Narrative essay- My Trip To America

“Wake up! Wake up, Anna!” A voice called me, “We’re nearly there!”


“Nn… let me sleep for a little while…” I turned my back to the other side of the chair, hoping I could continue my dream.

“No! Look!” A person pushed me to the small airplane window and I hit my head.

“Ouch… what was that for…?” I turned back, realizing the person beside me was Annie, my cousin, looking so excited.

“Ah, finally woke up, huh?” She smiled, “Look, we’re here! We’re in America!”

“You know I’m not a morning person, do you?” I’m always in a bad mood when I wake up, “What’s down there?”

I looked down. It was a huge area with many buildings and green trees, so different than Vietnam.

“Oh, yay... at last!” I sighed in happiness. The airplane was making me hurt my back, sleeping on a chair with no place to lie down.

The plane slowly flew down and finally touched the ground. After a while, it stopped. We went down the plane and walked to the airport. I’m in Maryland!

We were heading towards Maryland, a state in USA. My family (including my brother, cousins, aunt, etc…) was on the flight, too. This is the first time I’ve been to America in the past eleven years of my life. We planned to visit our paternal family’s side’s home and for us to just go to America for the first time.

My dad’s family came to pick us up: my aunt, uncle and their two sons. We drove in a car to their house. The highway was wide, with the green trees along the side. Finally we reached a tiny cute house! The inside was big and pretty. There was an enormous dog and a black cat; I loved them so much! We then visited Kristine’s –my cousin’s- friend: Susy. When we arrived, I stood there in a corner, watching. I didn’t want to interfere with anything they were saying and while they were having fun.

“Anna, why won’t you come and say hi?” Kristine said.

“Nn...” I murmured. I had nothing to say, and had no idea who Susy was, either. I was not always good with strangers. I didn’t know how to interact with people, and they couldn’t find a way to speak with me, just because I’m too shy and silent. I’ve always wanted to be a more open and attractive person, like the Americans. I just didn’t know how. I guess I was just afraid that others wouldn’t accept me for who I am.

“Hi, I’m Susy.” She came and said hello to me, “You’re Anna, right?”

“Um, h-hi…” I said. We talked a little, and a few hours later, we all came home.

I had a lot of fun. We visited a dinosaur museum, zoo, an aquarium, a tall building where you can look down and see the whole town, Six flags, Boston, and all other wonderful places. However, the place I liked the most was the small park near uncle’s house. Every night we would go there and catch fireflies. I’ve never seen one before in real life, so I caught some with my cousins and put them in a jar. Too bad they all died before we released them. But I really liked fireflies; they were like thousands of small warm lights that lit up the dark night.

Three weeks had passed and it was time to go back to Vietnam to prepare for the new school year. We said goodbye to our dad’s family and went back to the airport. Soon we all went on the plane and arrived back to Vietnam after I woke up. I prepared my bags, books and things for the new semester. Within a week after that, I began to pack my bag up for tomorrow’s first day of school.

“I’m going to miss America…” I sighed.

“Who wouldn’t?” My older cousin laughed as she helped me prepare my books.

“Yes! USA is so beautiful and clean and…” I suddenly got excited, but then my voice lowered, “…the people there are so friendly and open up. Hey, would you hate me… if I change?”

“Of course not! Well, if it’s a bad one… but no, never. Why?”

“I wanted to be like them, you know. But never mind, I’m just sayin’ it.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re afraid. I know you’re scared. But if you like you for who you are, I’m sure others would, too. No one would dislike you. You can change whenever you feel like it.”

I looked at her for a while. Then I continued my job on preparing my bag, giggling, “Yeah…”

The next day I and my cousin went back to AIS. We got so excited to be back to greet our friends. It was crowded in the hallways. After taking the calendar and the semester’s schedule, I walked to the first period’s classroom and opened the door. I looked around. It was a different class with many students I don’t know. A person changes when they want to. I took a deep breathe:

“Hi everyone!” I shouted, “How was your summer!?”

Flowers for Algernon ~No.9~

I think it's unfair for people to dislike others who are different from them. In my opinion, people think they're weird or annoying or something like that. Sometimes people are just jealous because they are better than them but sometimes they dislike people because they look down on them for being stupid or strange, just like what the workers in the company treat Charlie Gordon. It may drive people into a corner because they are hated and wouldn't know what to do. People'll be sad if they're ignored and hated by others and they'll get lonely. Like the feelings of Charlie when he realizes how badly his friends treat him. It's not good for people to dislike others who are different than them because it'll hurt other people's feelings.