At the age of seventeen, I lived with my grandmother, just two of us, for six months. I have never lived apart from my parents for my entire life, except for when I was 3 years old and my mother gave birth to my brother. That was just for a couple of weeks, and I was with my sister. Before seventeen, I never knew nor imagined what it would be like to live with my grandmother.
Some people might think it is not big of a deal to live with a grandparent, but to be honest, it was the most difficult time of my life. I would cry and wet all the tissues I have, wanting to go back. To be with my grandmother, everything goes much slower. Not much happening, At 8o'clock, even at 7o'clock my grandmother was probably ready to go to bed. Since I moved to Daegu, which is two and a half hours away from my hometown Ulsan, I did not have any close friends at the first time. So I would come home at 6o'clock from school, eat dinner, and my day was almost over. I had nothing exciting to do except for watching TV before bed. What fun things can a teenage girl do with her grandmother? Not much. At least that was what I thought at the time.
However, this attitude of mine changed over six months. Not only did I make some friends at school, but also I started to enjoy spending time with my grandmother. Her food was my favorite, and I learned how to cook them from her, which I still remember. She had a funny, very strong accent and was a good storyteller, so I grew to enjoy chatting with her more than watching TV. She grew beautiful plants in the veranda, and the view from there was filled with greens and wide blue sky. It was calming to just sit there and watch all the beauties surrounding me.
Even now, it brings me joy to think about the time I was given to spend with my grandmother, the view from her veranda, and just everyday filled with calming moments. I appreciate the lessons I learned from her, and I feel blessed to have experienced this.
Hi, I'm Bo-won Kim. The part where you described how you felt when you were in veranda seemed so real and the feeling of calmness that you felt at that moment was described really well. The first paragraph of your writing had lots of basic information so that I could understand how you felt when you first moved in with your grandmother. The writing had past tense overall to describe your memory but at the last part you used present tense to describe how you feel about it now and I think it was really appropriate to change the tense. It would be better if you added some more details about how you became acquainted with your grandmother such as what kind of conversation you had. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm Chaehyun Lee. I like the part that your attitude toward grandparents had changed, I was moved. Also, I like your beginning of "Before seventeen, I never knew nor imagined...". I think this phrase here makes the reader pay more attention to what you are going to say. I think it will be much better if you add a specific story of how you and your grandparents got much closer than before. This will be a good clue for the readers to understand what your feelings were back in your seventeens. Nice writing, I like it!
ReplyDeleteThe second paragraph where you described how it was like to live with your grandmother seems real to me, especially the part where you wrote specific time. And the very first sentence in the beginning caught my eye, which was a good start, because it made me curious why you lived with your grandmother at that age. But I think it would've been better if you explained later on why you had to live with your grandmother. You used past tense throughout the writing and present tense in the last paragraph to emphasize what you have learned from the experience. - Ha-eun Jeong
ReplyDeleteAt the age of seventeen, I lived with my grandmother, just two of us, for six months. Until then, I had never lived apart from my parents for my entire life. Before seventeen, I never knew nor imagined what it would be like to live with my grandmother.
ReplyDeleteSome people might think it is not big of a deal to live with a grandparent, but to be honest, it was the most difficult time of my life. To be with my grandmother, everything went much slower. Not much happening. At 8o'clock, sometimes even at 7o'clock, my grandmother was probably ready to go to bed. Since my grandmother’s home was in Daegu, which is two and a half hours away from my hometown, Ulsan, at first I did not have any close friends. So I would come home at 6o'clock from school, eat dinner, lie in bed, watching TV, and fall asleep. That was the end of my everyday routine. I had nothing exciting to do except for watching TV before bed. What fun things can a teenage girl do with her grandmother? Not much. At least that was what I thought at the time. My days were gloomy, always with a blank look on my face. I would cry and wet all the tissues I have every night, wanting to go back home.
However, this attitude of mine changed over six months. Not only did I make some friends at school, but also I started to enjoy spending time with my grandmother. She had a funny, very strong accent and was a good storyteller, so I grew to enjoy chatting with her more and more. She told me numerous stories of my mother’s childhood and my own childhood. She had plenty of stories to share of what it was like back in the days when she raised my mother, something I could never hear from anyone else. All through the months, my grandmother cared so much for me, and her love was overflowing, which was opposite of me, who was rather a rude, unfriendly teenager. I learned from her to truly give love and care for others, not only for myself. One of my favorite memories is sitting in her veranda. She grew beautiful plants in the veranda, and the view from there was filled with greens and wide blue sky. I enjoyed sitting beside the window when the moon came out and shone beautifully through dark grey clouds. It was calming to just sit there and watch all the beauties surrounding me.
Even now, it brings me joy to think about the time I was given to spend with my grandmother, the view from her veranda, and everyday filled with calming moments. I appreciate the lessons I learned from her, and I feel blessed to have lived with her even for a short period of time.