At my parents’ house, in a corner of my old bedroom, there is a special brown card box I treasure. The content of the box is a handmade sea glass lamp, a gift from my high school best friend given to me more than a decade ago. She and I were both members of the …
When I was in high school, I used not to get along with my classmates. Not that anybody disliked me, but I was simply in a phase of my life when I was totally frozen both inside and out, and I just seemed to have forgotten how to speak normally with others. Every breaktime, I …
When I was in high school, I took part in the Earth Science Club. Earth science was not at all my interest, but I joined the club because my two childhood best friends were also there and I was intrigued when I heard that the club would organize a regular star-gazing event on and off …
The spring when I turned thirteen, I made my first solo trip to visit my aunt in another city. It was about a four-hour journey by an intercity express train to get to her place. Growing up under parents who were overly concerned about my safety, I had never travelled alone on a train prior …
She and I were first-year college classmates in Tokyo planning to major in mathematics. Being amongst the very few girls in the classroom, we knew each other from early on. But it wasn’t until months later in the summer when we really became friends. That evening, I was sitting in the hallway waiting for the …
When I was in the second year of high school, I went on a three-day summer trip with the Earth Science Club. The place we stayed was located in the countryside of a city two hours train ride away from my hometown. The owner of the hut came to pick us up at the train …
The Spring I entered junior high school, a teacher approached me and said that I should become a member of the students’ committee which was responsible for the hosting of major school events and representing students’ voice in the school community. In Japan, public junior high schools tend to have the least democratic and most …
I spent my late teens experiencing quite a severe case of social anxiety. When I was in high school, it reached a point where I didn’t know how to speak or move around in the classroom. As soon as I got to school, my body would shut down and I stopped functioning. So, I used …
When I was nineteen, I spent a year attending a special school in Tokyo dedicated to university entrance exam preparation. In Japan, university entrance exam is a big thing, and parents all across the country tend to spend a fortune trying to send their children to a good university because it is believed in the …
During my second year in high school, I used to take an evening math class at a local cram school once a week. Every Tuesday, after school, I would hop onto a bus to the railway station. The cram school was located at the other side of the station, and I used to walk through …
