Be careful tomorrow! It’s Friday the 13th. You probably know that it is an unlucky day, but do you know what you shouldn’t do on this day? Here is a list. 1. Don’t break a mirror. It will bring you seven years of bad luck. 2. Don’t walk under a ladder. Something, or someone, might fall on you. 3. Don’t spill salt, but if you do, throw some over your left shoulder. 4. Don’t let a black cat cross in front of you. It is a sign of bad luck. 5. Don’t travel or get surgery on Friday the 13th. Try to do these things on another day. (108 words)

Who makes dinner in your family? My wife usually makes dinner for me, but she was away over the weekend, so I decided to make dinner for her when she got back home. First, I had to choose what to make. I went online and found a recipe for mackerel, a fish I really like. Then I went shopping and got everything I needed. When I got home, I started cooking. I made rice and a side dish as well. I’m happy to say that she enjoyed the meal, and I realized that cooking isn’t easy. It took me half a day to prepare this dinner. I enjoyed cooking, but I feel grateful that my wife usually does it for me. It’s hard work! (124 words)

My son-in-law has relatives in Ehime Prefecture, and they always send his mother mandarin oranges at this time of year. He got a special kind called “Red Madonna” (“beni Madonna”) this time, and he gave us some. They were delicious! The fruit was soft like jelly and very sweet. They say that the red Madonna is as sweet as a mango or a pineapple. One thing I didn’t like about this kind of mandarin orange was its peel. It is thinner than other mandarin orange peels. In fact, it is so thin that you can’t peel it with your hands. I had to slice it in order to eat it, but it was very, very good! (116 words)

Japan did very well in the 2024 ISU Grand Prix Final and the Junior Grand Prix Final over the weekend in Grenoble, France. Japanese skaters got the silver and bronze medals in both the men’s singles and the ladies` singles in the senior division, but Japan’s young female skaters in the Junior Grand Prix Final were the best. They took all three medals in the ladies’ singles. The gold medalist was Shimada Mao. She is only 16 years old, but she now has won the Junior Grant Prix Final three years in a row. When the next Winter Olympics are held in northern Italy at Milano and Cortina in 2026, I’m sure we will see her there! (117 words)

I had the chance to visit Hawaii for the first time. Hawaii is home to Pearl Harbor, where the Imperial Japanese Navy, led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a native of Nagaoka, Niigata, launched a surprise attack in 1941, marking the beginning of the Pacific War. I also learned that the battleship Missouri, now docked at Pearl Harbor, served as the venue for the signing ceremony that officially ended the war. This makes Hawaii a symbolic place representing both the beginning and the end of the war. Interestingly, Nagaoka and Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, are now sister cities. Each year, Nagaoka’s famous fireworks are featured at the Honolulu Festival, symbolizing peace and friendship. As December 8 marks the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, it serves as a reminder that the peaceful days we now enjoy came at a great cost. Many lives were lost during the war. (148 words)

What is the first song that you remember hearing? I don’t mean a song for children. I mean a popular song that you can hear on the radio. I remember hearing “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley when I was three years old. I didn’t hear it in my own house. My sister and I were too young to listen to popular music on the radio, and my parents didn’t like rock ‘n’ roll. However, there was a girl living next to us who loved Elvis. She had a small record player in her garage, and she played the song almost every day. When I became a teenager, I was the same. I was crazy about the Beatles and listened to their records all the time! (127 words)