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.
Mom: Grandma wants us at her house by twelve on New Year's Eve, because she is cooking a big lunch for the whole family. Here are the trains that go to her town.
| Train | Leaves Taipei | Arrives |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | 7:10 A.M. | 9:40 A.M. |
| 105 | 9:00 A.M. | 10:50 A.M. |
| 109 | 9:30 A.M. | 12:00 noon |
| Adult $380 / Child under 12 $190 | ||
Ken: When we get off the train, it takes us another twenty minutes to ride the bus to Grandma's house.
Mom: Then Train 109 is too late for us, even if it arrives right on time.
Ken: Can we take Train 105? I do not want to get up so early on a holiday, and it still gets us there before lunch.
Mom: All right. I will buy the tickets myself, one adult and one child, so you do not need to worry about them.
City Library: New Opening Hours
From November 1, our library will open at these new times, which give students more time to study after school:
The library will be closed every Monday. It will also be closed from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day, because we will clean every room and put in new computers that are faster than the old ones.
Adults may borrow eight books for four weeks, while students may borrow four books for two weeks. If you want to keep a book longer, you can call us or ask the kind gentleman who sits at the front desk. During October, our old hours are still used, so please check the clock before you come.
Dear Ken,
My sister Amy will be twenty next month, so we are planning a party for her. It is on Saturday, March 21, at seven in the evening, and about fifteen of her friends are coming. Please come to our house at six if you can help us get everything ready. Amy thinks that we will only have dinner together as a family, so please do not tell her about it.
Ann will bring the drinks, and I will try to make the cake myself, although I have never baked one before. Can you bring your camera? We want lots of photographs of that night, because Amy will move to Japan in May to study and will not come home for a long time.
Please let me know before Wednesday.
Peter
In most countries, the school year starts in August or September, but Japan is different. Japanese students begin a new school year in April, when the trees are covered with pink flowers, so many parents take photographs of their children under the trees on the first day.
The students have a long break in July and August because the weather is too hot for studying. They also get a short break at New Year, when many families go back to their old hometowns to visit their parents. However, the breaks are not all fun, because there is still some homework to do.
The school year ends in March, when students say goodbye to their teachers and move up to the next grade. For many Japanese people, spring is the time for a new start.