我去新宿买东西 我丈夫和我很喜欢喝乌龙茶， 经常用电热器烧开水， 可是前几天电热器坏掉了 因为用瓦斯烧开水不方便，还有我有bic camera的点数，所以去新宿买新的电热器 正好，tifal有一千日元的折价，所以不加考虑马上就买了 现在我们可以轻松的喝乌龙茶

Kilts My new language partner is a Scot. When I wrote in my email to him that wearing a kimono is too complicated to do it alone, he wrote back to me wearing a kilt is not so complicated as a kimono but still difficult, too. I was surprised because I had thought a kilt is similar to a skirt. I checked it out on the Internet and found out that it is a piece of cloth about 8 meters to 12 meters long. It is similar to a saree. It must be difficult to wear a cloth like a skirt. He says people wear kilts to go to weddings. I think they are men. At Japanese weddings, some women wear kimonos but usually the only man wearing a kimono is the groom.

在上野公园 我今天打算去东京国立博物馆看“北京故宮博物院200选”，可是等我去了博物馆门口，发现一块牌子写着要等210分钟才能入场看到“请明上河图”。吓了一跳。没想到这个展览会这么受欢迎。可是我没这个耐心去等210分钟。所以我决定去上野动物园看大熊猫。我很幸运看到一头大熊猫“力力”在树上休息。这也算是一种收获吧！

今天是冬至 昨晚我中国朋友问我在冬至的时候日本人做什么？我回答我们通常会放柚子在浴缸内。他说他最近吃柚子。我觉的很奇怪。因为柚子的味道太酸。我问他是哪种柚子？他说柚子像小孩的头那么大。那，跟日本的不一样。 今天我去买东西的时候，看到有很大的柚子叫【鬼柚子】。这是我第一次看到的。

Funeral Customs I had an opportunity to attend a funeral in Taiwan. What I was surprised at was that the wife and the parents-in-law of the deceased didn't attend it. I was told that was the custom. I told my Chinese language partner about this. What surprised me even more was that he said that they have the same custom in his Henan province. I'd like to know if it is common throughout China or only a regional custom.

Melbourne Cup Last month I visited Melbourne. It was the Melbourne Cup week. I had never imagined the horseracing was such a big event there. I didn't go to the racecourse but saw a lot of dressed-up people in the city. We have horseracing here in Japan, too. However, I don't think people dress up to see the races. I think it is a kind of gamling and people go there to bet hoping to get a lot of money. In Australia, horseracing must have some social values as well as gambling.

The Scent of October When I was walking to the gym, I suddenly noticed sweet smell of flowers. It was orange osmanthus. I didn't notice the roadside trees were the kind until they had flowers. In October, you smell it here and there, so for me, it is the scent of October. Unfortunately, the gym was closed. However, if I had known that beforehand, I would not have walked the road on that day. Then I could not walked on a fragrant road. So it is very difficult to say what is good or bad. What seems unlucky may be lucky and vice versa.

十月的香气 每年到了十月，桂花开，很好香到处飘。前几天，去健身房的时候，我注意到很好香。道旁树是金桂！没有花的时候，我不知道。不凑巧，健身房停止营业。可是，那香气让我很舒服，所以我没失望。 我喜欢的花是玫瑰花，百合，瑞香，都有好香。最喜欢的是黄色洋水仙。听说那是南非原产的。

The Strangest Day This Year On one morning at the beginning of this year, my husband sent me a mail on my mobile saying that he wanted me to pick him at a train station which was 50 minutes drive from our home. We liked to have lunch at an Indian restaurant near there. On the way there, my car suddenly stopped and I couldn't restart the engine. When I took out my mobile from my bag in order to call him, an unbelievable thing happened. It was dead, too! I had never had troubles with it before but it got wrong when I needed it most. Unfortunately, I didn't remember my husband's mobile number because it was a new one provided by his new company. I was at a loss. I didn't know what to do. Can you guess what happened next? Actually, he wasn't waiting for me at the station. He didn't receive my reply mail, so he thought I was not able to come. He got off at the nearest station from our house and asked his friend to pick him up. He could come home without any problems. What is the possibility of three unusual things happening on the same day? Car broken, mobile dead, mail lost! Do you have any unusual experiences?