Notes:
bungee jumping バンジージャンプ;
guardrail  (道路などの)ガードレール;

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When my English teacher and I were talking about the most dangerous thing that happened to us until now, I answered “It was bungee jumping from a bridge in New Zealand.” Actually it was not so dangerous. I was just very nervous. However, since I have had a car accident, I can say that the car accident was the most dangerous thing that has happened to me! Fortunately, nobody was injured; my car was just damaged a little bit. If there had been no guardrail… I was so lucky! No guardrail, no life… (written by student Miss Kanda, edited by Professor Douglas Jarell)
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Notes:
line up 列に並ぶ;
barbershop 床屋;
public bath 銭湯;
the Red and White Year-end Song Festival 紅白歌会戦;

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It’s almost the end of the year, and in Japan, everyone is cleaning. Workers are cleaning their offices. People are cleaning their houses and washing their windows. Drivers line up at gas stations for a car wash. Men are going to the barbershops to get a haircut. My wife tells me that when she was a child, she used to run to the public bath after watching the Red and White Year-end Song Festival on TV on New Year’s Eve for the last bath of the year. Cleaning is such a big part of the Japanese new year.　(by Professor Douglas Jarrell)
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