California

Americans call California ‘The Golden State’. And it’s true that people once came to look for gold and silver in the mountains. Now they come to see the great cities, the big parks, the beautiful desert, the wonderful coast of Big Sur, or to enjoy Disneyland. (p. 1).

This book is about California. Readers can learn about San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and so on. Thorough the story, readers can understand history, nature, and cities in California.
The most surprising story for me is the earthquake in San Francisco. Before reading, I thought an earthquake is rare in America. However, it is not true.

At 5. 13 a.m. on April 18, 1906, here was a terrible earthquake in San Francisco. The earthquake destroyed about 5000 buildings immediately. (p. 4)

What a terrible thing! I can’t imagine how terrible scene in San Francisco at that time. People in San Francisco might have been sad, if I were them, I couldn’t overcome so easily. How can we overcome such terrible experience? However, people raised to overcome the difficulties.

In 1989, when there was another earthquake in the city, only eleven people died and 1800 lost their homes. (p. 4)

 I think people in Kumamoto should overcome difficulties like them.

If I didn’t read this book, I wouldn’t know the earthquake in San Francisco and get a sense of affinity. I learned that finding something in common between foreign countries is connected to understanding cross-cultural understanding. Studying history through the book is one of the useful way to learn.  I really recommend to read.
Escott, J. (2000). California. London, UK: Oxford University Press.