It’s great to watch live sports because you can feel the excitement around you. I went to a baseball game last night, and the stadium was almost full. The people sitting behind me were Softbank Hawks fans. When the Hawks got a hit, I could hear them cheering. The people sitting next to me and in front of me were Chunichi Dragons fans. When the Dragons got a hit, we all cheered. It was an exciting game because the score was always close. The Hawks scored first. Then the Dragons went ahead in the second inning. The Hawks tied the game in the seventh inning and went ahead in the ninth inning. I was disappointed that the Dragons lost, but I enjoyed the excitement of live baseball!   (127 words)

By the time you read this (or watch the YouTube video), my university reunion will be over. It is my first reunion in more than 40 years. Reunions in the U.S. usually are held in June after the school year ends. Unfortunately, June is a busy time in Japan, especially for teachers. The school year goes until August, so I was never able to attend a reunion. This time the reunion is on Zoom. It is scheduled in the late afternoon on June 3, which is 6:30 this Tuesday morning in Japan. I don’t know how many people are attending, but I’m looking forward to talking to everyone. I wonder if I will still be able to recognize everyone after so many years.   (123 words)

There is a bookshelf at my tap dance studio, and anyone can read the books on it. When a friend of mine put a series of comic books called “Blue Giant” on it, I decided to read them. They were so good that I couldn’t put them down! The story is about a young man from Sendai who loves to play the saxophone. He goes to Tokyo to become a jazz musician. He has many difficult times, but he never gives up and becomes a great saxophonist. They made an animated movie of it, and I saw it last week. If you like jazz, watch the movie and enjoy the music. If you don’t like jazz, just read the comic books. They’re great! (123  words)

I found an unusual vending machine at a subway station. The machine sells soft drinks, and it has a sign that helps foreign travelers pay for the drinks. If you have ever traveled in a foreign country, you know that it can be difficult to pay for something. You don’t know the money of the country, so you have to look at each coin and figure out how much it is worth. The sign on this machine is very helpful. It shows the coins that you need to pay for a drink. If the drink costs 130 yen, it shows one 100-yen coin and three 10-yen coins. If the drink costs 160 yen, it shows one 100-yen coin, one 50-yen coin, and one 10-yen coin. 　(125 words)

It is 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28, and the weather has been bad all day. This morning and early afternoon, there was a lot of rain. I waited for the rain to let up, and then I went to the supermarket after lunch. As I was driving, the rain started to come down hard. I used my windshield wipers and chose the fastest speed so that I could see through the rain. Thanks to the supermarket’s covered parking lot, I didn’t get wet. When I came back home, it wasn’t raining so hard. Now the rain isn’t so bad, but the wind is very strong. This isn’t a typhoon, but it certainly sounds like one!  (116 words)