My Stay in Okinawa

Last summer, I went to Okinawa to see one of my friends. She is not from Okinawa, but she is living in Okinawa for one year. Her name is Sayako, and she is 21 years old. Sayako and I are very good friends from K.G.U. Now Sayako goes to O.K.U as an exchange student for one year. She said that she had never lived without her family, so she wanted to try to live alone. She says she really enjoys her stay in Okinawa. When she left Kumamoto, I promised that I would visit her before she gets back to Kumamoto, so I did. At six O’clock, I went Kumamoto Kotsu C. and took a bus to Fukuoka Airport. Then I got on the plane. I was so excited because I loved Okinawa and could see my friend. When I got off the plane, my friend was waiting there for me. We rented a car, and went to Churaumi- aquarium. I took this picture there. They had so big water tank. It was the biggest in Japan! There were so many interesting fish and shark and…and more! A boy was tying to take pivtures of sharks. I thought it was so cute, so I took a picture of him. We also watched “Oki-chan Show”. Oki-chan is a name of a dolphin. We enjoyed watching that, and went to the beach. The water was so clear. However it was kind of dark, so we went back to Sayako’s apartment. We took about one and half hour to get there. We were lost kind of, but we could go back to her home some how. Then we went to Yakiniku and ate a lot. The next day, we went shopping and beach again. It was sunny day, and many people were there. The water wasn’t so cold. I felt like I’m in Onsen. In the evening, we went to Kokusaidori. They had many interesting stores, but I got nothing and ate supper there. The night was my last stay in Okinawa. Sayako and I talked a lot and fell asleep. The next day, I took airplane and went back to Kumamoto. I want to go there again. (365/4178 words)

CUTE KITTY★

Look at this cute cat’s picture! This is not my cat, but my friend’s cat. This is American-short-hair-cat. Do you know about American-short-hair-cat? I didn’t know much about that kind of cats, but my friend told me a lot about the cats. They have symmetrical stripes on their back! I looked on her back, and she really had symmetrical stripes! It was beautiful. Her name is Yu-chan, and she is very friendly. When I am just sitting, she tries to come to my shoulder, and starts sleeping. I didn’t know that cats are so friendly. I thought cats don’t play with people, and they like playing by themselves. I wasn’t cat person, but I felt I wanted to have my cat. However I won’t have cat because I have a dog, Shiro! Shiro might be jealous, so I won’t have any other pets. (143/ 3813 words)

B.R-7 Tales from Hans Andersen

I chose this book to read because it has many famous stories that I know, so I thought it would be easy to understand.


The Ugly duckling
The main Characters are ducks! There was a mother duck sitting on some eggs, and the ducklings come out. However, the biggest egg is not open, yet. About one hour later it opened, but the duckling was very big and ugly. Everyday the mother duck and ducklings stayed all together, but the ducklings don’t take the ugly duckling into their circle. They were very mean to him, and he left them. Then the biggest ugly duckling meats many animals, but they are mean to him, too. One day, the ugly duckling seas swans swimming. He wished that he could be beautiful like them. Sometimes he felt like he wants to die. He was alone long, long time. Another day, he seas swans, again, and he went to talk to them. He thought they might kill him because he is ugly, but he didn’t care. He just tried to swim them to talk. The ugly duck says, “kill me”, and lowered his head. Then what he seas? He saw a very beautiful swan on the surface. He was a swan! That was why he was different from other ducklings. The other swans gave a welcome to him. This story was little bit different from a story that I know. Half way of the story, I felt so sorry for the ugly duckling.


Little Mermaid
There is a Sea King living under the sea, and he has six children. After his wife’s death, his grandma took care of the children, and they really liked their grandma. The children were very beautiful mermaid princesses, specially the youngest one. Some times grandmother tells them that there is another world out side of the water, and youngest princess is really interested in the people lives on the land. Every little thing was unbelievable to them. One day, the little princess was looking at a ship, and the ship broke. A young prince was drowning, so she saved his life. He doesn’t remember her, but she loves him. She goes to an old woman who can use magic, and the old woman gives a magic drink to the little princess. She drinks it, and she gets two feet, then she lot voice instead of the feet. There was one more thing she had to do. She must marry him! If she couldn’t she would die. At the end of the story, she couldn’t marry him or stay together, but she didn’t die because she was very nice and she had helped people. The little mermaid was happy with that, but I wasn’t. I wanted the little princess to marry him.　(463/3670 words)

B.R.-6 The Barbecue

The main character was Donut. His mother was going to be forty years old, so they are having a party. Donut invited his friends and their parents. However Sam was not happy about that because her dad will be working, so he won’t be able to come to the party. Sam was unhappy about that. Donut said that they are going to have barbecue, and he told a story about the barbecue they had last time. The last time, Donut’s stepfather set too close to the garden fence, so the fire leaped to the fence. Then they had to call out the fire brigade. Donut’s friends didn’t believe that. They said Donut is making that up! Donut found his little sister, Cleo and said, “tell everyone what happened last time we had barbecue.” Cleo told everyone about the fire, and they believed that. The Barbecue day came. People brought presents for Mrs. Pringles, and she was so happy. She went to make it sure if the fire is not too close to the garden fence, and Mr. Pringles said that the fire was fine this time. After cooking, Mrs. Pringles started playing the piano, and Mr. Pringles started singing. As he sings, he began to climb a big oak tree. Mrs. Pringle said to come down to him angrily. However Mr. Pringle was so scared and couldn’t come down. Then they called the fire brigade again, and Sam’s dad came. He is a fire fighter, and he helps Mr. Pringle coming back down to the ground. Then Sam’s dad joins to the barbecue, and they all are happy now. I remembered the American style barbecue. It’s so different from Japanese barbecue, but it was really fun, too. (287/3107 words)

B.R.-5 Gandhi

Chapter 1 An Ordinary Boy
Gandhi’s full name was Mohandes Karamchand Gandhi. I didn’t know his full name, and I don’t know how to pronounce. He was born in 1869 in the west of India. When he was a boy, Britain was a very strong country. Britain Ruled India, and about East India Company was written in Chapter 1. I had learned about East India Company.


Chapter 2 “Coloreds sit in third class!”
Mohandes’ parents found a wife, named Kasturbai for him when he was only thirteen years old, and they got first baby in 1886. It was very common thing at that time. (Now I can’t understand. I still don’t want to marry, yet.) Gandhi’s first job was in Africa, which was also under the British rule. He had to leave his wife and his baby, but he was excited because it wouldn’t be longer than one years. An evening, he was on a train, and a white man got on the train, and said, “Get out of here. Coloreds can’t sit in here.” Gandhi had first class ticket, so he didn’t move because he wasn’t wrong. Then the white man called a police, and they threw him out of the train. Gandhi thought it was wrong, and he stayed in South Africa with his family about twenty years to fight against the discrimination. However things got worse, and they got new laws. Gandhi was sent to prison because of the law sometimes. Gandhi started nonviolence protect. About a month later, World War 1 started.


Chapter 3 “Go and find India”
“Go and find India! Listen, but do not speak. Learn!” These words were from an old Indian friend and a teacher to Gandhi because he was very famous in India, but he didn’t know about his country well. He obeyed the words and went to so many places in India, then met many people. This book said, “He wanted five things: no violence between Hindus and Muslims; the same rights for untouchables (people who does the dirty jobs) as for other Hindus; Indians in Indian clothes; the same rights for women as men; independence for India from British rule.”


Chapter 4 “I wanted to teach India a lesson”
In World War1, Indians fought with British, and died for them. When World War 1 was over, Indians thought that British would give them more rights, but it was wrong. Nothing changed, or went worse. However people didn’t give up. People put off British clothes and wore only Indian clothes. The British thought, “We think he is wating. He will use violence when he is ready.” Then they put Gandhi in prison for two years again.


Chapter 5 “I can’t get away from people!”
Nonviolence protest wasn’t really working. They often used violence between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi started to fast, and said, “I will eat again when the violence stops. Not before.” Then Hindu and Muslim leaders came to Gandhi to stop and told him that they are not fighting any more. He stopped fighting for Gandhi! I can see how people respected him from that. Often Gandhi was feeling tired, and he stopped going around for meetings and stayed home, ashram with children.


Chapter 6 “We have to do something big.”
At the time, three important readers were there. They were Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Nehru liked Gandhi, and he was very close to Gandhi, but Jinnah wasn’t. He didn’t like Gandhi’s idea. These three leaders met British reader to talk about independence, but British were not ready for that. Gandhi thought something to do big thing. In India, it was too hot to live without salt in summer, but they had to pay money to British to sell salt. Then Gandhi and many Indians took salt and sold them in the cities without paying to the British. Of course British put them to prison.


Chapter 7 “I will only eat when the violence ends.”
This time, people didn’t listen to Gandhi’s idea nonviorent protest. People were going to fight against British for independence. There were many other problems, and Gandhi started fast in many places until people stop using violence. It worked little by little.


Chapter 8 “Oh God!”
On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was going to a meeting, and five hundred people were waiting for him. He walked threw the people, but a man didn’t move. He stood in front of Gandhi, and the man shot Gandhi three times! Gandhi said, “Oh god!” and he dead. People were so sad, but they followed Gandhi’s idea after his death.


When I was a elementary school student, I had learned that there was Gandhi in India, and I just knew he fought against violence. Then I knew more about him after reading this book. I recommend people to know about his life. (815/2820 words)

B.R.-4 Audrey Hepburn

This book is about a life Audrey Hepburn. I read this book because I love her movies. I have watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Roman Holliday, Paris When it Sizzles, and How to Steal Million. They were old movies, but I liked the stories.
People think she is pretty and beautiful, and talented. I liked her looks, and I think everyone did, but Audrey didn’t like her looks because she has a square-jaw, and she thought she was fat. Can you believe that? This book also told me that she wasn’t always right. I thought every movie that she was in was very famous and people liked it, but it wasn’t always true. This book said that she sometimes made mistakes, too. They had a movie called Green Mansion, and Audrey Hepburn was a bird girl in the movie. However it was her worst movie. Same time, she was pregnant, but when she went to Mexico to take a movie called The Unforgiven, she fell off a horse, then she lost her baby. Isn’t it so sad? When she got older, she began to think that she wants to help poor, hungry children, and she did. She started to work for United Nations in Africa. At the and of this book, a picture of Audrey, almost sixty years old has an African little boy on her back. She just wore light make-up, but she was still so beauty. (237/2005 words)

B.R.-3 FRECKLES

Chapter 1 My Big Teenage Problem
The main character is Susie, has freckles, and she doesn’t like the freckles. The freckles are a big teenage problem because of a conversation. She heard two boys talking at school.
A; “Who do you think is pretty?”
B; “Donna Marshall?”
A; “Yes!”
B; “Susie Carpenter?”
A; “Great legs…but I don’t like the freckles.”
Susie was so sad to hear that. Donna was her best friend, and she was really pretty, of course she had no freckles.
One day, Susie and Donna are eating lunch, and Jack, who is in Susie’s History class is looking at them. Donna didn’t know him, but she liked him, and Donna asked Susie to introduce him. Susie hadn’t talked to him, but she tried to talk him, and after a while Donna appeared, and Susie introduced her. Then Susie left them and they can talk each other. However after that, Donna said he didn’t talk. She just got six words from him, but he talked Susie well. Susie said, “Maybe he was just shy.” Then Donna asked Susie to go find what he likes.


Chapter 2 Cats and Poems
Next day, Susie and Donna were eating lunch again, and Donna made Susie to go and talk to Jack. She asked what he likes, and he said that he doesn’t like sports. He likes reading or computer games. Jack also said he likes cats. Susie asked, “Do you like dancing?”, and Jack answered, “Yes, I like dancing with right girl.” Then he asked what Susie liked. Susie tells him that she sometimes write poems. Jack is surprised to know that because he writes poems, too. They talked a lot and laughed a lot. It was almost time to go to class. Susie told Donna That Jack likes reading, poems, and dancing. Donna wasn’t interested in poems, but Donna liked dancing. She found Jack, and she asked for dancing at school Friday night. However Jack didn’t say yes, and Susie thought he was strange because he didn’t smile to Donna, and he even didn’t remember her name.


Chapter 3 The Phone Call
Susie got a phone call when she was doing her homework at her home. She thought it was Donna, but it wasn’t. It was Jack! He asked for Susie’s advice. He said, “There’s a girl at school. I like her very much, but I can’t tell her. I talked to her two or three times. I think she likes me. But am I right? How do I know?” Susie thought it should be Donna, so she told him to ask for dancing Friday night, and tell it to her. Then Susie said bye and put the phone down. She was crying. She thought, “Why is it always Donna? Why does she always get the boys?”


Chapter 4 Freckles are Great!
The next day, she was unhappy. She didn’t want to see Donna because she would be telling Susie that she is going to dance with Jack, and she even doesn’t notice that Susie is unhappy. She didn’t want to listen to it. Then she met Jack, and Jack asked Susie to go to dance! She was so surprised, and said, “but Donna wants to go to dance with you”, and Jack said, “but I want to go to dance with you.” How sweet it is!? Jack says that he thinks her freckles are pretty, too. Now Susie is very happy to hear that, and I was very happy to hear that, too. (587/1768 words)