Question 1

My birthday is in March which makes me a Pisces. Pisces characteristics are a person who is empathetic, intuitive, artistic, selfless, generous and emotional.

Question 2

I think I am intuitive, selfless and generous. However, I am not empathetic, artistic nor emotional.

Question 3

Never, I have no interest in these ideas.

Question 4

I have a lucky coin that I keep in my house or take with me when I travel. Bad things don't happen to me when I have this coin.

Question 5

Birthdays are important in New Zealand. For kids it is a chance to get presents and eat cake. For adults it is a chance to get drunk and eat cake.

Question 6

I had a palm reader tell me my fortune. She said I have a long "life line". I hope it is not true.

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
empathy	共感
intuitive	直感的
artistic	芸術的
selfless	没我的
generous	親切
emotional	感情的

Question 1

My birthday is February 11th. I am an Aquarius.Though their natural intelligence, fair mindedness and (great) wit often wins them a wide circle of eclectic friends, ultimately Aquarius stands alone. They will not compromise their ideals, morals or need for freedom and independence for anyone.

Question 2

I think that it is true that I won't compromise my ideals and morals. Maybe I can be a bit stubborn. I do have many eclectic friends. In high school I was friends with all of the cliques.

Question 3

Never. I don't believe in them being real. Some people relate things to their horoscopes even when they aren't relevant.

Question 4

I don't have any superstitions or good-luck charms. I remember when we were kids walking down the street. We used to say "step on a crack, break your mother's back" "step on a line, break your father's spine".

Question 5

I think birthdays in America are a big thing for children. We would have our birthdays at arcades, game centers, bowling alleys, rollerskating. My birthday is in the winter, so we often spent it skiing at the mountain. Now, I don't do anything on my birthday. I want to forget that I'm an old man.

Question 6

I don't believe in superstition, so it's hard for me to think of an example. I do think that I never could have predicted that I would be living in Japan and teaching English.

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
eclectic	せっちゅう (折衷)
ideals	りそう (理想)
morals	どうとく (道徳)
compromise	だきょう (妥協)
superstitions	めいしん (迷信)
clique	は (派)

Question 1

My birthday is August 2nd. That means I was born under the sign of Leo, the Lion. As far as star signs go, that's a pretty good one. Among other things, it means I'm supposed to be creative, passionate, generous, warm-hearted, cheerful, and humorous. On the other hand, Leos are supposedly arrogant, stubborn, self-centered, lazy, and inflexible.

Question 2

To different degrees, I agree with all the positive characteristics, except maybe "cheerful". I mean, I'm a happy enough person and I enjoy my life but I might not show it as much as other people. To a certain extent, I agree with all of the negative traits as well. I prefer to think of myself as "prideful" rather than "arrogant" but that's probably just splitting hairs.

Question 3

I never go out of my way to read my horoscope. However, if there is a newspaper, a magazine, or a weblink to my latest horoscope right in front of me, I might take a look at it. I don't take them seriously, of course but they can be interesting to read from time to time. That said, I would recommend students check their daily horoscope online regularly. They're short pieces of English text that don't take long to read. They change each day and they often contain unusal vocabulary and expressions. Try one of these (or both!):

• https://www.astrology.com/horoscope/daily.html
• https://www.horoscope.com/us/horoscopes/general/index-horoscope-general-daily.aspx

Question 4

I carry a talisman I got from Miwa-jinja with me everywhere I go. It's supposed to grant good health to the bearer; with all of my health problems, I'm not sure it's working. I also have a happiness charm on my keyring. I'm told it's a recreation of a magic charm from the Book of Solomon. I just think it looks cool. I also go to shrines and temples but just as a tourist. Religion is a bit beyond me.

Question 5

Yes, of course. The milestone birthdays in Australia are your 16th, 18th, and 21st birthdays. Sixteen because you can get your drivers license. Eighteen because you are legally an adult at that age. Twenty-one is a holdover from years ago when people were regarded as adults. In Australia, as with most places around the world I guess, birthdays are celebrated with cake and presents. This becomes less and less the case as we get older.

Question 6

I really don't know about any of this. I think it's fun to think about sometimes, the way it's fun to think about ghosts, aliens, superpowers, conspiracy theories, and the like. Pointless conversations over a beer. I don't put much stock in any of it though.

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
as far as that goes	それに関しては
among other things	とりわけ
on the other hand	一方
to different degrees	異なる程度に
to a certain extent	ある程度まで
splitting hairs	細かすぎる
go out of my way	邪魔にならない
talisman	お守り
beyond me	理解しにくいです
holdover	余弊
don't put much stock in it	それに多くの在庫を入れないでください