Senior's free time -Essay-

May 31, 2011

Sayaka Inahata

                                        Senior’s free time

           

I did my presentation about what Japanese seniors do in their free time. Therefore I’m

going to compare Japanese with American senior’s free time and how do they spend it.

I go to senior centers as internship now, and I went to Japanese senior center three times when I was a high school student. Therefore I could find similar points and differences between Japanese and American seniors.

            When I went to Japanese senior centers, almost all people were sitting. They were enjoying Origami, talking, and knitting, and so on. On the other hand, in American senior centers, there were many kinds of classes such as yoga, aerobics, line dance, t’ai chi dance, and tap dance. In Japan, there are few dance classes. I talked with some seniors in America. According to them, they came there to take dance classes. If there are no dance classes they want to take that day, they go to another senior center and take the dance class they want. I was surprised to hear that. They go to many senior centers to take dance classes almost every day. During the internship, I joined a line dance class. After one hour, I got tired. However they kept dancing and they looked refreshed. I felt that they are more vigorous than us.

            The difference I could say is that Japanese seniors are usually sitting and enjoying their hobbies, and American seniors are usually enjoying with their bodies. Some Japanese seniors enjoy Japanese traditional dance, but it’s very slow. I think American seniors are more active. On the other hand, the similar thing I could say is that both of them in senior centers have many friends and enjoy many things with them. Both of them looked happy to enjoy doing their hobbies with their friends. They are really active, cheerful and youthful although they are old. I can’t say which is better. However in my view, I like dancing therefore I want to keep dancing even when I’m a senior. I hope to enjoy the rest of my life like them.