A Quarrel
Narration Essay by S.Y.
I have a sister who is 17 and lives with my family in Osaka. She will go to junior college in Tokyo, so we will live together in Kanagawa next year. Now I live by myself in my grandparents' house because my grandparents moved to Hokkaido. I'm happy my sister will come here!!
One night, I called her in order to discuss our living arrangements.
"What are you going to bring here?" I asked her. "I hope you don't bring large things, like a bed and so on."
"Why can't I bring my bed? I want to sleep in my bed!!" she said.
"Why?" I replied. "The house is too small! There is no place for your bed. We will sleep on futons," I answered her.
"Really? Well ... my des-" she began.
"No! It's too big!" I was immediately opposed. "You should think before you say anything," I said.
Suddenly she was silent. I thought she understood what I said, but she asked me, "You have a bookshelf, don't you? Did you throw it away?"
I was surprised.
"It's not mine," I said. "It's our grandfather's, you fool!"
I was angry, so I hung up the phone without saying anything else.
Now it's two weeks later, and she still doesn't answer the phone. I guess she is angry, too. I feel I was childish to shout at her. I wish she would answer my call. I would say to her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you that way."
I hope we can make up soon.
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Always Write Your Name on Your Food
Narration Essay by Y.M.
I have an older sister. She loves food, especially sweet foods, like cake and cookies. We often quarrel about food. This story was the most shocking for me.
One night, I bought a piece of chocolate cake. It was a limited time sale, and the cake looked very delicious. I decided that I would eat it the next morning, and I said to my mother, "I will eat this chocolate cake tomorrow morning, so I will not need breakfast. Don't eat it!" I was looking forward to eating it, but I forgot about my sister.
In the morning, I got up early and I was very excited. I looked for my chocolate cake, but it was gone! I asked my mom, "Do you know where my chocolate cake is?"
My mother said, "I don't know. Maybe your sister ate it?"
I asked my sister, "Did you eat my chocolate cake?"
My sister said, "I'm sorry; please forgive me!" But I was so upset that I absolutely couldn't forgive her, and I told her so.
She said, "I will certainly buy you another chocolate cake plus more cake, so please forgive me for this!"
I said, "OK, so please buy me one chocolate cake and one cheese cake!" She promised to get two pieces of cake for me.
That night, my sister brought me two pieces of cake. Again, I decided I would eat them the next morning. In the morning, I got up early and I was very excited. I looked for my two cakes, but again they were gone. I was sure my sister ate them again. I asked her angrily, "Did you eat my cakes? You are crazy!"
But my sister said, "Wait! I don't know what happened! I didn't eat them!
I asked my mother, "Did you eat my cakes?"
My mother said, "I'm sorry. Your father and I ate them."
I was very, very sad. I said, "You should buy me four cakes!" My mother and father agreed.
Finally, I could get four cakes, and I wrote "Yukiko" on the cake box. I could eat four cakes at last. I was very satisfied, and I decided I would always write my name on my food in the future.
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A Special Present
Narration Essay by S.K.
It was hard to buy things when I was a child because I didn't have a part-time job or any way to get money. But I wanted to buy toys and clothes. I could only get presents at special times, like Christmas and birthdays.
I used to go to swimming lessons. There was a shop that I loved on the road we always took. I always looked at the shop from the car window. One day, I fell in love with a stuffed toy at first sight.
"I want that stuffed toy," I said, but my mother said, "No!"
I pestered my mother for the stuffed toy, so my mother promised, "OK, if you get the best time at the next swimming meet, I will buy this stuffed toy for you."
I practiced so hard. I got a gold medal, but I couldn't get my best time. I was very sad.
My mother said, "Congratulations on your gold medal! You practiced hard, so I will buy the stuffed toy."
I was very happy, and we bought it on our way home.
I still have the stuffed toy now. I didn't get it as a Christmas or birthday gift. It is important to me because I got it by working hard. I will treasure it forever.
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It's Important to Communicate
Narration Essay by K.I.
I studied in Canada when I was a third year student at Tsurumi University. I used the home stay system there. My host family was so nice. I had a Canadian father, mother, younger brother and two young twin sisters. We seemed to be a real family. I had my own room, of course. In the house, there were two bathrooms. One of them had a bathtub and the other only had a shower. I used the shower. In Japan, I always soaked in a bathtub and I love taking a bath. However, I was in a foreign country where they have no habit of taking a bath, so I thought I had no choice.
One day, before I went back to Japan, we finished eating supper and talked about what I wanted to do after I arrived in Japan. My Canadian mother asked me, "Kyoko, what do you really want to do first after you get back to Japan?"
I answered, "Well, I want to eat natto with rice!!! But I also want to soak in a bathtub in my house for a long time."
Then my Canadian father said, "Kyoko, do you like to take a bath? I didn't know that. I thought you didn't like to spend time in the bath. I'm sorry. You should have said so, or we should have asked you about it."
Actually, they said I could use everything and feel at home when I first met my host family. However, I was reserved a little bit with them. I regretted that I did not say I wanted to take a bath. I think typically Japanese think others can understand our feelings even if we don't say anything, so we don't put it into words. Now I think we have to talk more with each other without giving the wrong impression. If you do so, you will not have the same regret as I do.
