Have you ever gone hiking in the mountains and found a beautiful stick? Or maybe you were walking on a beach and you found an interesting piece of driftwood on the sand. You can take a picture of it and post it on SNS for your friends, but now, there is a way to reach an international audience. Stick Nation is a group of people from around the world who love sticks. They post videos of interesting sticks they find on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Almost everyone speaks English, so you can learn English by listening to them. Then, go out and use your English. Find your own stick, make a video. and tell the world why your stick is so cool! And don’t forget to tell me about it!　　(130 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

My sister sent me this message on Saturday: “What time do you want me to call you on Sunday? We are switching to Daylight Saving Time (DST).” In the middle of the night, the clock skipped from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., and Sunday, March 9, was only 23 hours long. Now the sun comes up and goes down one hour later. She doesn’t like DST because it takes her body and brain a while to get used to the new time. She has to get up one hour earlier, so she gets sleepy more easily. She sometimes forgets about the time change and goes to work or her appointments late. She says that children are sleepier because they stay up later than usual. The U.S. started Daylight Saving Time in 1918 to save energy, but now my sister and about 70% of Americans want to stop changing their clocks. (150 words) You

You know it’s spring when the plum blossoms come out. On Monday, I went past the shrine near my house and saw a tree with beautiful white blossoms. You know it’s spring when you see a lot of high school students walking toward a university one morning. They are on their way to take entrance exams. You know it’s spring when people no longer wear heavy down jackets. Temperatures have been in the mid-10s these days, and people are starting to wear shirts and light jackets. You know it’s spring when baseball is in the news again. In Nagoya, we hear a lot about the Chunichi Dragons and their pre-season games almost every day. (114 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

The SheBelieves Cup is held in the U.S. in February or March every year. Each year, four women’s national teams play against each other. The teams this year came from the U.S., Japan, Colombia, and Australia. Nadeshiko Japan got 4 goals against Australia and 4 goals against Colombia. Their defense was excellent, too. They only gave up 1 goal in those two games. Then, in their last game, they faced the top-ranked U.S. Momiki Yuka got the first goal, but the U.S. team tied the score. Then, in the second half, Koga Toko got another goal, and Nadeshiko Japan won the game and the tournament. It was only the second time that Japan has beaten the U.S. team. Congratulations, Nadeshiko Japan! (121 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com