More than a birthday dinner

The other day my daughter and I went out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. We went to a place she loves. The____is on top of a hill. And when we____, the sun was setting behind the mountains.

The kind waitress____us at the door and____that we would have to wait a very long time for our _____ because it was short-staffed. She said that it could be over an hour before we got our dishes. Well, we decided that we would ____ because she strongly advised that we should!

We stood outside____what to do next when the owner came out and____that we stay! So we went back in. The waitress was____We waited about an hour before we got our foods!

But do you know what? It was OK because we had tea and we enjoyed a great _____and a lot of laughs. In the end, the _____ was beautiful in so many ways. Everyone dining there knew that the owner and staff were struggling.

We were all facing this together and everyone seemed to be very _____     and appreciative. When we were leaving we gave the waitress a piece of Dove chocolate. Even before I could _____ to her what it was, she burst into ______! She explained that she was a high school student from overseas and was having a hard time __ school and work and didn't have many friends.

As she held the Dove______     to her heart, she said we had no idea how much it____to her. We were all in tears. Shortly afterwards, the cook came out to apologize for the________     and we told him that everything was perfect. No apologies were_______In fact, we were so ______ for everything. It couldn't have been better!

A Great Monday

Monday started out great. I woke up on time, ate breakfast and did some last minute studying for my math test that day, feeling_______that I would get a high mark. Sitting on the school bus, my friends and I were busy chatting about the weekend activities. At one stop, a boy named Ryan got on hurriedly. He_______someone’s foot and THUMP! He fell flat onto the floor.

Every one of us on the bus looked on and laughed crazily. Ryan picked himself up, dusted his jacket and made his way to a(n)_______seat. He tried to laugh with us, but his face was burning with_______. The rest of the morning flew by. I did well in my math test and practiced cheer (啦啦队操) we would do at that night’s football game perfectly. However, when I raised my leg for one last toe touch, RIIPPP! I felt my jeans was torn down (裂开) in the middle of my backside.

I froze, not knowing what to do. Then I heard people burst out laughing and I saw them pointing at my_______jeans. Covering myself with my hands, I tried to laugh too,_______I felt tears began to well up in my eyes.

Then I saw Ryan running towards me. Suddenly the scene _______me where he fell flat and I laughed at him _______. Thinking he would join in with those laughing at me, I _______my head. However, he just ________me from behind, quickly took off his jacket, offered it to me and signaled to me to ________my torn jeans. I did want to express my ________but courage failed me. Finally, I left the courtyard in absolute ________.

That night, after the cheer at the football game, I found Ryan. Gathering my courage, I sincerely ________to him for my misconduct on the bus, and thanked him for helping me out of an equally awkward situation. Ryan, with a broad smile, patted me on the shoulder and told me to ________about it. It was then that I decided he was someone I could be great friends with. Honestly, Monday was a great day indeed!

I was a 19 - year - old Dubai - raised kid away from home for the first time to start my undergraduate studies in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak in Malaysia. I'd never ________ alone before and the seven -hour flight from Dubai was the longest flight I had ever taken. I pushed my luggage and ________ to the airport exit to find a grey van with the name of my university ________ it.

As we left the ________, the driver shared information with me about the city and its people. Not long into our ________, the lights of the car behind flashed at us. This continued more aggressively and my driver started to ________. Flashes followed, so we pulled over to the roadside in a well -lit area. I tried to put on a ________ face as the man got off the car and made his way to my side. As he reached my window, I lowered it and ________ to force a smile. He reached into the van and I ________ a loud “Whoa!”

Then I looked down at his hands to see that he was ________ my travel pouch. It contained my passport, returned tickets, as well as cash and letters for the university. I had left it ________ on the trolley at the airport and this man had been trying to ________ it to me ever since we had left the airport.

________ I took my pouch and thanked this stranger. 'The man welcomed me to Kuching, wished me luck with my university studies and drove away.

This act of kindness ________ cheered me up and thanks to this honest stranger, the initial self - doubt I had about my decision to study so far away from home was ________ with hope and excitement.