Every January, my mother hangs a big (11) on the kitchen wall, where everyone can see it during breakfast. She writes every important day on it in red ink, so nobody can say they did not know. My birthday is in June, and my father's is in December, just before New Year's Eve. My little sister was born in February, (12) is the shortest month of the year. We also mark the summer break in July and August with a big star, because that is when we visit Grandma. (13) My mother says that a busy family needs a good plan. (14), nobody in our house ever forgets a birthday or misses a visit to the dentist.
Last winter my family visited Japan for the first time. On New Year's Eve, we went to an old temple, where many people were waiting quietly in the cold for the new year. We were so cold that our hands hurt, (15) nobody wanted to go back to the hotel. On New Year's Day, a family who lived near our hotel asked us to visit them. (16) They gave us hot soup and taught us a few (17) words, which we practiced all the way back. My father says he still remembers the trips he took with his parents in his childhood, and now I understand why. (18), I want to visit Japan again when I am an adult.