Ron's ESL Blogs

I was born in a small village which was poor and sparsely populated, therefore, I only had a few playmates.  My parents worked far away from home.  I was so lonely.  Things got to changed after I moved into a new neighborhood, a center of our small town.  I found my playmates, connection, and joy.  Now I would like to shared with you my pleasurable neighborhood.

I lived in a main trading center, to be specific, it was a trading street.  Business hours were only in the morning time.  When the sun had risen, merchants opened their shops and started doing business.  The street would became a living market.

After the student came home from school, it was a totally different scene.  The street became a “Carnival”.  There was a big banyan in the middle of the street.  The tree was so high with huge trunks and biggest leaves.  It was our happy spot.  Adults would bring the tables under the tree and started to play pokers and Chinese chess.  All the kids were gather together play games, such as hide and seek, skipping grope etc.  An old lady would always turn on the radio.  The radio was humming and the leaves of the banyan tree in the massive yard swayed in the sun.  I spent most of my time in this special spot.  I remembered I always brought snacks to share with my playmates.  We played game and chatted.  It was so much fun.

When the sun goes down, parents would called us home to have dinner together.   The street would suddenly slowed down a little bit.  You could hear birds tweedled and flew past the roofs.  I remembered we always brought our dinner outside and ate with friends in the summer time.  The moon lights were softly shining on our face.  The stars were smiling at us.

I lived in this special street for most seven years.  It was the most happy time during my whole life.  I still remember the tree, the shops, and my neighbors.  I think I would never forget.

Imagine waking up to a very bright flash of sunlight coming through your window, your neighbors playing loud music by eight in the morning and your mom is rushing because she is late for work. Those are the kind of mornings I have, not just in the weekends but almost every day. It’s a nice small neighborhood on the border line of Boyle Heights and East L.A.

Walking down my stairs and through my neighborhood you will see nice trimmed trees, pretty flowers, and little kids playing outside. There can be some days when it is very peaceful and my neighbors are outside saying good morning when you pass by but then there is other days when my neighborhood is very bad and there is writing on the wall, kids with big black sweaters and baggy pants walking around causing trouble, and it is just bad.

People outside their homes in their front yard, the kids outside playing, the smell of BBQ from your neighbor’s yard, the old people drinking, and singing to Spanish music, that is my neighborhood. That is the place I have known my whole life. Everyone around my neighborhood is very close to each other, whether it is the little kids or the adults. Mostly everyone around belongs to one my aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, and we all grew up there in that neighborhood. For people who live there I’m sure they feel safe three because everyone there is family and we all look out for each other. It is a very happy place to live for me.

This place “My Neighborhood” in my eyes it is the best place to be. Houses around there are mostly property of passed family members that have been passed on to their children or other family members. I feel safe it is my home.

Back in high school I made a lot of good friends some that I don’t talk about anymore, others just lost contact, and some that I still talk to till this day. During freshman year of high school one of my friends introduced me to Andres. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Hey! Nice to meet you!” sounding so energetic. He has the goofiest smile that can brighten one of your coldest days. Andres always wore a Dodgers cap over his long wavy hair with a marine co. key chain always hanging out of his left pocket.

All of my friends and I would always be together in the same spot every day for lunch. Andres would always be the one messing around making everyone laugh. He was always just a joy to be around. With time he became my best friend. We always hang out together and talk about the most random things ever. When I am having a bad day I can always count on him to turn it around. He is just a genuinely nice person.

Everyone has things to take care of whether it be for school or for work. Most people thing Andres doesn’t do good in school or slacks off at work because of the way he presents himself, but he always gets his stuff done. He procrastinates a little bit but he always says, “You got to do what you have to do… So just do it.” He is a very smart guy with a big future in front of him. He never gives up on anything he sticks to it. Andres helps me out a lot in my life, motivating me to do good in school, talking to me, and I’m always there for him too.

Although Andres is a happy guy everyone has those days when things go wrong or bad things happen. I hate seeing Andres sad. It makes me sad but I always do my best to try to make him feel better like what he does to me. He also can sometimes have a short temper when he is having a bad day. Andres and I have not really gotten into any big fights, just little disagreements.

I couldn’t ask for anyone else to take the place of my best friend Andres. We have a great time when we are together and we help each other to do better. Even though he can be a pain sometimes I still love him. He is like a big brother.

Candy Huang was my best friend in my high school life, who was a communicative, funny and easygoing girl. I still remember the first day we met in school. It was the first school day. We were all new in school, everyone was sitting in class and waiting for the teacher. I was also sitting in my seat silently, because I was a little nervous in a new place. Everybody in class was new to me. Just a moment, a girl came in with a big smile on her face, sat beside me. She said “hello” to me and introduced herself. It made me feel so comfortable. I made my first friend in school.

She always smiles like the  sunshine. Even though she was in blue, she could remain optimistic. She told me that, our lives were not long, we should enjoy our lives. Time would lapse, even though we were unhappy. Why not enjoy it? She failed the final Math test in the first semester. All our friends came and comfort her, but she just smiled and said it didn’t matter. From then on, she studied hard on Math, she wanted to do it well and get a high score on it. Finally, she did it.

She was not only optimistic but also eager to help others. I got a pneumonia in the days that SARS happened. I need to stay in hospital for one week. At that time, I was worried about my study because the final test was coming. To my surprise, Candy came to visit me in hospital everyday after class. She brought me the homework, and help me to solve the problems in my study. I was so touching at that time. From then on, we became the closest friends.

We are all grown up now, but we are still the best friend. After graduated from high school, she failed to enroll in a university, but she didn’t give up. She continued to study in college,. She is working now, but she still keeps studying, she goes to school at night and wants to get her bachelor degree. I wish she can succeed. And her insist encourages me. I will keep on studying.

Whenever I mention my high school career with others, one of my classmate, Suri, will always clearly emerge in my mind.  She is not my closest friend, however, Suri is the one who effects me the most in my entire life.  She shows me how to chase and persistent on dreams.  She is the girl who i deeply admire.

when i first came to my class, Suri was the one who impressed me the most, not for her beauty, but her unusual clothes.  She always wore short skirts, high heels, and all colorful outfits that were inappropriate to our age, therefore, she was labeled as an Alien who needed to stay away with.  During my entire freshman, we had never talked.  Nevertheless, the ugly gossip about her seemed ceaseless.  Things got to change after Suri moved to our dormitory accidentally at my second year of high school.

I was so upset when I heard Suri was going to move in at the first place, however, I started to know her and found out she was a nice girl.  Suri told me she wanted to be a singer.  She would do whatever to achieve her dream.  She had attended all kinds of singing competition, thus, she had never won any awards back.  I still remember the first time when Suri sang for us.  It was so amazing.  We became friends after she opened her mind with me and I became her little fan and followed her whenever she participated in the singing contests.  However, it was very hard to be a singer in my country unless you have plenty of money or a good background at that time.  After we graduated, we drifted apart.  I went to college, she was still chasing her dream.  Suri always told me ” If you have a dream, chase it, work hard for it.  Eventually, you will get it.”

I came to the United States a few years later and we lost contact with each other.  However, the last time that I head news from her, she was still doing what we used to do and have not given up.

Suri is a special person in my life who I will never forget.  Her persistence, her striving, always affect my life.  Her words always come up in my mind.  She teaches me how to chase dreams.