Wednesday, November 5, 2008

New Lady

I've brought a new lady into my relationship with Sweetie. And it's one of the best things I ever did. Her name is Jill. And she's the voice on our GPS unit. It's absolutely brilliant, because now, when we get lost, Sweetie can yell and curse at Jill. While I sit perfectly innocent in the passenger seat. It's amazing. Highly recommended. In fact, she was recommended to me by several sets of aunts and uncles. Always listen to the wisdom of those older than you (I don't dare call them "elders"!)




Last weekend, after a fairly uninspiring trip to an international supermarket called "Jungle Jim's" (I'm sure it's much more pleasant on a weekday when it isn't completely mobbed), we spent Sunday strolling along the local "gorge trail," which skirts some historic sites related to the early days of jazz recording. We've been blessed with absolutely amazingly warm and beautiful weather lately (Sweetie thinks I'm a big liar for all the horrible tales I told him of Midwest weather).

Today I inaugurated a "Hebrew lunch table" at the college where I work. One student showed up (others are interested, but were busy today with the election), which I actually found to be highly encouraging. We spoke Hebrew for about an hour, and I was feeling really proud of myself afterwards, especially as I headed off for 80 minutes of observing a Japanese class. This must be good for my brain! Right?!

2 comments:

vegetablej said...

Right! I so envy you being able to go to Japanese classes. I am feeling homesick for Japan these days. I know that because whenever I visit an Asian grocery (there are exactly 2 in my area) I feel an inexplicable sense of happimess and well-being.

There seems to be something about Japan that gets in the blood, doesn't there? Are you having any reverse culture shock, or is the work helping?

Cha-chan said...

Japan definitely gets into the blood! Enjoy those Japanese grocery stores -- I look forward to shopping in the real thing when I go to Japan for work. All I can think about are Japanese sweets and sembei and fresh ryokan-style food!

No reverse culture-shock for me, thankfully. I think it's harder coming back from Japan (vs. the Middle East) because it is so radically different from our countries. I did always have a more difficult adjustment after a year or two in Japan.

The only surprise for me returning from Israel is how polite people are at crowded grocery stores, Walmart, etc! People apologize before walking in front of you, or apologize and then walk around you . Amazing. A big change from Israel.