It is difficult to describe in words how I feel about my father, so I wrote a short piece of music called “Whisper of the River.” The story is about walking with my father along a beautiful river. Through writing this piece, I was able to express my feelings for him.

Now that I am older, I want to do more than just play the piano. I want to swim, ski, and climb mountains. Then, I want to visit museums all over the world and go to concerts. And lastly, I want to have a girlfriend. This is exactly what my father was telling me when I was a boy.

These days, I dream of being a world-class pianist. Someday, I will travel around the world with my father. We will sit in all kinds of restaurants in foreign countries and talk about new kinds of food. Then, when I get a girlfriend, I am going to listen carefully to my father’s advice.

Ghana produces a lot of cacao. It’s made into chocolate. Many cacao farm workers are very poor because cacao is sold at a low price. They work hard, but they can’t make enough money to live. They work under “unfair” conditions. Moreover, many children in Ghana have to work on farms to help their families. That is why some of them have never been to school.

Fair-trade can solve these problems. If you buy fair-trade chocolate, more money goes to the workers, so your shopping choices can make a difference.

Ghana produces a lot of cacao. It’s made __________ chocolate. Many cacao farm workers are very poor because cacao is __________ at a low price. They work hard, but they can’t make enough money __________ live. Thay work under “unfair” conditions. Moreover, many children in Ghana have to work on farms to __________ their families. That is why some of them have __________ to school.
Fair-trade can solve these problems. If you buy fair-trade chocolate, more money goes to the workers, so your shopping choices can make a difference.

My father doesn’t know much about music. Every time I perform on stage, my mother gets excited, but my father remains calm. My father and I rarely talk about the piano. However, we love eating and talking about sushi when we go out to sushi bars.

When I was seven, I won the first prize in a contest. My mother was very happy, but my father warned me: “There’s always someone better than you.” He told me, “There’s more to life than just playing the piano. You have to study more in school.”

I felt rebellious toward my father when I was in junior high school. Whenever he told me to study harder, I’d say, “Stop bugging me! I know what I am doing!”

When I was 17, after the Chopin Competition, some of my friends came together to talk about planning my future. At that meeting, my father said, “All I want is for my son to stand on his own two feet and have all the sushi he wants. That’s all I ask.”