Travel writing...
前回のブログで、今週の授業の最終目標として、「ボストンの街について旅行記を書く」という
課題が出されたことをご報告しました。
そこで私は、６月にボストンで見た「Pride Parade（ゲイパレード）」について書くことにしました。
※「Pride Parade（ゲイパレード）」について報告した日記はこちら↓↓
http://www.ryugaku.co.jp/blog/ec_boston/2009/06/pride_parade.php
先日、日本にいる友人から「たまには英語でブログを書いてみてよ」とリクエストをいただきましたが、
毎日の宿題や予習復習で忙しくて、なかなかこのブログを英語で書く時間がとれません(;^_^ A
英語を書くスピードは、日本語の２倍、いや３倍、いや５倍くらい遅いですから・・・(;^_^ A
ですので、この課題で提出した旅行記（Travel writing）を載せたいと思います。
日記に書いた内容とは違う視点で書いていますので、良かったら読んでみてください(^_-)-☆
-Boston Pride Parade-
June13th, 2009, it was a beautiful sunny day. About at noon, I was standing in front of Boston City Hall. I was feeling so hot. Was that because of the scorching sunlight? Maybe, yes. However, it was not only that.
I was standing in front of Boston City Hall, hearing the sound of a huge roar. There were thousands of people around me. They were wearing colorful clothes. Well, some of them were wearing rather costumes. And they were shouting toward people who were marching along the street. Yes, there was a march there. I tried to read some signs which the people in the march were holding in their hands. One of the signs said, “Let’s get married.” Hmm. And another sign said, “54 years together. 5 years married.” Well, this parade seems about marriage. Wait, the couple who holds the sign, they are both men, aren’t they…?
The parade I was watching was a parade about same-sex marriage. It’s called, “Pride Parade”, and it has taken place once a year since 1970. Massachusetts is the first state which legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S. Maybe because of that, during the parade, I was astonished by the power of the participants and the audiences. They kept shouting, screaming and cheering to each other more than two hours, without any rest. I felt their strong emotions filled with joy and pride that they won their rights in this place, Massachusetts.
I was curious about how Bostonians feel about same-sex marriage. I interviewed two Bostonians who were not interested in same-sex people. The man who was in his middle twenties, and had lived in Boston for 7 years said,” It’s natural to get married with someone in love, even if both of them are men or women.” The other interviewee who was a mother of a teenage girl, had lived in Boston for her whole life said, “I’m proud of living in Massachusetts which is very forward-thinking state.” I know that same-sex marriage is still a controversial issue in the U.S. It has been legalized in only 6 states out of 50 states now. However, in Massachusetts, in the first state legalized same-sex marriage, the answer of two interviewees above might be citizen’s major opinion.
How do you think about same-sex marriage? Whether agree or disagree, I encourage you to watch “Boston Pride Parade” once in your life. It will takes place at June 13th 2010. It is their 40th anniversary. I hope that as many people as possible will feel their live energy in Boston.