"Sometimes saying 'yes' or 'no' isn't beautiful"

I came across this on youTube while looking for "inspirado" in our forthcoming コロテル extravaganza.
Don't be fooled by the game show style stage (or the American guy's bad suit), this is actually a pretty deep discussion on Japanese culture and the rest of the world.  I was watching it on my own to begin with, and could tell they were talking about something pretty interesting, like what はいand いいえ really end up meaning and the comparison of Natto to Bleu Cheese.  Eventually it led to a big discussion with my wife, about  the importance of having meaning behind one's sentences and how Japanese politcal debate or CNN "Crossfire"-type shows in Japan don't follow the same routine of choosing sides and bickering the way the west does. Instead there is a "negotiation without speaking" and an emphasis in taking time to formulate one's own decision.
Maybe we いちねんせい won't be able to understand it completely, but anybody with good Japanese skills should check it out!

Katakana Literary Work

This is a little manga I made.  It's a glimpse into the difficult life of a cat.  It reads from top to bottom, left to right.  I realize Japanese manga is from right to left, but I had to adjust it since I had two more frames that couldn't fit.  Sorry for the discrepancy.  I use Katakana for the title and the cat's name, as a sort of comic emphasis, though we do typically write as たぬたぬ.  Her name is Tanu Tanu, because her orange stripe on her  face resembles a Tanuki, the Japanese raccoon dog.

In this short adventure, Tanu is hungry and sees a small mouse near her food dish.  As she readies to attack the mouse, she shuffle her hind legs フリフリ.  Mad at the toy mouse, she bats it away パ、ポーン！ Next, the birds outside chirp at her ピヨピヨピヨ、チーチー.   The birds actually want to be her friend,  but she is too lazy to play so Tanu only hisses at them ヒー to leave her alone.   Finally, she is startled by the big, noisy vacuum　ブウウウウン and hopes "Please, don't suck me in".

Compostion 2: てがみ

山田さん、はじめまして。ナスタコフスキーアンドリューです。ウィスコンシンからきました。いまコロンビアだいがくのいちねんせいです。日本のせいかつはどうですか。ウィスコンシンのせいかつはしずかでしたが、ニューヨークのせいかつはいそがしいです。あなたのまちはどんなところですか。にせんはちねんにつまと日本へいきました。りょこうはすてきでしたが、日本のちかてつはとてもむずかしいです。日本のたべものをいつもたべます。カレーライスはおいしいです。ろくがつにじゅうさんにちになりたであいましょう。

じゃまたこのなつ、よろしくおねがいします。

ナスタコフスキーアンドリュー。