How does your room look like?

Is it big? Is it small?

What do you smell in your room?

What do you feel when you are in your room?

I lived in many rooms.

My first room was in Atlanta, Georgia where I was born. There was a white wall and white pillars.

My second room was in a small apartment in Princeton, New Jersey where I went to Riverside Elementary School for kindergarten.

There was a huge bed for my sister and I and a tiny baby bed for my little brother. I smelled the laundry and spicy Indian curry from our neighbor. I heard the next-door neighbor's chattering and my father's snort.

My third room was in Kokubunji, Tokyo in Japan where I went to Dai-San Elementary School for first and second grade.

My room was in the second floor in the corner. I was scared of ghosts and thieves when my sister didn't come back. "Use chopsticks properly," my grandpa said every time when we eat dinner; "welcome home," my grandma said everyday when I come back from school.

My fourth room was in Mitaka, Tokyo where I went to Osawa-Dai Elementary School for third through sixth grade.

It was the biggest room in the house. There was a nice key board and a brand new white desk matching with my sister. "Everyone blooms a different flower," my dad said when I fought with my sister; "you are like a small mom," my mom said when I helped her cleaning.

My fifth room was in Higashi-Kurume, Tokyo next to my grandma's house. I took train to go to school.

My room was the smallest one in the house. I smelled dust and wood. I saw tree filled with green leaves in the summer and brown branches in the winter. I saw my family talking outside from the window and the changing season. "I am going to Arkansas," I said when I was a 10th grader.