My favorite subject

My favorite subject at elementary and high school was history. For example, I was fascinated to hear of the journeys of discovery made by explorers many hundreds of years ago. In the 1400s people still believed the world was flat, so that if you sailed far enough you would sail over the edge (and die). There were also stories about horrible giant creatures that lived under the sea and could destroy ships. Sailing through storms in the small ships of those days was extremely dangerous as well. However, some European men were determined to face any risks in order to find a sea route to India. Do you know why (it would be a good research question)?

Vasco da Gama, of Portugal, was the first to achieve this in 1497. It was the dawning of an era of massive changes. I like history because it explains why the world is the way it is today. As the saying goes, "Those who don't know about the mistakes of history are bound to repeat them".

Anyway, what was your favourite subject at high school, and why? Try to give examples.

Summer

Welcome back to KGU! How was your summer? I hope you were able to do everything you wanted to.

My summer was okay, not so amazing really. I went to Hokkaido for a couple of weeks with my family. We flew into Hakodate at first, and checked out the famous night view of course. Besides that there wasn't much special to see, but it's a pleasant town. At first we thought we'd entered a time warp and gone back to the 1950s (it seems quite innocent and simple compared to Osaka). One day we went to the horse races and lost a bit of money, but it was fun. I was surprised that my wife was so into it.

The part of the trip I enjoyed most was when we stayed in a rented cottage just outside Niseko for 4 days. It was really quiet at night, with starry skies and just the sound of crickets and birds breaking the silence. One day we climbed to the top of a mountain (see the photo). The ropeway took us to near the top, but for the last 1300 meters we had to walk up a steep dirt path over large rocks and tree roots. I was carrying Sophie on my back, so I had to stop several times to catch my breath. It felt satisfying to finally get to the top and take in the view though.

Anyway, for your first post I'd like you to just write about what you did this summer.