Meuy S
Language Arts p.3
July 11, 1995
Living in a city this big with so many different things going on at one time can really get a person lost, especially if you are new to the place and its surroundings. Of course this is exactly what happened to me.
I was merely nine when I first came to Seattle from my native county, Thailand. When I first saw Seattle I thought it was this beautiful city with so many magnificent features; especially compared to Thailand where all you can see is muddy ground with little brushy trees, and hardly any tall buildings. Well my feeling toward Seattle did not last very long though. For you see, it was probably a week after I arrived in Seattle, when my sponsor(Cindy) decided to take my whole family on a tour of Green Lake Park and I got lost there.
I still remember that day so clearly; it was as if it happened only yesterday. Getting lost at Green Lake Park was the most horrifying moment of my life. I still remember stepping out of my sponsor's car onto the parking lot. After getting out of the car, Cindy led us to a trail that went around the lake. As I was walking on the trail I kept staring at everything I saw there because the place was so pretty and new to me. I saw so many things. I saw tall gigantic trees of different colors, and shapes surrounding a large lake at the center of the park. Animals such as birds, rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels were everywhere. I got so caught up in the place that I forgot about my family and wandered off the trail. I don't remember how far I wandered off, but I do remember that the last place I stopped at was a playground. I spotted the park and fell in love with it. I have never seen anything like it before in Thailand, and it was so much fun experiencing on the new playground. I guess I was having so much fun that I totally forgot about my family and lost track of time. After spending an hour at the playground I was getting tired so I decided that it was about time to get back and find my family. It was then, that I realized I didn't know where I was nor where I should go, I had no idea where my family was and to top it all I couldn't speak English; which made it hard for me to ask for help. By this point I was thinking, "I'll never see my family again!" I frightened myself so much, that I started to cry. I was running all over the place screaming for my mom, hoping she would hear me and come to my rescue. Obviously this did not happen, but what did happen was that a policeman spotted me crying and came over to see what was wrong. He asked me for my name, but I couldn't understand him. I started to shake my head. He then probably figured that I was lost and couldn't understand English, so he started pointing. At first I didn't know what he was pointing at, but then I saw he was trying to ask me if I came from that direction. He was right because I spotted the trail again. I nodded my head to show him he was right. As he held my hand down the trail I spotted my mom and quickly I let go of the officer, running to my mom.
That day I told myself I was never leaving my family again and to be more careful the next time. As for Green Lake Park I will never forget the place. It lives within me forever and ever.