I visited Waterfront Park on a cold and windy day, and choose my favorite bench in the park. There are various reasons to why I chose Waterfront Park as my desired location. One reason is the peaceful silence in this park; the only thing disturbing this silence is the Sea-Bus horn as it leaves the dock every fifteen minutes. I like it when the Sea-Bus leaves the dock and sounds that overpowering horn every fifteen minutes, because it breaks the peaceful silence, and reminds me of the real world, the way it is today, filled with people and cars always being loud and causing chaos; simply the opposite of this peaceful park filled with singing seagulls. An additional reason to why I choose Waterfront Park is because when I was a child, I remember visiting this park and playing here with one of my friends. I really liked this park as a kid, so I decided to visit it again and see what I had left behind. I choose a bench facing Downtown Vancouver, because I truly like the city and the view I get from the
North Shore; it is a beautiful site. A further reason to why I choose this bench is because I liked the inscription on it, “To honour H.G. Foster – A view toward the city you helped to build.” There were tons of other benches in the same area as mine, facing Downtown Vancouver, but the inscriptions weren't as powerful and thoughtful as this one. My bench is like any other in this park, brown with blue handles, but it is unique in its own way. No other bench in this park has such a considerate inscription as mine, “To honour H.G. Foster – A view toward the city you helped to build.” A few scratches on the bench make it one of a kind; you can’t find the same scratches on a different bench. The blue handles on the bench started to rust away in a few, tiny places, and the metal is showing from under the blue paint, but despite this minor, physical damage, the bench is the best in the park.2. View from My Bench
As I was sitting on my bench there were various things that I could see, hear, feel, and want. When I looked ahead of me, I saw the stunning site of Downtown Vancouver, along with the Ocean as it hit the rocks on shore. To the right of me I saw three flags; one of them was the current Canadian flag, the other two were Canadian flags as well, but they were used before our current Maple Leaf flag. I could also see a ship harbour to the right of me. There were some good-looking boats parked in this harbour; I wish one day I could have a boat like the ones I saw. To the left I saw a pier with a roof above it, which allowed people to enjoy the beautiful view in a peaceful environment, without getting wet on rainy days. Th
e park where I used to play as a child was located behind me, and I could see it perfectly when I turned around. Along with the park, I saw some interesting beams, which in my opinion served as decoration. There were approximately ten of them, each one measuring roughly ten feet in height, and when I saw them from my angle they looked like mountains, some were steeper than the others, and several were higher than the rest. I saw and heard a lot of seagulls in this park; these astonishing birds gave the park a more peaceful feeling as one relaxes and enjoys the nature. The peaceful emotion was occasionally disrupted by the Sea-Bus as it left the dock and sounded a very loud horn. I enjoyed the sound of the Ocean the most, and the way the waves hurled towards the shore. As I was sitting on my bench I felt very cold, and whenever I exhaled I could see my own breath, as it turned into mist; in order to keep my mind off the cold weather I was thinking about summer and how beautiful and warm it was during this time of the season. I also felt very relaxed and calm, and I started to think about the things that I wish for in the future. I realized that the thing I want the most in the future is to be successful and make something out of every opportunity I get. As much as I want to be successful, I started to understand that my health, and the health of the people that I care for was the most important thing. I would be the very happy if my family, friends and I would all be healthy to enjoy the beautiful things in life. It would be no good if I was successful and none of my family or friends would be there with me to enjoy it.Above is a 360° View from My Bench
3. A Bench Dedicated To Me
If I was fortunate enough to have a bench dedicated to me I wouldn’t care too much about the location or the inscription on it, I would be very happy to know that I have family and friends that thought of me and went through all the trouble to have a bench dedicated to me. However, if I had a choice to
where I would like the bench to be, I would choose a quiet, peaceful place somewhere in the forest, where I could come any time and think about my past, present, and future in a stress free environment. The inscription plate is as important as the screws and bolts that hold the bench together. The inscription plate describes the person’s goals, achievements, and often their entire life. I would like my inscription plate to say, “To acknowledge Thomas Hrica – A good friend, son and most of all an inspiration.” I would be very glad and surprised at the same time if I saw this inscription on my bench. I would be happy to know that someone thinks this much of me, but I would be very surprised that I, out of all people would inspire someone. I’m not saying that it is impossible for me to inspire someone, but it is unlikely. I would believe that one would be inspired by a famous figure, such as an actor, writer, or a singer rather than an ordinary person. I would be very delighted if there was someone in the world that would think this much of me.4. A Bench Dedicated By Me
If I was to dedicate a bench to someone there would be many things I would take into consideration. If I was dedicating a bench to my mom and dad the inscription would be different that if I was dedicating a bench to a friend. The location would stay the same; because no matter whom you are dedicating a bench to, you always want the best spot for their bench. I would like the location of the bench to be in a place where no one ever goes, a private place. Somewhere in nature where it’s quiet and peaceful, so that when I visit this place I feel relaxed and not disturbed. The inscription plate on my mom and dad’s bench would say, “Dedicated to my mom and dad – thanks for always believing in me and supporting me throughout these years.” My parents are the most important people in my life, they always believed in me, and supported me by pushing me to reach new limits. I would like to address this in the inscription plate on the bench. If I was dedicating a bench to a friend the inscription would say, “To recognize name of my friend – Thanks for always being there for me when I needed you.” This inscription would be suitable for any friend because a good friend is someone that will help you when you need help, someone that will be there when you need them, someone you can trust. If a friend is not there for you, he is not a good friend, and it’s not worth dedicating a bench to someone that won’t help you when you need their help.
5. Journal Response
One cold, windy afternoon I decided to go to Waterfront Park and look for the perfect bench for my English 12 Term Assignment. Right after school I went home, dropped off my back pack, and walked all the way down to Lonsdale Quay. Luckily it wasn’t raining on this day, so I had a nice, dry walk down to Lonsdale Quay. Once I arrived at Lonsdale Quay, I first bought some food because I was very hungry. After finishing my meal, I headed to Waterfront Park, which was approximately two minutes away from the place where I was eating. Once I got there I walked around the entire park, looking for the perfect bench; I read every inscription plate on every bench until I found an inscription that I liked. It wasn’t just the inscription plate that I liked about this bench, it was the wonderful view. I sat on my bench, and for the first fifteen minutes I just looked around and started to think about things, such as my future. I got out my note book and took notes about my surroundings; I wrote down everything I could see, hear, and feel. I was there for about an hour, but then I got extremely cold and decided to leave; I took a bus home in order to stay warm.
I returned to my bench on another day because I wanted to take some
pictures of the view. I didn’t have my camera with me before, so that’s why I came back again. This day was very foggy, so my view was limited and I couldn't see some of the things I saw before, such as Downtown Vancouver. I sat on my bench and started taking pictures of the things I could see; once I was finished, I didn’t leave my bench right away. I felt so relaxed and calm as I was sitting on my bench, so I decided to stay for a while and enjoy the peaceful nature of the park, and the beautiful view I got from my bench. I was there for about thirty minutes, but then I had to leave because I had some other things I had to take care of. As I was walking home I started to realize that this park helps me focus, and keeps me calm and relaxed. I started to think why this was, and I believe it was from the peaceful silence and beautiful nature of this park. I told myself that I would come to this exact place, whenever I needed to get something done, but couldn’t focus. I believe that this park will help me in the future; I sense that this park will help me focus on things that I need to accomplish, and will allow me to achieve my goals without loosing perspective of my future.6. A Poem Representing My Bench
‘Peaceful’
I lay down in the rich golden sands
hear the sound of the emerald colour sea
smell the air pure and fresh
a seagull sounds in the distanceas
it glides down swooping up its prey
A far distant horn blasts through the peace
Another ship going to dock at port somewhere
the suns rays bear more heat upon my
already perspired skin
sending trickles of sweat slowly
down my side
I close my eyes and slowly
off to sleep i go.
By: David Wheeldon
I choose
this poem, because as I sit on my bench, I get a very peaceful and relaxed feeling. This poem does a wonderful job of addressing peace; all the things that were listed, such as; “hear the sound of the emerald colour sea, smell the air pure and fresh, a seagull sound in the distance” are all, in my opinion, signs of peace. As I was sitting on my bench, I could hear the ocean and seagulls singing, and this really relaxed me and gave me an incredibly peaceful feeling. Also, this poem is surprisingly very closely related to my personal experience, as I was in the park sitting on my bench. For example, “sound of the emerald colour sea, smell the air pure and fresh, a seagull sounds in the distance.” These things are exactly the same things I experienced from my bench; I heard the Ocean, smelled the fresh air, and heard seagulls, but these things are very common at Oceanfront parks. However, what surprised me the most is when the poet states, “A far distant horn blasts through the peace.” As I was sitting on my bench, I felt very relaxed sitting in a peaceful silence, but every fifteen minutes the horn of the Sea-Bus disrupted the peaceful silence and reminded me of the real world. As I was reading this poem, I found it very odd that my personal experience was so very closely related to this poem, so I decided to include it because it is exactly what I felt and experienced, as I was in the park sitting on my bench. Later in the poem the poet states that, “the suns rays bear more heat.” This statement is nowhere close to my experience from my bench; it was very cold and windy as I was sitting on my bench, but in my mind I kept thinking about a hot summer day, and how beautiful it would be, if I could experience this again in warmer weather.7. My Philosophy of Life
The poem ‘Peace’ is closely related to my personal philosophy of life because of my understanding and interpretation of life. I believe that we live our lives peacefully with obstacles in our way, which overpower our peaceful lives; because we try to make the best decision we can, in order to continu
e our lives on the right path. These decisions we have to make are so important to us that we start to lose perspective of our lives; all we are focusing on now is the obstacle in front of us. Metaphorically speaking, our life is like a river; we flow at a rapid speed but occasionally we have to slow down and make the right turns in order to fuse with the Ocean. In the poem it states that, “A far distant horn blasts through the peace.” The way I interpret this line from the poem is as follows; the “distant horn” is the decision we face in front of us, and “the peace” is our life. The “horn blasts through the peace” which in my interpretation means that the decision we face seems so important that it overpowers our perspective of the rest of our life.The poem is mostly about nature, and I think that we are losing sight of all the beautiful things nature has to offer. For example, with the technological advances taking place today, it is very hard for one to enjoy the simple things that nature has to offer. Today’s generation find it more amusing to watch television, or play on the computer rather than going outside to enjoy the nature. Back in time, before technology existed, people would go outside for recreation; this is one way nature was enjoyed. It is the simple pleasure of recreation that one gets when going outside into nature. I think that it is important for our generation to realize that recreation and other aspects of our life can simply be satisfied in the company of nature. The reason for why kids are getting so lazy these days is because they stay at home all the time watching television to satisfy their need of entertainment. If nature was utilized to satisfy this simple pleasure of entertainment, kids would get much more exercise and fresh air they require in order to live healthy lives. I believe that nature could, and should be utilized to help us meet our simple needs.
8. The Purpose of a Park
Before doing this project I didn’t think much about parks. If one had asked me what I thought the purpose of a park was; I wouldn’t be able to tell them. One thing that might come to my mind is that a park is a place where kids come to play. However, after visiting my bench in Waterfront Park I can now comfortably share my thoughts about the purpose of a park. As I was sitting on my bench I felt very calm and relaxed; I wasn’t stressed or worried a
bout anything. Thanks to this project I came to realize that parks are places where people can relax in a peaceful environment. Now I understand that a park isn’t just a place where kids come to play, but it’s a place where people of all ages come to calm down and relax, after a hard day at school or work. I think that a park is a great place to relax, because it is quiet, and surrounded by breathtaking nature. When you are at a park you are not disturbed by anything, you are free from the busy world, and this makes a park a great place to relax. I also noticed that as I was sitting on my bench, taking notes about my surroundings, I was very focused and couldn’t take my focus away from my goal. I think that the peaceful feeling one gets helps keep focus, and makes it easier to accomplish any goal one might have. I would recommend visiting a park when one feels stressed or is loosing focus, a park will help you calm down or regain focus that is required for you to succeed.9. My Poem
"Graduation"
Five years of high school have surpassed
The memories I cherish are vast.
This day was the climax of my vision,
The peak of success
Time to envision.
Today I ascend into adulthood
Take advantage of this I should.
New challenges stand in my course,
Solve them I will
Showing no remorse.
This wasn’t only a big moment for me, this I knew,
My parents’ dream has finally come true.
By: Thomas Hrica
