Have you ever been anywhere to study abroad? I stayed in New Zealand for 1 month and a half in spring vacation. I made very good memories. I also underwent great hardships. I sometimes made a blunder, but thanks to it I seem to have grown up as a result of those experiences. All of them are valuable experiences of my life. Thatfs why I would like to tell you about my experiences in New Zealand.

Before my trip, one teacher said to me, gPlease make many, many mistakes!!" I couldnft understand at first. But I understood those words later. One weekend in New Zealand, we went to Queenstown for a school activity. We rode "Rujyu", which is like a go-cart. Everyone enjoyed that and controlled it very well. But I had an accident there. I couldnft drive it well so all of a sudden I crashed hard into a fence. It was a very unforeseen occurrence. I have been doing cheerleading for 5 years. It is a very dangerous sport but I have never been injured until then. I was shocked about this accident.

After the accident, everyone around me approached me about my injury because I had a bandage over my hand. At first, I wanted to take it off because it looked bad. But one day, I realized that it was an opportunity to have conversations with people around me. A lot of people spoke to me even if I didnft know them. They always asked me, "How is your hand?" Thanks to that, I explained about the accident and my condition many times. It was speaking practice for me. Also, I went to hospital once a week alone. My host family was very anxious about my injury, like a real daughter. I was very happy. I will always be grateful to them.

Through this study abroad, I experienced a lot of things. All of them are valuable experiences for me. If you have an accident, you can change it a great chance. I thought "Failure is a stepping-stone to success." Now, I realize that was what my teacher was saying.