Saturday, February 28, 2009

My Travelling Obsession

I own 3 different versions of the movie Around the World in Eighty Days. I didn't realize that I had that many until last night. Steve and I picked up the 1956 version at Costco about a month ago - I think it was only $8.99. We finally got around to watching it last night.

This version won 5 Oscars - including Best Picture - beating out The 10 Commandments and The King and I! Lots of great location shots. Lots of cameos by famous actors of the day. Lots of fun. Two thumbs up.

Although the other two versions can't quite compete, they are also fun in their own ways. In 1989 Pierce Brosnan starred as Fogg in a miniseries with Eric Idle as Passpartout and Peter Ustinov as Detective Fix (I own this one on video - not dvd - darn it). The other version came out in 2004. It was by far the least faithful to the book, but a lot of fun nevertheless. Jackie Chan made a great Passpartout . Danny and I read the book Around the World in Eighty Days and then saw that version in the theater.

Friday, February 27, 2009

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile


Steve is working from home today. That means I can wear jeans if I want to. And go out in public. It's the little things that make me happy.


Thursday, February 26, 2009

Shut In

I didn't expect to wake up to snow this morning. I had the morning off from seminary - the high school had a scheduled late start - so I "slept-in" until 5:45am. I said goodbye to Steve as he left for work and THEN realized that instead of lolling about in bed all morning I should have gotten up so that my ladies maid could have given me a hand.

I was going to go to the post office today - we're out of foreign stamps - but between the snow and lack of a proper foundation...I guess I'll stay home.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Stop the Revolution, I Want To Get Off


World History.

I do enjoy learning about people and places - there's so much that was never covered in the history classes I took. Lately Daniel's history book has been full of revolution. As in , The American Revolution, The French Revolution and today....Latin American Independence Movements. Sure, I covered the A.R. repeatedly over the years. And who hasn't heard of Marie Antoinette who lost her head during the F.R.? I found out today that my education was sadly lacking - I don't ever remember learning about Latin American independence movements. Maybe because they are still an ongoing process?

I have a new hero....no, it's not Simon Bolivar. Sure, sure, he had a cool nickname "El Libertador" (The Liberator). Yeah, he had a country named after him...and it wasn't even his (Bolivia)...but his troops had to hack their way through a jungle crawling with poisonous spiders, slog waist deep through the mud and then eat cold raw meat.

My hero is Jose de San Martin. After throwing off the Spanish yoke in Argentina he then planned a campaign to get rid of Spanish rule in Chile and Peru. He and his closest advisor, Bernardo O'Higgins - a Chilean ex-pat - planned and organized thoroughly. They had to take their troops 300 miles - AND cross the Andes. My favorite equipment? The wagonload of wheat and a baker to turn it into bread.

Don't Be Alarmed

Evidently our power went off a couple of times last night. Lucky for Steve and I that both of our bedside clocks have a battery backup. Not so for Nathan, Alex and Danny. I didn't even realize the the power had gone off until Danny joined me in the kitchen around 4:30am. I woke Alex up at 5...and Alex tried to wake Nathan up at 7:10 (after seminary). Nathan must have hit the "snooze" button, because he didn't get up until 7:45 - when I sent Alex back down to wake him up again.

Since Nathan's first class is at 8:00...well, let's just hope he didn't miss anything important. Luckily for Alex his first class isn't until 9:00. I'm pretty sure he made it to that one on time.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bunker Buddies

I started up a group blog today. After posting pictures of my freezer and a list of its contents I decided that it would be nice to have a different place to post things like that.

"I thought it might be a fun to have a place where we could share our ideas on subjects like penny pinching, organizing, cooking/recipes, food storage, gardening, or whatever strikes your fancy. "

See you there.

Junior FHE

Opening Prayer: Kaith
Opening Song: "Jesus Came to John the Baptist"
Lesson: Who was baptized? What happens when you are eight? Short discussion.
Activity: Coloring pictures of Jesus being baptized.
Closing Prayer: Trevor
Musical Number: The musical stylings of Trevor on the piano.

Time: (not including coloring) about 5 minutes.

Monday, February 23, 2009

1/2 full or 1/2 empty...

I promised Suzanne an inventory of what's currently in our new little freezer......so here goes. Keep in mind most of the food is from Costco - so that should give some clues as to sizes.

5 lbs. sausage
5 lbs. ground beef
5 lbs. mozzarella cheese
8 lbs. boneless pork
6 lbs. chicken tenderloins
24 hamburger patties
24 hamburger buns
2 lasagnas
5 loaves brown and serve bread
1/2 gallon ice cream

I figure that's the "bones" of approximately 25 dinners. We could easily put double the amount in there. I would like to add 3 or 4 roasts (beef and pork), flour tortillas, and an assortment of frozen vegetables.

I think Steve would be happy to finish filling it up with ice cream.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Our Man in Japan


Dear Family and Friends,

Not much happened this past week and I forgot to bring my journal so I really don`t remember much. Last Monday we got haircuts at one of the $10 haircut places. In the evening we dendo`d (Proselyted). On Tuesday I think we spent all day dendo`ing. Wednesday morning we rode our bikes about an hour south (To an area two below us) to visit and talk with an investigator on his lunch break. Afterwards we rode back up and ate lunch. In the evening we taught Eikaiwa (English Class) 3 people were there this time.

I guess something actually did happen on Thursday. We went down south to Higashi Osaka (East Osaka) for a baptism. The person who was baptized is a young man (24ish) from China. The Higashi Osaka elders met him about 3-4 weeks before (End of January or beginning of February) while waiting to get on a train. They got his phone number and started meeting with him about a week later. They taught him a couple times and he said he wanted to be baptized so they planned with him when to meet him and teach him quickly because he was returning to China on February 20. Fortunately things went well and he was baptized and confirmed on Thursday. Normally converts are confirmed in Sacrament meeting but since he was leaving before then permission was obtained from the bishop and mission president to confirm him at the baptism. The Church Headquarters in China said it would be better to do it before he came over I think. From what I hear (I can`t really research anything on the internet anymore when I`m curious) churches in China have to have a camera watching the meetings and people coming into the country can only bring one set of scriptures and personal study materials. After the baptism we, 2 other missionaries, a recent convert, and a member went out with him and ate lunch before saying goodbye to him.

On Friday we had Zone Interviews at the Stake center in Abendo. To get there we take the train for about 20 minutes and then transfer to a subway for about 15 minutes. Most of the missionaries including me have Icoca cards for the trains and subways that you can just put money on the card and not have to deal with tickets. It`s pretty handy. Interviews were fine. We ate lunch at McDonald's with the Mission President. Afterwards we had District meeting.

On Saturday we met and ate lunch with an investigator. In the evening we made chocolate no bake cookies and took them to a part member family but they weren`t home so we left them in the mailbox and left a note. They called us Sunday night and said they had just noticed the cookies and note, Elder Goodey asked if the cookies were good and they said `I haven`t ate them yet.` `Well please eat them` `Oh, okay I`ll eat them now then.` Later on Saturday evening we attended part of Ward council because the ward mission leader had invited us to go and we figured we might as well since the church is right in front of our house.

On Sunday there was church, it was good. I`m afraid it`s not the same though when you can`t understand everything. Sacrament talks especially are hard to understand, especially if there`s a speaker who talks really fast. In gospel principles the teacher compared repentance to a recipe. One good way to teach repentance is to hold a pen in your hand and list of the steps of repentance and for each step open a finger up so the pen falls out of your hand and then you can`t pick it (the sin) back up again or you have to go through the steps again. In Elder Quorum the teacher told the story of Alma 47 with big pictures drawn :) and compared Liahonti (I can`t remember the name right now) and coming down the mountain to lowering our standards/ losing our virtue. Liahonti had committed to stay at the top of the hill and rejected Amalekiah (spelling?) 3 times but finally gave in and met him half way. Eventually Liahonti is poisoned by degrees and killed. It was a pretty good lesson I thought.

Do you have a car in your area or are you riding your bike? Bike. I think the only missionaries who drive cars in my mission are sometimes senior couple or the Assistants. I wouldn`t want to drive a car in Japan. Some of the streets are way to narrow for my liking. A motorcycle or scooter would be okay but a car would be a pain.

How large is your ward or branch? I think there`s a little over 50 active members in this ward including children. The church building has 3 stories though. There`s a few other foreigners in this ward. One teaches English at the University and two are students there and then there`s one other who teaches an English Class or school I think.

Are you using the flashcards yet? Do they help? Yes I`m using the flashcards. I still do my own flashcards the same as before but now in addition to those I grab the Cards for the new kanji I`m learning that day and a few others for review and carry them with me throughout the day. Normally I have about 5-10 of those cards plus 50-60 of my own at all times. I try to review them when we`re housing. It helps a lot. I try not to think about how many kanji there are though. I`m trying to do a steady 4 a day.

Did you get the package we sent you yet? Yes it made it to me last week. Thanks for sending it. I love American hot chocolate. Japanese hot chocolate is so-so, and cocoa powder & sugar aren`t that good.

When are transfers? March 19

Alex: "what does he eat for breakfast?" Normally toast and hot chocolate, circle bread, cereal, or occasionally ramen.

Well thanks for writing me everyone. I`ll try to write some letters today. This email is a little longer than I thought it would be though.

Sincerely,

Elder Andrew West.

A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever.

I should have taken a "before" picture...I forgot about doing it until I had already moved 90% of the stuff off the shelves. Yes, I moved most of the stuff you see on the shelves. By myself. One handed.

Steve and Alex put together the black metal shelves on the left.
Steve and Danny put together the rolling can shelves. We bought them from Costco.com, using our rebate check. I'm looking forward to getting them filled up. I'll work on that next payday.

I had some extra money in my grocery budget this week (due to the fact that I haven't been shopping much with my broken wrist). We used the surplus to buy a small freezer (and partially fill it).

We still have more work to do in the rest of the garage. All of the cases of #10 cans (from the drypack cannery), which constitute our long-term food storage, need to be shifted.

Sounds like a job for the boys.


Saturday, February 21, 2009

Our Man in Japan

Andrew, far left.
Front row..2nd from right.

Far right.


This post is in the nature of a "head's up". Or in my case, a "bobble-head's up".

I just clicked over to President McIntyre's blog...here are the 3 pictures of Andrew that were on his blog this week! Enjoy.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Bobble-head

Got my new glasses yesterday.
They are no-line bifocals.

I feel like a bobble-head...nodding my head up and down as I try and figure out where to look out of my glasses for the clearest vision.

Bobble-head.


Thursday, February 19, 2009

Young Women's, Revisited.

About a month ago I got a phone call from one of the Laurels in my ward. She asked if I would teach a cake decorating class in February. I said I'd be glad to.
A couple of weeks later I broke my wrist.

I called the YW president and said, "Here's the thing..."

"I'll still teach the class. I can bring the supplies and the frosting for decorating...."

"...but I'm gonna need some help."

So, I brought my supplies. And the frosting. A couple of the girls helped mix in the colors, and put the frosting in the bags, and screwed the tips on....I gave a brief (very brief) demonstration of what to do with the different tips, the girls frosted the cakes that they had brought, then the decorating commenced.

I think they did just fine. One or two were exceptional and as for the rest...they had fun with it. One of the best things about this activity for me (besides hanging out with the girls) was the fact that I didn't buy one thing for it. I had everything...plenty of bags, tips, couplers, gel colors and powdered frosting.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

From Dynamite to Bonaparte


Yesterday's art project was reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite...today for history we are learning about Napoleon Bonaparte. Ironic.


I can tell that I have not been a total failure as a teacher - when I started reading about Napoleons defeat at Waterloo...Danny starts humming the ABBA song of the same name. Sweet.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Artist As A Young Man

I know, I know...it's only Tuesday - why are we doing art on a Tuesday?


Because we can.




I think Danny is just about ready to do the artwork for a Napoleon Dynamite sequel. He just needs to spend 3 hours shading the upper lip.


Sunday, February 15, 2009

Our Man in Japan


Dear family and friends,


I`m afraid not much happened this past week so this`ll probably be a short email.

Nothing happened last Tuesday. Wednesday was English Class but it was a holiday and only one person came. A couple Elders did spend the night though for Wednesday`s Zone Conference.

Zone Conference was good. We watched an old bicycle safety video for Japan. It was pretty old and low budget. There was just someone talking about the different rules and `road manners` while different pictures were shown.

Some stakes are starting a Young Single Adult outreach program where they have activities at the church almost every evening. Something like Sunday:Fireside Monday:Family Home Evening Tuesday:Random Activity(Dance?) Wednesday:English Class Thursday:Sports Night Friday:Random Activity Saturday:Random Activity. It sounded like it`ll be good.

Well that`s all I guess. Sorry I didn`t write more. Ask questions please.

My questions/requests
...
...
ummm
...
Did you receive my SD card?
...
Well that`s it I guess.
...
I guess I really don`t have much to say this week. Until next week.

Sincerely,


Elder West.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentine Shout Out.

I was trying to think of an appropriate song - one that would represent Valentines Day 2009.

In light of the fact that Steve will be coming home sometime late this afternoon from a camp out with stinky Boy Scouts....we'll overlook the inevitable funky smell and focus on the love. Because love is in the air.

Friday, February 13, 2009

What Ho, Jeeves.

Steve is going camping with the scouts tonight. I shall miss my "left hand man."


Steve has been serving as a combination lady's maid/valet for 2 weeks now - with nary a complaint. Willingly taking on those things that I truly cannot do for myself. Fortunately I have been able to figure out ways and means for nearly everything that needs to be done. The operative word in that last sentence is "nearly".



I'll miss you, Jeeves. I mean Steve.

Another use for nylons.

I went visiting teaching yesterday. My partner Myra happens to be a nurse. A nurse who is experienced in orthopedics. Myra gave me a great tip that involves nylons.

I took a pair of practically new nylons (I had mistakenly purchased a pair of suntan colored nylons - yuk!), cut off one leg, then the toe and made a small opening for my thumb. Steve had to do most of the cutting, and he had to help me get it on, but once on it was a nice cover for sleeping in.

I promise I won't be wearing it in public, but it does smooth out almost all the prickly bits of the cast so that I didn't spend the night getting it caught in the sheets or sanding the skin off of Steve's shoulder.

Thanks, Myra.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

All those in favor of an afternoon nap....


The "ayes" have it.
Sleep deprivation came up and bit me. Bit me hard.

I don't have any idea of how long I slept for, but let's say it was an hour. I'd like to think it was at least an hour.

I now have 4...yes, you heard me 4 days in a row that I don't have to get up for seminary! I plan on dallying in bed until at least 6am every morning - 7am if I can convince my bladder.

Here's to sparse drinking before bedtime.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

cupcake love

How do you frost a cupcake one-handed? Nuke a small bowl of ready made frosting for 10-20 seconds, then dip and swirl.

Since there's no school/seminary on Friday I decided to do an early Valentine treat. I'm not handing out Valentine cards - too frustrating to make one-handed. Cupcakes it is.

Word of the Day



eschew Spelled Pronunciation [es-choo]
–verb (used with object)


to abstain or keep away from; shun; avoid: to eschew evil.

example:

Though certainly not pain free, I have eschewed the use of painkillers for over 24 hours. And counting.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Big Blue

Yeah, my hand is still pretty gross looking - but now instead of sticking out of a beige ace bandage it is sticking out of dark blue fiberglass.

I asked Nathan (our family expert on broken bones) if he thought I ought to take some painkiller BEFORE the appointment. He said," yes - they won't give you anything there."

I'm quite happy that I did - even with one percocet on board having the splint removed and the cast applied was moderately painful.

The guy that put on the cast was very impressed with my "designer" sling.

Next appointment - March 5th - God willing, I will get a shorter cast then.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Our Man in Japan



Dear Family and Friends,

I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks everyone who sent birthday cards and packages. The package from Flyingpig and Amazon both made it to me without any problems. Thanks :).

I`m copying all my pictures onto a spare SD card to send home, so expect that in the mail in a couple weeks.

Alright now as for this past week. On Tuesday after E-Mail we went to Diamond City in Itami and ate at an all-you-can-eat restaraunt. They had lots of skewered pieces of meat and other things set out that you put on a tray and took back to your table. At the table you could bread it first if you wanted and then fry it. Unfortunately there was only 60 minutes to it was pretty rushed. Trying to fry and eat lots of very hot just fried food is a little abunai, or dangerous. Between the four of us who were there we ate 201 skewers worth of stuff. Not as much as it actually sounds though, the skewered pieces of meat aren`t that big. It was fun and good though.

Wednesday was mostly spent packing. After I was done packing and thought nothing else would fit the cheerios and pretzels came. Somehow I managed to squeeze everything in though. I`m starting to feel like I have too much random stuff... Fortunately as time passes I`ll be able to start getting rid of clothes so there`ll be less time, but that time hasn`t come yet.

Thursday we got up early and went over to Tennoji. Pretty much any companionship who has someone transferring goes there. My new companion is Elder Goodey. He`s from Washington, around the Tri-cities I think. It seems like a more than usual number of missionaries here are from Washington. Also I think a disproportionate amount of Japanese missionaries tend to go to Washington. It`s interesting. By the way, I feel stupid for not knowing this but which mission is Marysville in? Is it in the Everett mission or the more northern one?

The living quarters for the Elders here is pretty big. This area used to be the Osaka Mission Headquarters. There`s an empty house where the Mission President`s family stayed, a house where the missionaries serving here stay, and the church building for the ward. There`s a University nearby, Kansai University I think, where a lot of foriegners go to study English. It was pretty rare to see foriegners in my other areas but not uncommon here. There`s a few students and teachers in the ward as well.

Well I just got a couple emails thanks. I don`t know why P-day got changed to Mondays but it is a permanent thing. I haven`t seen too much have rural Japan yet but I`ve seen some. Really the rural parts aren`t far from the urban. To the south of my last area was a small mountain waterfall place that had wild monkeys. Apparently they`re a little dangerous. I heard what Elder was taking pictures of them and got his coat ripped by one. My areas so far have been Urban for the most part.

I did get the flashcards, thanks :). I wasn`t even at the living quarters when the package arrived so they called and we told them to come back in the afternoon. I was wondering how they had figured out our phone number. My new area is about as big as my last one but I think I`ll have to ride around this one farther more often. Our house is on the top of a hill not as steep but probably as tall as the steep hill by Grove street. We get to ride up it 2-3 times a day. It`ll take a while to get used to riding up it I think.

Well I think I`ll go now. This email place is nicer than the library in my last area but still costs money. Until next week I guess.

Sincerely,

Elder Andrew West.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Saturday Night

Alex cleaned the kitchen - counters and dishes. He also vacuumed the stairs.

Danny swept, vacuumed and mopped.

Steve helped with laundry,folding, putting containers away in my office and shopping.

Nathan was pretty much gone all day.

I sorted laundry, made menu plans, washed my hair, ironed 3 shirts (mine) and went grocery shopping- not necessarily in that order.


Oh yeah, I also gave Steve a lesson in blow drying my hair. With a little practice he will do just fine.

sleep deprivation


There's a good reason I doze off at least once a day. I'm just not sleeping well. As I was falling asleep last night I told Steve it was a little like trying to sleep while 9 months pregnant - minus the incessant need to pee. Basically I wake up whenever I move. I'm not sure what the solution is...I'm not willing to take something for it - I suspect that would do more harm than good. Warm milk at bedtime is not an option. A long soak in a relaxing bubble bath sounds good - now, if only I had a tub big enough to relax in....

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Get Well Soonish?


I think I got a get well card from Suzanne. Here is the sentiment/quote that she wrote on the inside:

"Darwinism dar-win-ism
noun
A theory that inherent dynamic forces allow only the fittest persons or organizations to prosper in a competitive environment or situation.

Get well soonish"

Just what are you implying missy?

BTW, great job taking it to 11.

accessorize, part II

Because who doesn't love a houndstooth check?

Yes Keira, I lined the slings - but mostly because that was easier to do than hemming or binding the edges.

I'm done sewing for now. The machine is getting put away.

How to wash your hair.


Step 1: take 1/2 a percocet tablet.

Step 2: wait 1/2 an hour for the percocet to take affect.

Step 3: have Alex load the dishwasher and clean out the kitchen sink.

Step 4: borrow Steve's 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner -with built in pump(this is important), collect towel from bathroom

Step 5: wash hair in kitchen sink. (with only one hand)

Step 6: blow dry hair

optional: styling - if you take the other 1/2 of the perocet you won't care what it looks like. (this was Sherri's idea)

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

accessorize, accessorize, accessorize

There's a good reason you don't hear much about one armed seamstresses. It's darn hard to sew with one hand.

I made couple of slings to go with my gimpy arm..I'm not sure Danny quite approves of the cowboy and Indian one - but that's okay - he doesn't have to wear it.

I went to the doctor yesterday - he said that I would probably be in a cast for about 8 weeks. I don't think that counts the 1 1/2 weeks I will have been in a splint. I have to go in for more x-rays on Monday, then I'll see the doctor again on Tuesday - when I will either
a. get a long cast on
b. continue with the splint longer
c. be scheduled for surgery...
The doc didn't want to remove the splint yet - he wants to wait until the bones are a little"stickier" - so they won't just fall apart when the splint is removed. In the meantime I'm in a veritable boatload of pain.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Pudding, as Art

Today's art inspiration is a sculpture using the assemblage technique. The Family, by Marisol Escobar.


The assignment was to create a portrait sculpture using the assemblage technique. Danny decided to make his portrait of nephew Kaith. In order to come up with appropriately sized boxes Danny needed to empty a pudding box...in order to empty it, it just made sense not to waste it...I am so counting the time he spent making pudding for school.



Our Man in Japan


Dear Family and Friends,

I hope you`re all doing well. Sorry to hear that Mom broke her wrist :(, I hope it gets better soon (Which wrist was it?) I`ll do my best to stay out of bike accidents. I`m amazed people aren`t hit by cars here more often due to their tendency to start crossing the crosswalk before it turns green and to try to zip through the intersection right after it turns red. Maybe they expect that kind of thing and watch out for it.

Alright first off, the week in review.

On Wednesday we went on an hour and a half bike ride north and uphill to visit some members. Almost all the members here live way far away by bike. It was a long bike ride but enjoyable, the weather was pretty good that day. Coming home took about 45 minutes.

Thursday was the final district meeting of the transfer. We ate at an Indian Curry place that had all you can eat Nan, it was pretty good. Nan bread is pretty big. I almost managed 3 pieces. A couple other elders managed 4. I ordered my curry a little spicier than I would have liked unfortunately :(.

Friday we made taco rice with rice, chicken, refried beans, salsa, cabbage, and home made tortillas. We regretted deciding to eat because it`s a major hassle to make, clean up, and there`s always too much food.

Monday we went up a hill to the north to go housing and came across someone we had talked to a couple months ago. We actually didn`t recognize or remember him but when we said hi he stopped and said hisashiburi (It`s been awhile)

Ambulances here make me shake by head in disbelief. I`ve started paying more attention to them recently. We see one almost every day. I watched one driving down the freeway with it`s sirens going and it wasn`t really going that fast. The roads were mostly open and it was being passed by cars on the left and right. People and cars don`t tend to clear intersections for them, They have to wait to turn right (This would be like a left turn in America) until a car lets them pass. Anyways I just hope I never need an ambulance in a hurry here.

Nathan, a New Years resolution to write me once a week is a good one. Mission life is going well. It`s not too hard to get anywhere in the mission if needed, just a little expensive sometimes to take all the trains and buses. For transfers we can ship 2 bags and our packed bike and the mission pays for it. We normally ship it the day before we leave and if we`re lucky we`re at the other apartment the next day to receive it. The delivery people and mailmen won`t leave any packages if no one answers the door. This often means it can be a few days before we`re home when the package comes. They leave a phone number you can call so you can tell them when the best time to come is.

I heard about the successful plane crash from an Eikaiwa student who`s a retired pilot. He was pretty impressed by it too. Thanks for sending the picture it gives me a lot better idea of how it was.

A little bit about my Japanese again for the curious. In my spare time during meals or at night (Not study time usually) I read a fairly thick Japanese Grammar book. It`s really good and explains things really well. I`ve studied individual grammar things from it before but I figure I`ll just read it over and over. Even when things don`t stick the first time I understand a little more when people are talking and when I read the grammar principle again it`s a lot easier to understand and figure out. I`m on about page 450 of my first read through. I think I started a few weeks ago. During my 30 minutes of Japanese study time I make about 10-15 flashcards with the Kanji, furigana, and English and review them about 4 times throughout the day. My stack is actually about 50 cards because I review for a couple days after learning them. I think I already told you all of this but oh well.

My new address (In a couple days) will be the following:

Osaka-fu Hirakata-shi

Asahigaoka 15-12

573-0026

I think it`s an old mission home and the apartment is fairly big but I really don`t know. My new companions name is Elder Goodey.

I should get the package from FlyingPig today or tomorrow. They`ll come again tomorrow if I`m not there today and we`ll have to be at the apartment to wait for Sagawa to pick up my luggage. Thank you Aunt Sherri :).

Anyways that`s it for today I think. I`ll get around to sending that SD card some day.

Sincerely,

Elder Andrew West.

By the way if you haven`t sent that package yet could you see if some seasoning salt could fit in there?

Monday, February 2, 2009

Groundhog Day


Since I will be spending much of today "elevating" I may as well watch the best movie ever made for an obscure holiday.


Happy Groundhog Day!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Gee that's swell...


Now I know why they insisted on cutting off my rings. On that note...does anyone know when the swelling should subside?


And now we dance
... (very gingerly)