Author Archives: AllisonChang

My father’s feather leis

A couple of years ago, my dad took up feather lei making as a hobby.  He’s very enthusiastic about it, and he works on them every night.  He usually gives the leis away as gifts, but about a year ago, he actually sold one! My parents were at a store getting some of my dad’s leis framed in a shadowbox, and the salesperson really liked them.  She asked my mom where leis were from, and when she found out, she asked if my dad would sell any to her.  He did, and I think the salesperson paid a little over $100 for one, which is actually a pretty good deal for a feather lei.
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Disappointed Chinese Man

One Friday afternoon, the telephone rang.  I said "hello?", and after the man on the phone replied "hello," he started speaking in Chinese!  I can’t understand Chinese, but the man spoke so fast that I couldn’t get a word in to tell him.  However, I was finally able to say, "I don’t understand Chinese," and he just exclaimed "Really?" before he hung up.

当て外れの中国人男性

　ある金曜日の午後、電話のベルが鳴りました。私は受話器を取り、「ハロー」と答えました。すると、電話の男性は、「ハロー」と言った後、中国語で話し始めたのです。私は中国語が、まったくわかりません。しかも、その男性は大変な早口だったので、なかなか口をはさむことが出来ませんでした。しかし、やっと、「中国語はわかりません」と言うことができました。ところが、その男性は、ただ、「リアリー（本当） ! 」と驚いた声を出して電話を切ってしまいました。 Continue reading →

I Love My Rubber Slippers!

Last Saturday night, my boyfriend, his sister, and I were hanging out at his house, and his friends called to invite us to go to a nightclub.  My boyfriend and I didn’t really want to go, but since his sister wanted to, we decided to go.

After that, my boyfriend and I went to my house so I could get proper clubbing clothes.  I changed into a black tank top and jeans with a fire design, and then we headed back to my boyfriend’s house.  However, when we were driving back, I noticed that I was wearing the wrong shoes.  I was still wearing rubber slippers!

It couldn’t be helped, so just I went to the nightclub dressed that way. When we arrived at the nightclub, the bouncer guy noticed my rubber slippers, and sure enough, he told me that I wasn’t allowed in with slippers. Continue reading →

self-portrait add-on paragraph

It’s been about a year since I started learning Japanese at NACOS, and I do feel like I’ve learned a lot.  I think my accent has gotten a little better (at least, Michiko doesn’t laugh at it as much as she did when I first started .), and I’m definitely better at thinking of sentences than I used to be.  I still have a long way to go, though, because I have a hard time memorizing vocabulary words.

I think it’s funny that the knowledge I’ve gained at NACOS seems to be shoving out the knowledge that I gained earlier in my life; for example, when I was little, I used "ga" to connect sentences that had a "but" between them, but now I tend to end the sentence and say "demo."  Also, this morning it took me half an hour to remember the word for bathroom, and practically the only thing I used to remember from my high school Japanese class was how to ask to go to the restroom.  (The other thing I remember from high school is how to say "McDonald’s" in Japanese.) Continue reading →

First Is The Worst; Second Is The Best!

I did canoe paddling in the 11th grade.  I usually sat in the second seat in the canoe, and I really liked that position, because I was in charge of encouraging my teammates.  I was also supposed to tell them when to paddle really hard in order to pass another boat.  Once, my coach told me to paddle in the first seat for a race.  I don’t like the first seat!  That person has to have a lot of endurance and willpower, because she sets the paddling speed and has to make sure that her tempo is very consistent.  Luckily,　right after the start of the race, our canoe flipped over!  We couldn’t get the canoe back quickly enough, so we got towed in.  After that, my coach returned me to the second seat.  I was happy about that! Continue reading →

An Unexpected Event
 
In 11th grade, I played my cello in a music competition.  I didn’t think I would win, so right after I finished performing, I went to my friend’s house.  Later that day, my cello teacher called my parents at home, and then my parents called me at my friend’s house.  My teacher had said that I  won a prize, but she was disappointed that I’d missed the award ceremony.    I received the prize at my next cello lesson.   I was very happy, because I hadn’t expected to win.

思いがけない出来事

１１年生の時、音楽コンクールで、チェロの独奏をしました。私はまさか入賞するとは思っていなかったので、演奏が終わるとすぐ、友達の家に遊びに行きました。その後、チェロの先生は、自宅の両親に電話をくださいました。そして、両親は、友達の家にいた私に電話をかけてきました。 Continue reading →

It was supposed to be a secret!

The first blanket I made was for my boyfriend’s birthday. I worked on it all summer, and I kept it a secret. Sometimes I worked on it at my grandma’s house. My boyfriend’s birthday is at the end of summer, so it turned out that he had to leave for college on his birthday. Before we celebrated his birthday, we visited my grandma. Since she didn’t know what his birthdate was, and since he was leaving that day, she thought that I had given him his present already… so she asked him how he liked his blanket! The surprise was ruined, but we didn’t mind too much.

　私が初めて編んだ毛布は、ボーイフレンドの誕生日のためのものでした。私は、それを作るのに夏中かかりました。そして、それは秘密でした。時々、祖母の家でも編んでいました。 Continue reading →