1

scheduling a weekend meet-up with a

friend  are you free this saturday i'm
free  then do you want to go eat some
italian  food together  sounds good since i
haven't been eating  italian foods lately  i
know a good place what kind of place  is
it  it's a restaurant that just opened and  it's
very popular  well that's exciting then i'll go
ahead  and make a reservation through the
phone  thanks around what time would you
prefer  how about 12 12 is okay  then let's do
that i'll pick you up by  car  thanks i'll make
less breakfast  i'll only eat yogurt and
banana too  it's exciting to see each other
again i  also have a lot of things i want to
talk  about with you  has work been going
well lately i'm  getting used to it a little  but i
still have a long way to go there  are a lot of
things you have to memorize  right yeah but
my boss is a really good  person  that's good
 2

to hear oh yeah my mom's  birthday is next

week on monday  i almost forgot since i'm
busy what are  you going to get her  i haven't
thought about that what should  i get  maybe
flowers or cake i gave her flowers  too last
year  is there anything else how much is
your  budget  i don't have that much of a
budget i  started living alone  so money isn't
accumulating i get it  i haven't been able to
save money either  how about a letter and a
card  conveying your feelings is the
most  important  hmm a letter i'm not too
good at writing  though  conveying my
feelings is also  embarrassing  it's all right
since you guys are a  family  yeah i'll think
about it every year on  my mom's birthday  i
give her earrings that's a good idea  maybe i
should do that too that'll be  good  walking
with a friend i'm exhausted  how about we
rest a bit sure  how much did we walk we
 3

started from  seven in the morning  so it

should be about one hour one hour  huh i've
been losing stamina  true back then we could
walk three or  four hours without any
problem  yeah yeah how about i go buy us a
drink  thanks then cafe latte please  got it
hold up sorry for the wait  the coffee shop
was a little far it's so  good  drinking coffee
when you're tired is the  best  the fragrance
of the coffee from this  shop is good  yeah
walking with it makes it enjoyable  so true
but after i passed my 30s i've  been
losing  stamina if you train maybe it'll
return  to how it was before  yeah do you go
to the gym i don't go to  the gym  but instead
of going to work by car i've  been going by
bicycle  amazing what time in the morning
do you  get out of the house  to go there by
bicycle i think around 6  30. what that's so
early  that's the time i wake up i've
 4

only  started this year  waking up early that

is around what time  do you sleep at night  i
try to get in the bed by 11 and wake  up at 5
30.  wow at first i thought it
wouldn't  continue  but after i started it felt
good and my  health started improving  after
all exercising is the best  oh and also after i
started going to  work by bicycle  my work
pace has been efficient i also  feel like my
worries are gone too  it's full of benefits yeah
how about you  do it too  reminds me of the
high school days and  clubs  we used to
practice together every day  back then it was
so  fun oh yeah what happened to
mike  recently  are you in contact with him
we only  email each other once in a
while  seems like he's married now with
three  children he has been a really
kind  person  from long time ago so he must
be a  really good father now  i hope we can
 5

all get together again i  agree  let's get in

touch with those from back  then and meet
up  i wonder how they are now talking
about  the situations with everyone seems
fun  okay let's start walking soon yes  until
where should we walk next i
feel  energized  so how about we walk one
hour and a half  next  sounds good i'll go
with you i'm getting  hungry because we're
walking  what should i eat tonight i'm
eating  pizza  i'll also eat pizza  overseas
travel during summer holidays  how was
summer break i went to my  japanese friend's
house  that's good sounds fun yeah it
was  really fun  how was it let me hear your
stories  this time instead of staying at
the  hotel  i stayed at my friend's house then
you  were probably able to eat japanese
home  dishes  yeah yeah it was very
delicious my  friend's mother is very good at
 6

cooking  so she made a lot of things did you

have  any japanese dish you disliked  there
was one i couldn't eat what kind  of dish was
it  it was called natto it's healthy  but the
smell and the texture made me  not like it  oh
really most of the dishes were  delicious
though  so i was always very full every
day  nice i envy you oh and they showed
me  around  many beautiful places what
place left  you with a strong  impression the
hot springs in the  mountain were very
good  going in the hot springs while getting
a  view of the scenery  felt very nice i heard
that you can't  wear a swimsuit in japanese
hot springs  yeah yeah you have to go into
japanese  hot springs  naked it's
embarrassing to go in all  nude  i think i
can't do that well if you  visit the place
itself  you'll get used to it oh yeah i have
a  souvenir for you  really what is it it's a
 7

chopstick with  your name engraved in

it  wow it's very beautiful thank you  do you
have any pictures from the trip i  do  i took
many pictures so take a look at  them  nice
now i also want to go travel  traveling is the
best i feel very  refreshed  how about we go
travel during the next  break with the two of
us  sounds good let's go i want to go to
the  beach next  i was thinking the same
thing when was  the last time we went to the
beach  together  maybe two years ago then
it's been a  really long time  yes it is i need to
buy another swimsuit  me too i'm getting
excited i need to  lose a little weight before
then  i gained about three kilograms in
the  last two years  really you don't look any
different  though  i know it very well myself
don't worry  about it  being healthy comes
first  sick leave hi  you didn't come to work
today but are  you okay  i caught a cold how
 8

are you right now  my body feels heavy do

you have a runny  nose  any headaches i
have a runny nose and a  headache  but i'm
not coughing do you have a fever  i had it
this morning but right now my  temperature
is normal  that's good to hear the outdoor
party  from last time might have caused you
to  get too cold  that might be it i was
wearing thin  clothing that day  drink
something warm get some rest  thank you for
worrying about me should i  buy you
something later  um i'm sorry to ask but can
you buy milk  and eggs  of course do you
have anything else  then also apples and
strawberries please  got it  does it look like
you can eat dinner i'm  not having much
appetite  i can make chicken soup if you'd
like  that's great  can you eat tomatoes let's
put some  tomatoes in too  thank you i think i
can eat if it's  tomatoes  chicken soup is the
 9

best when you have a  cold when i was

young  my mom often made it for me she's a
kind  mother  yeah i'm really grateful for my
mom that  must be why you're also very
kind  thanks for telling me that then i'll
buy  some things and visit you later  i think
it'll be around seven thanks
for  everything  no worries when i caught a
cold last  time you also did a lot of things for
me  didn't you but you must be busy
with  work lately  i'm busy but today is friday
so it's all  good  when i recover let's do
something fun  let's do that  for now get a
good rest yeah  i'll do that then see you
later  yeah see you later  father suddenly feel
ill  i'm sorry i'm late what happened  i
missed the train that's rare you're  usually
punctual  to tell you the truth i didn't get
to  sleep much yesterday  so that's why you
missed the train yeah  it was really hectic
 10

last night did  something happen  last night i

suddenly got a call from my  mom  oh really
she said that my dad collapsed  so i rushed to
get there and my dad was  lying on the
floor  oh no did you call the
ambulance  immediately  of course when we
got to the hospital  they told us he needed
surgery  immediately  oh no that's really
horrible yeah  on top of that the surgery took
four  hours  that must have been worrisome i
was with  my mom  but i couldn't help but
worry the  surgery ended in a success
though  and there was nothing that put his
life  in danger that's good to hear  i'm really
grateful for god but his  right leg doesn't
really move  what then what is he going to
do from  now on  apparently he needs to go
through  rehabilitation from now on  if he
does rehabilitation will he be  back to how
he was  we don't know yet as of now
 11

there's  nothing else but to work hard on

his  rehabilitation  oh i see my dad who used
to be so  healthy is now weak  and i'm kind
of sad i know how you feel  i felt the same
when my mom was  hospitalized too  i guess
we are the ones who need to be  stronger but
thank you so much for  listening to a lot of
what i had to say  no problem i'll listen to
you anytime  you should go home earlier and
get a  rest  but i have a lot of work left to
do  it'll be all right  if you tell the manager of
the situation  he will definitely
understand  everyone knows that you're
always  seriously working hard  but i need to
get it done by tomorrow  really  don't worry
about work because i'll also  help  thanks i'm
really grateful no problem  we should help
each other in times of  need  my eating
habits i always eat a good  amount of
breakfast  for example my breakfast this
 12

morning  was a salad  eggs sausages bread

and a tomato soup  i love to wake up early in
the morning  and make a delicious
breakfast  eating breakfast while feeling
the  sunshine is the best  this has been
something i've always done  since
childhood  there were four kids in my family
and  all of them loved sports  everyone had a
huge appetite from the  morning  because of
that my mom always woke up  early and
made a hearty breakfast  thanks to that my
mind and body worked  very well from the
morning  a while ago when my friend slept
over at  my house  she was very surprised
after seeing the  breakfast i had
prepared  my friend is the type who can't eat
a  lot in the mornings  so apparently she
always only has a cup  of coffee  according
to my friend if she eats a lot  in the
morning  she feels unpleasant in my case i
 13

always  lessen my lunch  if i eat a lot for

lunch i get sleepy in  the afternoons  making
my work efficiency slow down  my friend and
i are complete opposites  because she doesn't
eat much for  breakfast she gets very hungry
around  11.  that's why she apparently eats a
lot for  lunch  it seems like everyone has
different  rhythms for their body  i saw on the
tv a while ago but there  are also people who
only  eat once per day instead of
having  breakfast and lunch  they apparently
eat around 2500  kilocalories for their
dinner  i'm worried about their health if
they  eat like that but the people who do
that  looks very  healthy themselves they
exercise a lot  daily  so apparently they don't
gain weight  even if they eat a lot at night  i
can never copy them one of my friends  only
eats a salad for dinner that friend  also goes
to the gym and is very skinny  i copied her
 14

once and only ate salad for  dinner  however

i gave up after two days  if i don't eat meat or
fish for the main  dish of dinner  i can't sleep
in the night because of  hunger in the end  i
woke up at midnight and ate one slice  of
bread with one glass of milk  and then i was
finally able to sleep  peacefully  depending
on the country there also may  be times when
you eat five meals in a  day  there are
doctors who say that eating  four to five light
meals is more healthy  for the body  however
eating three meals a day is the  best for my
body  i think it's all good if you have
a  balanced diet and feel like your body is  in
a good condition  invitation to volunteer
activities  hey emily hi jack are you free
this  saturday  this saturday i promised to go
watch a  movie with my friend  i see i had a
favor i wanted to ask you  what's it about it's
a volunteer work to  distribute food  but we
 15

don't have enough people from  what time to

what time is it  it's from 8 in the morning to
11. i see  we plan to go to the movie from 10
in  the morning but i can ask if we
can  change it  i'm sorry it's a sudden request
i just  discussed it with my friend  and we
can change to watching the movie  at night
thanks  it helps us so much no problem  what
should i do i want you to divide up  the foods
and pack it in boxes  all right where should
we meet up can  you come to my house
around seven  that's fine my other friends are
also  planning to come to my house
earlier  after that let's depart together
okay  jack weren't you bad at waking up
early  in the mornings  that's true but i could
just sleep  earlier the night before  do you
guys have this volunteer work  every week
yeah  every saturdays at the same time i
can't  go every week  but i can help twice a
 16

month thanks even  if it's twice a month  it

helps us a lot do you have anything  else that
i could help with  hmm can i ask you to get
the foods from  the grocery store  you only
have to go there once a month  but you have
to go there with your car  going with my car
sounds fine i'm  relieved  then see you on
saturday yeah see you on  saturday  my daily
routine i want to talk about my  daily routine
today  my alarm goes off every morning at 6
20  on weekdays i always wake up around
10  minutes after that  which would be 6 30 i
go to the bathroom  first  and after drinking
a glass of water i  start making breakfast  my
breakfast is usually a salad boiled  egg  and
one slice of bread when it's seven  i go wake
up my child who's in  elementary  while
eating breakfast i watch the news  with my
child  or have a conversation my child
often  talks about school when we talk
 17

while  eating  around 7 40 my child and

husband leave  the house together  i take
care of the dishes brush my teeth  and get my
hair ready  of course i can't forget to apply
my  makeup  i leave the house around 8 30
and go to  work with my car  at nine i drink
coffee while checking my  emails  at noon i
eat lunch at the company  cafeteria  i resume
work at one at five in the  afternoon  i leave
my workplace and go to the  grocery store
before going home  when i'm home i quickly
make dinner and  eat  with all of my family
around seven if i  get home late  we order
something to our house like  pizza  after
dinner i help with my
child's  homework  after my child gets to
sleep at nine  it's my free  time i watch tv
with my husband  talk or read at my pace
until eleven  i shower at eleven and after
lightly  doing stretches  i go to sleep on
 18

saturdays i wake up  around seven  in the

morning and after breakfast we  all clean the
rooms or do the laundry  on saturday
afternoons i drop off my  child at their
extracurricular lessons  and i go to the gym
after building up a  good amount of sweat at
the gym  i go pick up my child on sunday
mornings  my husband and i take care of the
garden  on sunday afternoons  we all do
what we want my husband  often takes our
child to go watch some  sports  i go
shopping or to the hair salon  one week ends
in a blur however  being surrounded by my
children and  husband whom i love  i'm
happy  asking for directions to the
bookstore  excuse me we'd like to go to
this  bookstore but how do we get there  it's
some distance to go there how much  would
it take  by foot around 20 minutes  if it's
around 20 minutes we're okay  with it  can
 19

you see that there's a bank there  yes i

see  go right at the path on the side of
the  bank  and walk two blocks oh yes  next
if you see a grocery store on the  left hand
side  go left at the corner of the
grocery  store then  walk straight for about
three blocks  if you see a five-story building
on the  right-hand side  next go in there this
bookstore  is on the third floor of that
building  oh  i see thank you very much
you're welcome  okay let's head to the
bookstore you  really do love
bookstores  yeah it's because when you go to
a  bookstore you can see a
different  unknown world  i often buy books
on the internet when  you know which books
you want to buy  i guess it's easier to use the
internet  what kind of books do you like  i
love science fiction novels i also  like mystery
novels too  how about you i like historical
 20

novels  it's my first time  at a foreign

bookstore so i'm excited me  too  there really
isn't anything to do today  so let's take our
time to look at them  are you going to buy a
lot well i want  to buy as much as i can from
my budget  after we leave the bookstore let's
go to  the nearby cafe and read the
books  good idea let's do that  buying shoes
hello  are you looking for something yes do
you  have these red shoes  and those white
shoes in 24 centimeters  please wait a
moment i will go check  i'm very sorry we
have the 24 centimeter  red shoes  but we
are currently out of the white  shoes  i
understand then allow me to try on the  red
shoes  it's a little small do you have
another  one in the next size up  please wait
a moment i will go check how  is this one  it
fits just right i would like this one  thank you
very much as i recall if i buy  two pairs of
 21

shoes  it'll be cheaper right yes if you

buy  two pairs  it will be 20 off if you're okay
with it  should we order the white shoes how
long  would it take  it will be around one
week i need the  white shoes the day after
tomorrow  so i will check out the other
designs  please take your time to look
around  i would like these white shoes do
you  have it in 24 centimeters  please wait a
moment i am very sorry but  the 24
centimeter ones  are out at this moment for
these shoes  too  i see then i'll check for the
white  shoes at a different store  i'll just get
the red shoes would there  also be a discount
for just one pair of  shoes  then we will give
you a special discount  of 10  off thank you
how would you like to pay  credit please
please enter your password  thank you also
do you own a point card  no would you like
to make a point card  no it's alright may i get
 22

my receipt  this is the receipt may i get a

paper  bag  of course i'll pack it in the bag
right  now  is there anything else i can do for
you  there really isn't anything else  thank
you thank you have a good day  you
too  ordering food at restaurants  i'm so
hungry let's quickly order  something  then
let's call the waiter excuse me can  we see the
menu  yes i'll bring it right away
wow  everything looks delicious what
should  we choose  my choices waiver the
desserts also look  delicious  are you ready
to order everything looks  so delicious  i
can't choose what is today's special  menu
it's steak  then i'll order that same here  how
much would you like to cook your  steak i
prefer medium please  i would like medium
rare i'd also like  wine  which wine goes well
with steak this red  wine is
recommended  then i'll order this too what
 23

would you  like for your appetizers  um can

we have this salad for two  servings  what
kind of dressing would you like i'd  like
honey mustard  please make mine the french
dressing oh  and please don't include the
carrots for  mine  yes i understand what
would you like for  the soup  i would like the
mushroom pottage please  give me an onion
soup  how is the food it is very delicious
but  the soup isn't here yet  i am very sorry
i'll go check with the  kitchen  immediately
excuse me can i have a glass  of water  yes
i'll bring it right away excuse me  i dropped
my spoon may i get a new one  yes i will
bring it right away do you  still have space in
your stomach for a  dessert  i'm already full
and i still have my  steak left  i want to eat a
dessert don't mind me  and order whatever
you want to eat  excuse me can i get one
brownie and two  cups of coffee  yes sir the
 24

brownie here is really  delicious  i want a

refill of my coffee excuse me  can i get a refill
for my coffee i'm so  content after eating the
desserts too  that's great how about we leave
soon  excuse me can i have the check
please  yes would you like to pay with cash
or  credit  credit please also can we get it to
go  box  yes sir thank you for coming today
it's  i who should say so  thank you for the
delicious meal i'll  come in again in the near
future  discussing whether to stay with
mother  i have something i want to talk
about  sure  you know that our child will be
born in  two months right  yeah i can't wait
to finally meet our  baby  me too but it's my
first delivery and i  don't have any child-
rearing experience  there's anxiety right me
too but if the  two of us work hard
together  it'll definitely go well but you're
busy  with work  and i also love the work i'm
 25

doing right  now so i want to get back to

work as  soon as possible  how about hiring
a babysitter but i'm  worried about letting a
stranger take  care of my baby  then what do
you want to do i actually  got a call from my
mom today  she suggested us to live together
with  her for a while  after i deliver our baby
i appreciate  the sentiment  but how do you
feel about it if we live  together at her
house  our rent would be free she would also
do  all the house chores and take care of  our
child  and we can consult her of parenting
too  i don't think it's just all good things  my
friend also lived together with their  parents
for a while  but it seemed like it was
really  difficult for them why  first of all since
their ages are  different their rules and
rhythms of  daily life are different  but since
she's my parent how about we  just discuss it
with her not only that but they also start
 26

interfering with a lot of things apparently

they can only barely get any personal time as
husband and wife there will be a distance
between the husband and wife relationship
too my mom is really nice so i think it'll be
okay my mom lives alone so she doesn't feel
like she is in need and feels sad but doesn't
your mom have friends that go walking
together even if she does have friends that go
walking with her it's not like they see each
other every day nor have meals together does
your mother cook by herself every  day my
mom isn't motivated to cook for just herself
and apparently she just eats randomly for
her meals but if we do live together as a
family she said that cooking every day
will  feel a lot more fun well there's a lot of
merits but i'm not keen on this idea i want to
live like how we used to with freedom if our
baby is born  we won't be able to have
 27

freedom like we used to have  on top of that if

we are both tired it's likely that we're going
to be stressed that's certainly true too are
there any good ideas  how about this we
won't live together with your mother but how
about we rent a house near your mother's
house if we do that  she could help us out
with baby and we could eat together some
days of the week at the same time we could
also keep our personal time too that's a
pretty good idea i'll tell my mom
tomorrow  she'll probably be happy all right
let's go search for a property this weekend
sounds good i'm looking forward for it  we
have to buy a lot of baby products too we
also have to choose a name for our baby
there's a lot of things to do from now on but
i'm so excited speaking practice let's read
aloud with the voiceover