Today is Giving Tuesday. It comes after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, and it is the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S. These days, you can find Black Friday sales in Japan, too. Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving. It is a great day for online sales. Some people thought that spending so much time on shopping was making people selfish, so they started Giving Tuesday in 2012. They wanted people to think about helping other people at this time of year. You can help people in many different ways. You can give money to charities, do volunteer work, or even just give up your seat to someone on a subway. Show some kindness and help others today. (129 words)

It’s the last month of the year, but it’s still autumn here in Nagoya. The trees have finally started to change color. I often take my daughter’s dog for a walk, and we usually go to a park that has ginkgo trees. They are turning yellow, but there is still some green in the leaves. I look forward to walking down the street near my house that is lined with ginkgo trees. They drop their leaves and make a yellow carpet on the road. I like maple trees, too. They are turning red, and they are particularly beautiful when the sun hits them. Now is a great time to go outside! (111 words)

Today is a special day in the U.S. Do you know what it is? Here are some hints. 1) It falls on the fourth Thursday of November. 2) It is the busiest time of year for traveling in the U.S. 3) Families come together from all over the country to celebrate with a big dinner. 4) A typical menu is turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, and pecan or pumpkin pie. 5) There are lots of American football games on TV. 6) The next day is a special shopping holiday called Black Friday. Send me your guess today, and I will send you the answer tomorrow. (109 words)

I got back to Japan just in time to see the last day of the Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka. The last day of a tournament is usually the most exciting because each wrestler tries harder than ever to get one last win. I got to see some great bouts on Day 15. The only Yokozuna, Terunofuji, was sitting out the tournament, but the three Ozeki did well. Two of them were leading with 13 wins and 1 loss. Hoshoryu went up against Kotozakura in the last bout of the day. At the beginning, I thought that Hoshoryu was going to win, but Kotozakura finally beat him and won his first tournament. Congratulations, Kotozakura!　　(114 words)

At the southern end of Florida, there are islands that go from the east to the west. These islands are called “keys,” and there is a 180-kilometer highway that goes from the mainland to the last island, Key West. I drove across the sea from one island to the next on my last full day in Florida. As I drove, I could see beautiful blue water on either side and pelicans flying everywhere. When I got to Key West, I visited the Ernest Hemingway House. The great writer lived there in the 1930s and wrote “The Old Man and the Sea.” I still remember reading it in junior high school. It was a very moving story. (116 words)