result – Hidemi Woods

This summer, I took a test, which required to translate an English article into Japanese. I had almost forgotten about it. Today, the result arrived and I remembered. It wasn’t difficult at all, and I expected ‘A’ with full marks. But the grade I got was ‘C’. What??

I did grocery shopping this morning. The store has the morning sale on weekends and it was very crowded. I got the sale items, feeling satisfied, and joined a long line of a checkout counter. The counter number 7, which I thought I was at, takes a credit card. But when I checked out, I ended up paying with cash. The sign saying 7 above my head was for the next counter. As you know, cash is cash, while a credit card gives you some sort of points. After having me wait in a long line, points escaped from me…

As a cheap person, I’ve vigorously applied for
online giveaways and free samples on the
Internet for three years now. I suspended it as
of today because I’m moving to my new place
and my address will soon be changed.
I take this opportunity to go over the result
of my three-year applications. The best freebie
I won for a giveaway was two dozen cans of
limited-edition beer with an antique label. It
was worth over $60. I got two dozen cans of
cheaper beer or soda for a couple of times and
a box of eye cosmetics, too. But mostly what I
got were small packets of shampoo or
cosmetics. Although it took time to fill out my
personal information and answer a survey for
the application, I was often disappointed at
what the company sent as a reward.
While they extravagantly announced that I
had won the giveaway on a letter, what they
enclosed was a teeny tiny packet. I sometimes
saw the similar packet handed out for free at a
store or on the street. I may have wasted so
much time to apply for freebies online after all.
But there’s still the even worse result. In these
three years, my eyesight has deteriorated
significantly. If it has to do with spending a
long time on the Internet to apply for freebies,
that certainly did more harm than good…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks, 43 available distributors in total