Anna Matsushita

 One winter, my family and I embarked on a journey to the Canary Islands, situated off the coast of North Africa, to celebrate the year-end holidays. These islands, a bit farther south than the Mediterranean, are renowned for their numerous volcanoes. My destination was one of the islands in the archipelago, Lanzarote. It's a Spanish territory where the predominant language is, unsurprisingly, Spanish. Upon landing at the airport and traversing the island by bus, I beheld many curious sights. I noticed peculiar circular enclosures made of stone, with greenery growing in sunken centers. Our guide explained that these were vineyards. The island, formed from volcanic ash, experiences strong winds, making it challenging to cultivate taller crops. Thus, they construct enclosures with rocks to shield against the wind, creating depressions in the center where grapevines thrive. That day, our group of nearly thirty individuals was meticulously led around by our guide, showcasing variou

  November came and I was still out of job.  Just for a change from regular visi to job centre and endless search on the internet, I decided to treat myself a day out to the Enoshima Island.  The Enoshima Island is located off the coast in Shonan beach, near Fujisawa, Japan. The legend has it that a lonely dragon was desperate and angry with loneliness, causing terrible disaster to local area with endless storm. Then out of the blue, there came a beautiful goddess, which is said to be the Salasvati, speaking to the angry dragon why he is causing such a dreadful disasters. Dragon said that he want someone to stay with him. The goddess said that she will be with him as his wife on a condition that he will make an end to his  despair and guard the local area instead of causing natural disaster. Thus the island became famous for this romantic legend of dragon and Slasvati, couples from all over the world are visiting shrines, making wish for endless relationship. It was a warm day, and des