THE TWENTY-SECOND KYOTO PREFECTURAL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
ENGLISH SPEECH CONTEST
TITLE IGUANA ON THE WEB Hiroko
It's been six years since my farther brought
an iguana to my family and said to my mother, "Here is a birthday
present for you." It was the last thing she wanted to get because
she had hated reptiles. But my sister and I were filled with joy because
we had long wished for our first pet. Two years later my farther bought
a computer for himserf as his own birthday present. And he said, "I
will have my web site after a half year." And finally he succeeded
in getting what he had wanted : a homepage about our daily life with iguanas. Now
I'm going to talk about a wonderful world of the computer and the web site.
Our homepage consists of two parts, two hundred pictures in one
part, and some essays in the other. Over two years, about eight thousand
people have visited our site. And we received much e-mail from many different
countries, such as Sweden, Germany, France, Canada, Hong Kong and the US. Some
people advised us, some expressed their friendship, and others asked for
some information on iguanas. Let me introduce to you some interesting
e-mail.
The first one was from Garmany:
"Hi, Japan! Cheese is not iguana food. If they stop eating that,
they will live a healthy long life. He looks so nice and shouldn't die
young. Many greetings from Garmany, far away with iguana love."
Of course we stopped giving cheese right away.
The second was from a student:
"I'm going to be starting a long journey through school to
become a veterinarian. I never realized how beautiful iguanas
are. Great page, great pics! Thank you!"
When we get such fan mail, we feel happy and responsible for our
web site. So we decided to improve our site.
The third came to us as an urgent e-mail:
"Today my husband tried to hold him and he jumped out of
his
arms and a piece of his tail came off. We would like to know
if
there is something we should do."
As a matter of fact, our iguana had a piece of his tail come off
before we got the mail. Fortunately we knew there was nothing we should
do. We were sure the second tail would grow half a year later. We sent
her an answer right away. And we sent two pictures: one showed that he
had just lost his tail, the other showed that he had got the second tail.
It took me just half an hour to get her thanks from Minnesota.
"Thank you so much for your help. Thank God for the wonderful
world of the computers and the web."
Through these examples, I have learned some valuable lessons. For
example, through the internet I can see that my life is connected to other
people around the world in ways that I never expected. Regardless of distance
or time, people can come and see our web page and share our experience
of living with iguana.
Another aspect of the internet that has taught me a lesson is
the usage of English. As most of the mail we receive are written in English,
it gives me an opportunity to learn more about the language. For example,
when someone says our iguana pictures are "cool", I know that
means the picture are interesting and not referring to the temperature. Due
to our web site, I have found answers to questions that would never be
in textbooks.
The expression "the tail came off" was really new to
me. Because we use the word "kireru" in Japanese, which literary
means cut. As the saying goes, "the scales fall from one's eyes", it
is surprising and exciting to meet with the things unknown to me.
What started out as an unusual gift to my mother has now transformed
into an educational and enriching experience for my family. Well, I'll
have my own home page in days to come, though I enjoy making it with my
family now. I want to express myself for the world. I'd like to learn
many things about other cultures through exchanging e-mail. I think I
have to study English hard and use it more and more for the achievement
of my dream.
If you have interest in my speech, you should come and see our
web site any time you like. Perhaps you might be surprised at how interesting
an iguana can be.
http://www.wao.or.jp/user/haitaman/home.htm
1998.10.08
府立南陽高校コンテスト 一位 (写真のカップ)
1998.11.08 京都府SOUTH DIVISION 三位
1998.11.15 全京都府立高校コンテスト 三位 （写真の盾）