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;

********************
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)
********************

Notes:
surgeons 外科医;
surgical 外科の;
afterwards  その後;
********************
One  Saturday, I worked as a volunteer staff member. At our demonstration, we showed junior high school students surgical tools and taught the kids how to use them. I was worried about doing a good job, because I had close to zero clinical experience. However, I managed to spend the day without making any mistakes. Afterwards, all the staff members went to a restaurant near the hospital, and we had a party. It lasted until 1 AM. It was the best party ever.　(written by student Miss Aoyama, edited by Professor Douglas Jarrell)
********************