and my 8th grade class went
on a trip to do a research residency in Japan. This is
a project where I needed to select a topic, I chose food
and then I would survey people in America and then people
in Japan about my topic, and then compare and analyze the
results when we returned to America.
In Japan we visited cities like Kyoto, Hiroshima, Himeji,
generally in the Hyogo prefecture. In Hiroshima our class
visited the Hiroshima National Peace Park, a national landmark.
It is a park in recognition in the bombing of Hiroshima
in 1948. The complex consists of a massive park, with a
pond, and a museum. It was a magnificent place. The museum
was very interesting, but on the other hand it was extremely
sad, because lots of people died.
The next place we went was Himeji. It's most famous landmark
is the Himeji castle. It is really large and tall. Inside
there are many stairs leading to the top of the castle.
When at the top you can see all of Himeji. It is truly
amazing.
I plan on visiting Japan again.
My family consists of 4 members. My mom, dad, and older
brother. My brother is 28 years old; therefore, he has
his own house and has graduated from the University of
Nebraska. But since his house is really close to mine we
usually see him about once a week. Unlike my brother my
family and I love going on vacation and sightseeing different
countries. So far we have been to Denmark, France, Japan,
Hawaii, Nebraska, California, and Canada. My favorite place
that I have gone to is Denmark.