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Click on a name to read his/her story.
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Mario Castell1ón
(Nicaragua) |
One of my Earliest Memories:
Annabelle
My first memories are of when my mother was pregnant with my sister Annabelle. My mother had problems, and the physician recommended for her to have a cesarean operation. Without doing so, he advised, my mother or the child could die.
The surgical operation was a success, but the child was born between only the sixth and seventh month of pregnancy. My sister was a premature baby who needed assistance for feeding.
When my mother returned home with the child, a nurse arrived at a certain time every day in order to nourish my sister with plastic tubes that were put through her nose.
This impressed me a lot because she was so small. My sister now is a large, healthy woman of 50 years old.
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Yoko Kanmori
(Japan) |
My First Memories:
My Mother & Me
My first memories are probably from when I was four years old. One spring day, my kindergarten class had a picnic. Mothers were allowed to come with us. I think we went to a beautiful garden.
Two days before, my mother told me she would make a jumper for me to wear to the picnic. I was watching when she started to cut the fabric, which was a color between red and pink. I liked that color very much and I was looking forward to wearing that skirt. The next day, when I went home after school, my mother showed me the brand new skirt. It fit me perfectly, and I thought it was so cute. Of course, I was very happy the entire day of my first picnic with my many friends and my mother.
At that time, I thought my mother was really great (and I still think the same). She cooked the most delicious food, and she sewed clothes and bags to bring to school. When I went to bed, she was always still doing something in the kitchen, and when I woke up, she was always up already. I seriously wondered when she slept.
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Dandan Zhang
(China) |
My First Childhood Memory:
My Pet Rabbit
There are a lot of very interesting stories from my childhood, but the one which is the most memorable happened in 1982, when I was 4 years old.
One day, in the winter, when I opened the door, I was frightened by a gray rabbit. It was lying right before the door, small and thin, shivering in the wind, and looking very poor. I called my mom at once, and we took it into house, put it by the side of the stove and gave it water and food. Slowly, the rabbit became better, and could open its eyes and look around, and, sometimes, even wanted to stand up.
Mom went out and asked our neighbors if they knew whose rabbit it was, but nobody knew, so mom permitted me to keep this poor rabbit and feed it. I was so happy and excited because, for the first time, I was allowed to feed the animal myself.
From the next day on, I forgot to go out and play with my little friends. Instead, I stayed at home and prepared some food like carrots and Chinese cabbage as my rabbit's dinner. It seemed my rabbit could understand me. It could eat all of the food I gave to it. Little by little, my rabbit grew up and became bigger and beautiful. I also tied a small bell on my rabbit's neck so I could find it easily.
I seldom took my rabbit out because I was afraid that it would get lost. But, in the end, it happened anyway. One night, I dreamed I had lost my rabbit. I was so worried and sad in my dream. The next morning, when I woke up, I hurried to look for my rabbit, but it wasn't at home anymore. Later, I discovered that that morning, my mom had gone to buy our breakfast, but she hadn't closed the door tightly.
I guessed that maybe my little rabbit missed its mom or that it wanted to be free. But no matter what, I hoped it would be safe and happy.
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Roxana Anca Suciu
(Romania)
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Childhood Memories:
My First Day of School
Well, I do remember a lot of things from my childhood because I really had a happy one! My memory is probably better of that time than it is now, when I can hardy remember what I did last month. Remarkably, however, I still have a very clear image of the my first day of school.
I remember being very proud of my uniform and being even more proud of my inherited backpack – my older sister was too big to wear it anymore. It was a big brown leather backpack that had stayed in the family for a long time (my sister had gotten it from another relative and, since my cousin got it after me, the tradition continued).
So there I was, in the school yard, with all my new classmates and the teacher for a big welcome ceremony. I do not recall exactly who said what, but I do recall doing a naughty thing right on my first day of school. One of my new classmates was standing behind me, and he kept playing with my backpack even though I had told him several times to stop. Eventually, I got so angry that I took off my backpack and I smashed it into my classmate and said: “Do you want to play with my backpack? Here it is”. This was not very nice on my part, but it worked – he left me alone.
Another memory I have is about entering into the classroom and sitting with all my classmates, enjoying our new books. Our parents left us there with tears in their eyes – but we were too busy and excited to pay attention to them.
Of course, after the first day, I spent many other very happy days at school that I can remember well but I am left wondering – why do I remember only the funny things?
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Ljuba Pelzová
( ) |
A Childhood Memory:
My First Day of School
I had a very nice childhood and my parents were very young and fine. However, I have one story which is not so nice.
When I was three years old, I went to kindergarten. That day, I didn't feel very well, so my teacher put me into a special room for sick children. However, it seemed that she had forgotten me there. I was sad, so I decided to go home. I successfully tried to open the door and I went home wearing only pajamas and slippers. Fortunately, my father was at home and he put me to bed. It was winter.
When my teacher discovered that I was missing, she got scared. She went to our house and asked my father if I were at home. She was very happy when she found me there.
Within the first year of my arrival in New York, both my parents died. I miss them very much. I realize that I'm no one's child any more.
_______________________________________________________ A biography:
Lenka Filipová.
A very famous person in my country is a singer and a player of classical guitar Lenka Filipová.
Lenka was born in 1954, and music has been part of her life since childhood. Her father was an artist and he sang very well and loved opera. As young women she studied classical guitar at the State Conservatory in Prague and then at the Music Academy in Paris.
Her debut album came out in 1982 and bore the name "In love". This record was very successful. During her studies she sang in the Theatre Semafor, and she later moderated music programmes on the radio and often had concerts with her own band, Domino. She won a guitar contest in Antily and earned a Grammy Award in the Czech Republic towards the end of the eighties.
She got married and her daughter is 10 years old.
I like this singer because she sings very lovely and quietly and the words of her songs are very interesting. I always listen to her songs and guitar music in my car when I have to drive for a long time.
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Luc Okio |
Part One: My registration as a student
I can vividly recall the day my teacher came to our village for the registration of children into the school. I was around 5 years old. My cousins and I were very curious to know what this man was going to do because he was unfamiliar. But our parents didn't allow us to approach him.
I perfectly remember when he arrived. It was in the morning; it was sunny. He arrived by foot and was wearing blue paints and a white shirt with an elegant hat. He looked very serious.
After having some words with our parents, he asked them to call us. We rushed toward him. He asked all of us to introduce ourselves. I started by saying my first name; he stopped me and said: “We have the same name”. After that, he added “you are ready to go to school this year”. Three of us were selected: My cousins Philip and Marcel, and I.
The school was in the other village, a place we'd never been. So, we were very excited to see what it was like. Two days later, I wore my new uniform and my father took me to school by bicycle. When I arrived at school, I was quite shy and anxious. The teacher started to call everyone and put us in line before entering the classroom. My father left without saying good-bye to me. It was my first time to take responsibility for myself.
Part two: My first day at school.
I seemed lost in this new environment. My cousins were in a different class so; I didn't know that anyone I could speak with. I used to speak my maternal language at home and didn't know any word in French. Yet, it was forbidden to use our maternal language in the class and within school. It was horrible to communicate with each other. Obviously, we tried to cheat. We couldn't do anything else.
Nevertheless, I had a great time and was quite happy to later tell my father what had happened during that day.
New York , May 8, 2005.
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