Although yesterday was Marine Day, I didn’t go swimming at the beach. I did go swimming last Wednesday in a pool, however. A friend of mine invited me to go swimming at his university’s outdoor pool. The swimming team wasn’t using it that day, so we had it to ourselves, or so we thought. When we got there, a couple of ducks flew down and landed in the water. They started swimming down the lanes. Then they got out and rested at the end of the pool. I took out my smartphone to take a picture, but when I got closer, they jumped in the water and swam away. When we got into the pool, they flew away. This was the first time I ever shared a pool with ducks!    (130 words)

Here are the answers to yesterday’s watermelon quiz.(1) Where were watermelons first grown? Scientists believe that the first watermelons were grown in Egypt about 5000 years ago.(2) What percent of a watermelon is just water? 92%. When you eat a watermelon, you are eating mostly water.(3) Which is from the same family as the watermelon? The cucumber is from the same family. The melon family includes zucchini and pumpkins, too.  (4) When people explored new countries, how did they use the watermelon? They used it to carry water. A watermelon can hold a lot of water.(5) Which country grows the most watermelons now? China is the biggest producer of watermelons. It grows about 20 times more watermelons than the next country, Turkey.   (126 words)

If you go to the store, you will find a lot of watermelons. They are in season now. How much do you know about watermelons? I have a quiz for you. (1) Where were watermelons first grown?a. In China   b. In India  c. In Egypt  d. In Spain(2) What percent of watermelon is just water?a. 75%  b. 84%  c. 92%  d. 99%(3) Which of these is from the same family as watermelons?a. The papaya  b. The banana  c. The tomato  d. The cucumber(4) When people exploring new countries found watermelons, how did they use them?a. To eat in like a bowl  b. To carry water in like a canteen  c. To wear on your headlike a hat  d. To sit on like a chair(5) Which country grows the most watermelons now?a. China  b. India  c. Egypt  d. Spain      (148 words)

Fujii Sota and Watanabe Akira came to Nagoya to begin the Oi Tournament last week. Shogi players didn’t use to be big celebrities, but Fujii Sota has changed that. He was the youngest person to become a professional shogi player, and he won all eight major titles by the age of 21. Besides, he is a local boy. He comes from Seto, which is just outside Nagoya. Fujii and Watanabe have been in the news every day. The sweets that they ate during the game have been in the news too, and those sweet shops are now filled with their fans. When somebody becomes this famous, we say that he or she is a rock star. I don’t know about Watanabe, but Fujii is definitely a rock star here in Aichi Prefecture!   (132 words)

Rice paddy art began in Japan in 1993. A small village in Aomori Prefecture called Inakadate wanted to celebrate their long history of rice growing, so they used four different types of rice to make a picture of Mt. Iwaki. Now they use computers to design more complex pictures. Their paddy art has been so successful that more than 300,000 tourists come to visit Inakadate every year. These days, many other places around Japan are making rice paddy art, too. The different-colored rices are at their best now. Yesterday, the Nanyo rice paddy in western Nagoya had a special viewing event. I went up the viewing tower and looked down on a picture of anime characters riding Doctor Yellow, the yellow train that checks the Shinkansen tracks.      (127 words)