An Interesting Country

The country I want to go is Italy because there are many traditional buildings, delicious foods and famous fashion shops. First, there are many traditional buildings. One of them is Colosseum. It’s a circular fighting arena built in the Rome imperial government period and it’s a sightseeing spot that represents Rome now. The half of outer of it remains now. It appears in "Gladiator" open to the public in 2000. It’s a very famous and very traditional building. Another building is Leaning Tower of Pisa in the Pisa city. The height is 55m on the ground, and has 297 stairs. It has inclined very much as everyone knows. The cause is the type of soil of the ground is not homogeneous at all. I want to see the inclination feeling closely once. It’s World Heritage. There are a lot of traditional buildings in Italy so I think the street is very beautiful. I want to walk there once.
There are a lot of delicious foods in Italy, too. It is famous and popular not only Japan but also all over the world. The recipe known well in Japan uses the olive oil and the tomato and the recipe is in the south Italian area. There are various Italian foods by the provinces like this. In the North Italian area uses whipped cream and butters. In Italy, pasta and pizza are eaten by many people. The most traditional pizza is a Naples pizza and the pizza uses tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil. It seems that they image the national flag of Italy. There is the traditional order in the course of Italian food. First, aperitivo means aperitif in English. Next is antipasto and it means appetizer in English. Then primo piatto means main dish and the main includes pasta, soup or risotto. Secondo piatto means main dish and it includes meat dish or fish dish. Contorno means side dish and it’s salad. Dolce means desserts and it includes sweets, fruits or cheese. Caffè means coffee and digestive means digestif. I have never eaten the Italian course dishes so I want to eat them. I love pasta and pizza and I’m not tired of eating them if I have to eat them every day. So I want to eat them of home in Italy.

In Italy, there are many famous fashion shop Japanese like. For example, it’s GUCCI and it was established by Guccio Gucci and Gucci is called the originator of the brand. Gucci is known by having put designer's name in the commodity by the world for the first time for the quality assurance. And also, PRADA is famous brand in the world. PRADA is established by Mario Prada in 1913. First, PRADA is leather product shop but it became famous as fashion shop now. There are many fashion brands in Italy and I think Italian are very fashionable and beautiful. If I have much time and money, I want to go to Italy and learn about language, history and fashion. (501 words)

My favorite movie

I have many favorite movies and one of them is Charlie’s Angels. The title is also Charlie’s Angels in Japanese. It’s a 2000 American action comedy film. Charlie’s Angels are 3 detectives who belong to Charlie detective agency. They are Dylan, Natalie and Alex. Then, they solve difficult accidents by wearing any cosplays. One day, they work to help a man who is a leader in famous soft ware company so they fight by wearing sexy and cute costumes. The movie has 2 stories now and both are so fun and very exciting. Moreover, 3 women are so beautiful. They are Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. They are slender and cute. In addition, they are strong and very cool on screen. The director is McG and it was a first film as a director. The movie makes me excited.
Secondly, I’ll introduce about cast of the movie. The director, McG is an American director and 41 years old. First, he was a cameraman and debuted as a director in this movie. He was a director of Terminator Salvation. I heard that he likes Japanese works. Then Cameron Diaz as Natalie was born in 1972 so she is 37 years old now. She was a fashion model from 1989. She modeled for designers such as Calvin Klein and Levi’s. She was featured on the cover of the July 1990 issue of Seventeen magazines. When she was 21 years old, she auditioned for The Mask and she debuted as an actress in the movie. She became very famous and she also played The Holiday. According to Forbes, she earned $50 million and she won first place in Hollywood actress worked very hard. Next, Drew Barrymore as Dylan is 34 years old and debuted as an actress soon after she was born. In 1982, she acted in a film titled E.T. and she became famous after that. She was chosen the most beautiful people 2007 in People which is a famous magazine. In Charlie’s Angels, she was not only an actress but also a producer. Lucy Liu as Alex is 40 years old now. Her parents are immigrants from Taiwan and she was not rich but she was smart. She started acting in the stage titled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She appeared in Kill Bill and she is active in the front lines as an Asian actress. I think Charlie’s Angels is a very rich movie because all cast is very famous.
If I were an actress in this movie, I want to be Natalie because she is so cute and cheerful. I especially like Cameron Diaz because she is very slender and fashionable so I love Cameron as Natalie. If possible, I want to be a woman like her. Moreover, I want to wear cute costumes like that. The movie is so fantastic, exciting and cool. In addition, it gives me can-do spirit so I like the movie very much. If you want to be refreshed, please check the movie. I think you’ll feel fine.(505 words)

A Place in Kumamoto

There are many good places in Kumamoto. I talk about my favorite places in Kumamoto. First, it’s Tenshukaku in Kumamoto Castle. Also known as castle keep, this is the innermost, best defended and most prominent structure of a castle. It’s built on Tenshu stand which is in at an altitude of 50 meters. It has two Tenshu, large one and small one. Now, it was restored in 1960. The inside of Tenshukaku is a museum and it’s displayed data on history of Kumamoto so we can learn about Kumamoto more. The top floor is an observatory. You can see nice view of Kumamoto town and mountains of Aso. The view is very beautiful and you can refresh.
Next is Izumi shrine which is in Suizenji Jyoujuen Park. It was built by Hosokawa’s followers in the Meiji period. This shrine is sacred to the leaders of Kumamoto and Mrs. Garasha. She is Hosokawa Tadaoki’s wife and she was a Christian. There are many kinds of fortune ships there. I went there in class last year. I could relax and it was very beautiful.
Third is Mount Aso. It’s the largest active volcano in Japan and is among the largest in the world. Aso has one of the largest caldera in the world. Aso is the symbol of Kumamoto as the land of fire. There are many hot springs and leisure spots there. In addition, there are many good restaurants and delicious food there. For example, Takana which is pickles of Japan and ice-cream cones. They are so good. At night, you can see the wonderful night view. I like there because there are much nature and I can relax.
At last, Shimotori which is a center street of Kumamoto and there are many shops there. It’s the largest street in west Japan and it’s 511 meters. The street was rebuilt on May and it became so beautiful and we could work easily. There are many trees so we can feel refresh. My best shop in Shimotori is PARCO because there are clothes shops I like. In PARCO, many young girls come everyday so it’s a very popular place in Kumamoto. I also like Tsuruya which is a department store in Kumamoto. Many people not only in Kumamoto but also in other prefectures come here and they buy souvenirs from Kumamoto and buy things. I like Shimotori because I have places to go and to be able to enjoy.
I have many favorite places in Kumamoto but I have many places I don’t know so I want to research interesting places. Then I want to learn history of Kumamoto and know many ways in Kumamoto. (447 words/9240 words)

My Treasure

My treasure is an upright piano. My parents bought me when I was a pupil. It’s very expensive and very beautiful so it’s my family’s treasure too. It’s still glossy and it has a sense of existence. Tones of the piano are very mellow so I can relax to play the piano. I like it very much.
I had learned the piano for 13 years. When I was 3 years old, I started learning it. In my house, there was an electronic organ before. My teacher taught me in my house so we used it. In 7 years, my teacher told me that you have to play a real piano because the sound is very different. After that, I talked my parents into buying me a piano. I was so happy and played it hard. I thought I’ll treasure it most of all from then.
However I stopped learning it 4 years ago. I gave up because I had to study hard, join a club and have a part-time job so I had no time to play it. I rarely played it and it became like a closet. There were many my clothes on it. One day, it suddenly came to me that I’ll spoil the piano. Then I moved it from my room to my living room and put back my clothes on it. The living room is a relax room for me so I thought I’ll play it if I want to relax.
Before, it was covered with dust but it’s very clean now. I sometimes play it but I forgot how to play it a little so I’ll learn it by myself again. And then I’ll teach my mother how to play it. All in all, there are many memories in the piano and I’ll treasure it from now on. (303 words)

Introduction for my host family

Dear host parents in New Zealand.

My name is Mayu. Thank you very much for your kindness to accept me in your family. It has been my dream to go abroad since I was a child so it’s my first time to visit New Zealand. I can’t wait for this summer.

I’m a sophomore at KGU and I study English. I have long brown hair and I’m a shy and serious person. My hobby is listening to music and I especially listen to Japanese pop music so I’d like to learn about New Zealand music. I also like eating but I can’t eat spicy food. I’m working part-time in McDonald's so I want to go to McDonald's in New Zealand and eat the special menu.

I live with my parents in Kumamoto and I don’t have any brothers or sisters. If I have free time, I often go out with my friends and go shopping. In the future, I’d like to travel abroad and use English in my work.

My English speaking skills are limited but I will try my best to learn to speak English. Please help me. I was surprised to know that there are more sheep than people in New Zealand. I rarely have contact with animals in Japan so I want to see many animals. I’d like to go to the sky tower in Auckland too. I’d like to learn everything about your country. Thank you again for accepting me into your home. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.

Bye,

Mayu

(259 words)