*FLUFFY goes to school* Book review 2-5

One day, a Guinea pig came to Ms. Day’s class. Her students tried to decide their guinea pig’s name. There were three ideas. Those were Sparky, Ringo and Fluffy. Emma wanted to give him name Sparky, and Maxwell wanted to give him name Ringo, but everybody else voted Fluffy. Maxwell walked over and talked to a guinea pig. ‘Hello, Fluffy,’ but the guinea pig thought ‘Who is Fluffy?’ he looked for Fluffy all over his cage. Finally, he noticed that he is Fluffy! But he doesn’t want to be Fluffy. He thought ‘I am big strong bad guinea pig so the name doesn’t suit me! I want to be something strong one, like Butch.’ And he felt asleep…

Emma and Wade made a play yard for Fluffy. There were a box, a coconut shell, and a cardboard tube in it. Fluffy jumped into the box and pretended a police officer, and the box was a police car. He chased some robbers by the car. Next, Wade put Fluffy in the coconut shell. He pretended it was a boat, and he was a Captain Fluffy. A storm rocked the boat but Fluffy held the wheel steady. Then, Emma picked Fluffy up and put him down by the tube so he pretended it was a spaceship. Space rocks were about to hit the ship so the crews cried ‘Help! Commander Fluffy!’ He escaped from the rocks. Everyone shouted ‘Hooray for commander Fluffy!’ After that, he returned the real world and had a carrot. He thought a carrot is good after a hard day at work!

Emma took her doll and showed it to Fluffy. She wanted to wear the doll’s dress to Fluffy so Jasmine and Emma did it. Fluffy didn’t want to do that thought they were pleased. They misunderstood that Fluffy is happy so took him to Ms. Zwick to show him. There was another guinea pig Duke in Ms. Zwick’s class room. Fluffy was embarrassed because of such a funny dress on him so he lied to Duke that he is a spy and on a secret mission so don’t tell anyone about him. Finally, Fluffy could take the dress off and back his cage.

Fluffy did many adventures in the story. He pretended some cool roles so was satisfy by himself. All the students love him so much so take care him. Sometimes it is not good for Fluffy though. Fluffy is cute guinea pig of them!
(409 words)

*Amelia Bedelia* Book review 2-4

The book, Amelia Bedelia, was kind of funny book. Amelia Bedelia is nice person and was employed by Mr. and Mrs. Rogers as a homemaker. The first day when she started the working, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers had to go out so they made a list and it was written what she should do. Amelia Bedelia did seven things. One was a surprise of her for her folks and others were what the list says.

First, she made a lemon-meringue pie for her folks to surprise them. She went to the kitchen and did something to make the lemon-meringue pie.

Second, she saw the list, and the list says ‘Change the towels in the green bathroom’. The towels were still ok so she thought about it and started snipping the towels!

Third, the list says ‘Dust the furniture’ and she wondered why they want to dust the furniture because she had never done like that before. Then, she just found a big box with the words ‘Dusting Powder’ on it and she figured out. Yes, she dusted the furniture with the dusting powder.

Fourth, she drew the drapes on a paper when the sun is coming in because the list says ‘Draw the drapes when the sun comes in’ even she is not much of a hand at drawing. She tried hard.

Fifth, the list says ‘Put the lights out when you finish in the living room’ so she switched off the lights and carefully unscrewed each bulb. She thought the lights need to be aired out just like pillows and babies.

Sixth, the list says ‘Measure the cups of rice’. She found two cups and filled them with rice, and then, she piled those cups and measured the length. She poured the rice back into the container.

Next, she did really funny things. The list says ‘The meat market will deliver a steak and a chicken. Please trim the fat before you put the steak in the icebox. And please dress the chicken’. It meant cut the fat of the steak, and get ready to cook the chicken, but she misunderstood. She brought some lace and bits of ribbon. Then, she trimmed the steak and dressed the chicken as he could be like a boy.

Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers came back to the home. They found all of her mistakes and Mrs. Rogers got mad at Amelia Bedelia. She tried to tell that she will fire but couldn’t do that because Mr. Rogers put something in her mouth. It was a lemon-meringue pie that she made for them and it was so good. They forgot to fire her because too delicious to say, and they want her to stay more and make lemon-meringue pie from now too. She made a lot of mistakes but she was fine because of her personality.
(473 words)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ahhhh! I disappointed by myself because of my English skills. Today, my friend, Erynn, wanted to go to the post office to send a package to USA so she asked me to go with her. Of course I wanted to help her so I went there together. At the post office, I asked how to send the package to USA and how much is it but I couldn’t tell her the answers in English well. I just told her some words. It was regrettable that I couldn’t speak English well. I guess, I had spoken better than now when I came back from USA. I was unhappy because I wanted to help her very much! After that, I went to the dormitory with her. Also I met other friends of mine, but I couldn’t talk with them well and understand what they were talking. I thought, to practice every day is best. If I didn’t practice, my skills are gonna be poor. I’m scared and afraid that I won’t speak English. Well, I have to try to practice more and more. And I thank Erynn for giving me a prompt to notice such an important thing that I had to notice. JUST DO MY BEST!!
(203 words)

Romeo and Juliet essay prep

'Romeo and Juliet' was written by Shakespeare (1564-1616) who is from England. It is kind of tragedy. Leonardo DiCaprio was Romeo and Claire Danes was Juliet in the movie. It was arranged like modern society.
(35 words)

*Shrek* movie review

I’ve only watched ‘Shrek 3’ before. It was so funny. I really wanted to watch the other movies of Shrek. It was a nice opportunity to watch ‘Shrek’. Now I’m happy because of it.

There is an ogre who is known as a cannibal in the depth of the forest. People are scared of him so he lives alone near by a pond. He has green skin and he looks very ugly. However, he has a warm heart but no one knows it.

One day, all the fairy tales creatures were caught by people who live in DuLoc and they were sold to the government for money. A very talkative donkey is one of a creature in fairy tales and he escaped from them and went into the forest where Shrek lives. The government people chased donkey but they suddenly met Shrek. They were surprised and ran away. Donkey appreciated Shrek and followed him even though Shrek didn’t want him to. Donkey stayed outside Shrek’s house. At the night, all the fairy tales creatures came to Shrek’s house. There were exiled by Lord Farquaad. Shrek decided to ask to Farquaad to get rid of them.

In DuLoc, Farquaad decided to marry Princess Fiona. He had a tournament and the winner had to rescue Princess Fiona but Shrek interrupted the tournament and won. So, he had to rescue Fiona to get the fairy tales creatures out of his swamp. Shrek and Donkey went to a castle where a big ferocious dragon lives.

Princess Fiona was waiting in a tall tower for a prince for a long time. Shrek defeated the dragon and rescued Fiona. Fiona was so pleased because she was dreaming a prince would rescue her. Shrek was wearing a helmet but she made him take it offand then, she saw his face. She was shocked because he was an ogre. She wasn’t satisfied that Farquaad didn’t come to help her by himself but Shrek picked her up and went back DuLoc.

On the way, Fiona and Shrek both became attracted to each other but Fiona had a big secret. When the sun goes down, she becomes an ogre. True love’s first kiss would break the spell. One night, Shrek tried to say how he felt though… Donkey saw her night appearance and they were talking about her spell. She talked about herself. Shrek was listening the chatting and he misunderstood. He thought they were talking about Shrek. In the morning, Shrek and Fiona fought because they was still a misunderstanding. Then, Farquaad came to take Fiona to get married. The marriage would be held before sunset so Shrek and Donkey tried to prevent the marriage. At the very moment the sun went down, she became an ogre but Shrek still loved her. Farquaad tried to catch both of them. However, a dragon appeared and ate him. Finally, Shrek told his feelings to her and they got married.

The story is great. Sometimes, I was annoyed because they misunderstood each other a lot. When they made up, I felt very good. Shrek and Fiona are a good couple even though Fiona is a princess. She is very strong. She is also romantic so I hope Shrek could understand her! I like this movie, especially music that they are singing. That’s sounds fun so I could be happy about that too! Now I really want to watch ‘Shrek 2’ right now.
(570 words)

My answers

1. What is your usual writing/blogging schedule each week? Where do write/blog?
-I write 2 or 3 times a week at my house.

2. Please look at your first post from Spring term and compare it with what you are writing now. What improvements do you see with your English and what do you think you should work on to improve?
-I think my English is getting better. The sentences were very short at that time. I should keep writing.

3. What are your opinions of doing movie reviews? Please talk about the time it takes and the availability of the movies.
-To watch a movie takes about two hours and it's a little long but good for us.

4. Please give your suggestions for the class.
-I think the class is perfect. Sometimes book/movie reviews are hard for us.

5. Please give some advice to the students who will take this class next year.
-You may use the computer a lot even now. You will use the computer better than now in a year.
(175 words)

4. Conclusion

The most surprising thing for me is that all the waitresses and waiters were very kind. They took care of us many time and they were always smiling. People might feel so comfortable and give some more tips. The waitresses/waiters expect them for their good service. In Kumamoto, being nice to the customers is natural, so no one gives tips. The waitresses/waiters may want tips of course, but the customers in Kumamoto, they don’t need to pay such expensive tips like 20 percent more for the foods.
To give fun papers for children is also a good idea. They are not bored even if they are very hungry. Also Kumamoto has to have more a larger variety of restaurants, so we won’t be tired of the same foods. By having other countries’ foods, it is good to know other cultures.
There are many things to model in American restaurants. Restaurants have to make every effort to be comfortable everyone.
(161 words)

3. In the US

The most big difference is to leave a tip. Usually, we have to leave 15 or 20 percent of the price In Minnesota, most people go to restaurants 1 or 2 times a week. This result was the same as Japan. However, one difference between MN and Japan is the variety of restaurants which are liked by people. There are many kinds of restaurants in MN. Kumamoto students answered about 10 kinds of restaurants as popular kinds of restaurants. In Minnesota, there were Mexican, Chinese, Greek and Japanese restaurants, and they have even more kinds of restaurants. In the questionnaire, Minnesotan people answered 16 kinds of restaurants: for example there were Mexican, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Greek, and so on. There were many kinds of ethnic restaurants. Those are not common in Kumamoto. Each style of restaurant has its own atmosphere. For example, the Mexican restaurant had many Mexican decorations and music.
Minnesotan people spend money around 800~1000 yen for lunch, and they spend around 1000~2000 yen for dinner. The highest price which someone answered is 2500 yen. As might be expected this result was affected by age. The answerers are students of KGU so the average of age is 19 to 22 years old. The answerers from MN are our host parents so they would be around 30 years old or more. It makes a little difference. In addition American portions are more　bigger than Japanese portions and this may be another reason why they are a little more expensive.
Polite manners at the restaurant were all connected with being kind to the waiter or waitress: For example, say ‘Thank you,’ and ‘Please’ to them. We have to be gentle with each other anytime. A different manner from Japan is of meal.[1]
Most of the restaurants in Minnesota don’t have example foods in the show window like Japan, but some restaurants do have similar style show windows. In the show window, there are many kinds of foods and we can choose what we want to have. The clerk asks us and serves the dishes. When you want to pay, you will call the waiter or waitress to your table. Almost all people paid by credit card in MN. People ask the price to the waiter or waitress and then pay for the meals.
The waiters and waitresses are very kind to customers in Minnesota. They always take care of us and talk to us. They ask ‘Do you need something more to drink?’ ‘Is everything ok?’ even after they finished serving to us. At some restaurants when we order something to drink, we can have refills for free. It is not every drink but it is possible for some drinks.
Another big difference between Minnesota and Kumamoto is how restaurants treat children. Many restaurants in Minnesota have some good service for children. For example, they have their own menus for children. They are cheap and small, and a desert comes with the meal. Many restaurants give some crayons and paper to children on which is written coloring or easy arithmetic questions or easy games and so on. Those are fun for us too. Children love these papers. They play with the papers until their meals are served. If the questions are difficult for the children, they ask their parents. It also makes good relationships between children and their parents.
[1] At a restaurant, my host parents paid for the meals and went out but they left some tips. My host father, Fred had a book which can learn the way to fold paper money. It was like Origami, so he left some animals which were made by paper money on the table.
(564 words)

2. In Kumamoto

In Kumamoto restaurants, you can have lunch for about 500 yen at least. For example, At Kumamoto city hall restaurant, you can have lunch for about 1000 yen or so. When we want to pay for the meal, we go to the cash register and call a waiter or waitress. Then we can pay for the meal. In other restaurants, we can call the waiter or waitress to our table. Then we ask the price or look at it on the menu and pay with cash. To pay with a credit card is not common in Japan.
In Japan, we have some rules when we use chopsticks. One of them is that you don’t pass the foods from chopsticks to chopsticks. Next, you don’t stick your chopsticks in rice. These are really rude behaviors.
According to the questionnaire, in Kumamoto, most students go to a restaurant 1 or 2 times a week. The student who goes to restaurants the most answered 5 times a week. There are a few students who don’t go to a restaurant at all. The most popular restaurant was a fast food shop like McDonalds. Other popular restaurants are Gusto and Joyfull, which are kinds of family restaurants. Chinese food and Italian food are also liked by Kumamoto students. They spend around 500 yen for lunch, and they spend 1000 yen or so for dinner. The highest price is 2000 yen.
The following was mentioned as polite behavior by the students when they have meals: Be quiet. Don’t talk with your mouth full. Don’t leave part of the meal.
When people choose their meal, they use a menu book or a card with some pictures. The entrances of some restaurants have artificial sample foods in the show window. This helps their customers decide what they want to have. When you want to pay, you will go to the cash register and call a waiter or waitress. Then you can pay money for the meal.
(331 words)

1. Introduction

1. Introduction　
Restaurants are very popular places all over the world. When we are hungry, we can go and have meals anytime. There are thousands of restaurants in the world and each has its own style. That’s why I’m interested in the difference of restaurants between Kumamoto and Minnesota and examined about it in this people. For example, the difference of the manners, the prices, and the way to order and pay, and so on will be written in my paper. The research was done by questionnaire which was answered by Japanese friends and our host families in Minnesota.
(99 words)

Self-introduction

This is my self-introduction that I wrote recently.

My name is Yoshimi Goto. I'm from Kumamoto in Japan. Kumamoto is middle of Kyusyu. We have a lot of nature. Those are so beautiful. There are many hot springs in Kumamoto.

I'm 19 years old. I go to Kumamoto Gakuen University. I'm majoring in English. I like to go on trips so I belong to the Youth hostel club now. We often go camping to other prefectures and enjoyed swimming or skiing. When I was a high school student, I was a member of Japanese drums club and I played the Japanese drums. I like it because it is a good Japanese tradition. I'm proud of it.

My hobby is going on a trip because trips give me great experience. Sometimes I go to other prefectures but I had never been to foreign countries. I really want to go foreign countries. Finally, I could go to the US last summer. I went to Bethel University with my friend. And I stayed American family's house. It was so much fun and I could have a great experience.

I have 5 members in my family. There are my mother, my father, my younger brother, my younger sister and my dog. My father has his own company. My younger brother is 17 years old. And he goes to high school. He plays basketball and has a part time job so he is working hard. My younger sister is 15 years old. She goes to junior high school and plays the trumpet. I often go to the concert to see her.
(267 word)