Haunted Places Nearby HIS
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you have an imperturbable soul that won’t be frightened by something as silly as a ghost? Will you believe me if I tell you that our school is surrounded by totally haunted corners with really creepy rumors while you passed through them without noticing anything at all? Regardless of your opinions on paranormal things or your internal wish to not know about them, I’ve listed a few places nearby HIS you’ll never think of in the same way anymore. Enjoy. Hiragishi Swimming Pool Pools are awesome, but you may want to avoid the Hiragishi Swimming Pool if you’re afraid of ghosts, drowning, or drowning because of a ghost. As some of you may know, the pool is situated right next to the big Hiragishi cemetery closeby HIS; but what most of you may not know is that until 20 years ago, there was a crematorium just where the pool is now. Apparently, long hair appears from absolutely nowhere and tangles on the limbs of very unlucky swimmers; and some claim to have their legs pulled down by some existence unexplainable with science while swimming, too. Oh, and don’t go to the men’s sauna either - people have seen some pretty terrifying things there. Nishioka Park Yes, you heard it correctly. Nishioka, that beautiful park Outdoor Pursuits students chill out in, is actually chosen as one of the three top scariest places in Sapporo (it’s even written on Wikipedia too!). The lake, stunningly gorgeous during the day, frightens the local people at night with stories of how poor random strollers spotted countless hands reaching out from underneath the water. Scared? There’s more: if you’ve been there before, you’ve probably seen the now unused tower that was originally an apparatus for controlling the water. Ostensively, it’s just a small white building with a red roof perched at one side of the lake. Well, visit there at midnight - because as the rumor goes, faces appear in the window-glass, glaring right at you. Moiwa Hyakudan Kaidan We’ve all seen Mt. Moiwa, that lush green mountain visible from our school. In the foot of the mountain there are scaffold stairs made out of metal - and according to the legend, that staircase is haunted! Rumor says that when you count the number of flights while climbing, a creepy kid appears at the very top, asking you how many staircases there were. If you answer him, you get cursed. Don’t believe it? Go ahead, you can check to see yourself - it’s not that far from HIS, there’s nothing to stop you, right? Please don’t blame me if you can’t go to school without shaking and praying so these ghostly beings will leave you alone anymore. By the way, meant to ask earlier...who is that long-haired woman standing just behind you? Creative Writing 1/12
All through the most part of my last winter break, I was at home doing nothing. During Christmas, the only thing I did was eat. I slept through the first three days of New Years. I had a lot of things to do - play the piano, work on yearbook pages, do very belated homework; but as the daily routine of waking up at 6:30 and heading to school discontinued, motivation died out. Each time I tried to open Josten’s Yearbook Avenue, a lazy me expostulated in my mind. “What are you doing? Working during vacation?” Although I knew I would be better off later if I finished it earlier, I wasn’t able to do a single assignment during the break. Occasionally, a small and sudden urge of trying something new washed over me. I opened up a tarot deck I have bought and neglected for at least three years; but my hands were far from dexterous, and as I struggled to shuffle the unexpectedly large cards they flew everywhere littering the already messy room. Other little failures and hassles, like getting stuck on choosing which interpretation book to believe in, eventually made me give up and I left my cards again. I felt chagrin for not even being able to do what I really want to do, but then, this wasn’t anything important and necessary. One day, out of nowhere, my father handed me a travel guidebook. Leaning obliquely towards me, he said to read it and ‘prepare’. Man, I thought, is he going to go somewhere again? These days Dad was interested in the airplane caste system and was flying around a lot to collect points and receive special status. I usually dismissed his random trips with a derisive laugh because I thought it was like a stupid cult - but recently, I’ve been more and more annoyed with how he’s been wasting money like this, when he won’t allow me to go to a university unless I stay in Sapporo and go to a cheap public school because of “financial problems”. I know it’s way cheaper to go on an airplane than pay for university, but this is my life and I’m not sure what I would be doing next year. It turned out that this time, my dad wasn’t going alone - I was to go too. It was a five-day trip to Taipei, the largest city in Taiwan. As much as I like going to random new places, to be honest, I preferred staying home. Breaks are for resting, and travelling is in my opinion almost the antonym of resting. The fact that the first day of school is only two days after my return date didn’t help either. Dad should have told me earlier about this. And even if the airplane fees are really cheap like he described, I’m still frustrated at how everyone seems to know which college they’re going except for me. I need a peremptory answer: where would I go, what would I do, do I have to study and take the stupid Japanese entrance exam? But apparently, I’m not getting any, and the random last-minute trip is more important than my future. “Just be thankful that I’m taking you”, Dad said imperiously, “and forget about college”. Listening half-heartedly to Dad’s stories of amalgamated airplane companies and the business plans airlines like JAL do to increase traffic, time passed by quickly and the departure day came. With my small suitcase I packed hastily a night before, we went on train to the airport. |
Polonius: Good Father or Bad Father?
I believe Polonius is more of a good father than a bad one. In the beginning, when I read the character list that says Ophelia was dissuaded by his father to interact with Hamlet, I thought it was like Romeo and Juliet and the two were forbidden to be together just because the families were fighting with each other; but as we read through the play, I learned that Polonius’s expostulations were just so his dear daughter would be safe. In Act II scene II, Polonius laughs that Ophelia speaks “like a green girl / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance” (Act 1.3. 101-102). His attitude and words are imperious, but what he says is true - Ophelia is an innocent girl who doesn’t know much about the world. She is too pure that she later goes crazy and dies in a suicidal way just because she lost her father. While he is alive Polonius gives many advice to his two children, and when he makes a mistake, he is not afraid to admit it and apologize. After Hamlet went crazy, Polonius thought it was because he banned Ophelia from meeting him, and the two runs to the court to tell what happened. He says to Ophelia that he was sorry he judged Hamlet’s love wrongly, that he “feared he did but trifle / And meant to wreck thee” and that old people like him often assume they know more than they do (Act. 2.1. 112-118). I think Polonius is a really good character that knows the harshness of the world but can apologize to young people when he’s judgement is mistaken. Claudius: Good Ruler or Poor Ruler? As an evil knave who commits murder and adultery, most people will agree that Claudius is the villain of the play; but there are many different opinions on whether he was a good king or a bad king. Although there is limited information on his way of ruling the people, I believe Claudius failed as the leader of the country because missed separating personal matters with political ones. After Claudius finds out that Hamlet knows his murder, he naturally becomes afraid of being killed by Hamlet. Using his responsibility to protect the crown and his people as an excuse, Claudius sends Hamlet out of his country, stating that “the terms of our estate may not endure / Hazard so dangerous as doth hourly grow / Out of his lunacies” (Act 3.3 5-8). This might have been a good decision, because if Hamlet was really insane he could have harmed his people or done some inappropriate things as a prince - but Claudius’s actions were always hasty, and the citizens of Denmark became very suspicious. In order to hide his crime, Claudius tried to get rid of Hamlet and Hamlet’s murder of Polonius as fast as possible, so he did not do a proper burial despite Polonius’s name and importance.That caused people to have “thick, and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers” - everyone spread rumours about crazy Hamlet and the sudden death of Polonius - and Laertes came barging in, declaring mutiny along with his followers (Act 4.5 55-60). If Claudius was more calm and thoughtful, he could have been an okay leader, but because he was stressed and a lot of things were going on, he failed on becoming a good ruler of Denmark. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Did they deserve their fate? Hamlet derisively mocks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern every single time he meets them, and to be honest, it doesn’t feel as though they’re actually friends. The two is more like a faithful servant to Claudius, acting as spies and accompanying Hamlet to England where he was supposed to get killed. Hamlet realizes that they are dishonest, and changes the letter from Claudius getting the two killed instead. I don’t think anyone deserves their fate in Hamlet but I understand why Hamlet did not care about their deaths - they were merely stupid nobles controlled by his powerful uncle that got in the way for revenge. For example, when Hamlet adds a segment that represents his father’s death to a play, Claudius gets mad like crazy and Gertrude sends Rosencrantz as a messenger to Hamlet. Hamlet, still feigning madness, annoyingly word-plays with Rosencrantz. Rosencrantz loses his temper saying he would do Gertrude’s commandment “If it shall please you to make me a wholesome answer” (Act 3.2. 293-296). His words are still polite, but what he basically says is that if Hamlet keeps on fooling around Rosencrantz will go back, suggesting that he is despising crazy Hamlet and if he wasn’t the prince he won’t be talking to him. Later in the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is sent to Hamlet again to find out where Polonius’s corpse went - and Hamlet compares the two as a sponge “that soaks up the King's countenance, his rewards, his authorities” (Act 4.2 15-16). Hamlet understands that the two were toady people who only talked to him because of Claudius the King, not because they were friends or because the two cared about him. Hamlet’s Revenge: Justified or Not? Before I read the play I thought Hamlet was crazy man who would ruthlessly kill for revenge, but once I started the book I learned that he was human, not a heartless murder robot. He talks with a ghost that is supposedly his fathers, and gets almost forced to kill Claudius for revenge; but he takes careful steps, check if what the ghost says is true, weighs what’s important, and questions whether what he is doing is right through many soliloquies throughout the play. All of that being said, I believe Hamlet’s revenge cannot be justified. Revenge not only pays back to someone who had done something horrible, but it also takes away the lives of innocent people. Inside Hamlet Shakespeare doesn’t give a clear peremptory answer on whether or not vengeance could be justified, but he ends the story with almost every single character dead except for Fortinbras who was not involved at all and Horatio who almost committed suicide in faithfulness but remained to tell Hamlet’s story. Revenge took over Hamlet’s heart and actions, ruining what might have been a happy life for everybody - Hamlet’s selfishness towards fulfilling his revenge murders Polonius, which causes Ophelia to drown, which ends up Gertrude crying at Ophelia’s funeral saying she “thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid, and not have strewed thy grave” (Act 5.1. 220-221). Revenge can also bring another revenge, and I thought it was really sad when Laertes died while pleading Hamlet to exchange forgiveness saying “Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee, nor thine on me” even though he knew it was Hamlet and there was no way dead people could come back alive (Act 5.2. 324-326). Claudius was a knave - we can all understand the responsibility Hamlet felt in fulfilling his revenge - but seeing in a bigger picture, his plans destroyed innocent people and his revenge cannot be justified. |