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Junko is a high school student in Tokyo. She likes English and wants to be an English-speaking travel guide in the future. In April, Lucy, an English-speaking student from Canada, joined her class. 【Junko was happy about that.】 Soon they became good friends. One day, Junko said to Lucy, “Shall we go to some popular places in Tokyo next Sunday with Yasuko, a friend of mine?” Lucy *happily agreed. Junko got information about Asakusa and some other places, learned useful English words, and made a *schedule. She wanted to be a good guide for Lucy.
The next Sunday, in the morning, Junko visited Asakusa with Lucy and Yasuko. She took them from one place to another and explained things to Lucy at each place, such as its history. Lucy was happy about that. That made Junko happy, too.
In the afternoon, the three girls left Asakusa. On the way to the next place, Lucy saw some young people from abroad in front of them. She was interested in the pieces of *miniature food that were *attached to their bags. Then Lucy went to speak to them. She said, “Hello. Those are very cute.” One of them said, “We bought these at a food *replica shop over there.” Yasuko said, “Junko and Lucy, how about going there?” Lucy agreed, but Junko said to Yasuko, “I have a schedule to visit other places. Visiting the shop is not on my schedule.” Yasuko said, “Junko, let’s go to the shop. I think Lucy will enjoy visiting it.” Junko *reluctantly agreed.
The three girls went into the food replica shop. Lucy was surprised to see so many pieces of different miniature food. Then she found *full-sized food replicas. She said, “Oh, these ones look *real!” Yasuko said, “Look! The *poster says we can make our own food replicas.” Lucy was surprised again. Then a clerk said, “I’m sorry you can’t do that today. You need a *reservation. Making food replicas is very popular among visitors from abroad.” Lucy said, “I’m a little *disappointed that I can’t make one now, but I’m very happy that I came here. Thank you, Yasuko.” Junko had *mixed feelings. She thought, “I didn’t put that shop on my schedule. I wanted to make a very good schedule, but I didn’t.”
After Junko got home, she told her older brother, Kazuo, about the visit. He said, “You didn’t want to go to that shop at first, but you did. Why?” “I hoped Lucy would enjoy the visit to the shop,” she answered. He said, “Schedules are important, but it is also important to be *flexible. You don’t have to follow a schedule all the time.”
The next day, at school, Junko said to Yasuko, “I want to make a reservation to make food replicas at the shop with Lucy.” Yasuko happily agreed. Next, Junko told Lucy about the reservation. Lucy said she was happy. Junko asked her, “Is there anything you want to do after doing that?” Lucy answered, “I want to eat some real food.” After Junko got home, she made a reservation for making food replicas.
One Sunday in the next month, Junko took Lucy to the food replica shop with Yasuko. They enjoyed making some food replicas there. Lucy was happy, and that made Junko happy. In the shop, Lucy found food replicas of takoyaki, octopus dumplings, and said that she wanted to try eating real takoyaki. Junko asked her and Yasuko, “Shall we try real ones?” They happily agreed. Yasuko said to Junko, “You have a schedule, right?” Junko said, “Yes, but that is OK.” Junko’s schedule was for eating kara-age, deep-fried chicken, but she thought following Lucy’s *interest was more important. Near a temple, they enjoyed takoyaki. Yasuko said, “Junko, you are a perfect guide. You happily followed Lucy’s interest and made her happy.” Junko was happy and realized that being flexible was as important as making a schedule.
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happily
schedule
miniature
attached to ~ ~に
replica
reluctantly
full-sized
real
poster ポスター
reservation
disappointed がっかり した
mixed
flexible
interest