From My Old Japanese Teacher

Mina-san, Komban wa. Kochira [ this ( polite ) ] wa Nihon-go no kyoushi [ teacher ( humble ) ] no

Uookaa desu. [ i.e. "This is your Japanese language teacher ( who is ) Walker." ] I think that nearly all of you discovered this on your own, but I forgot to mention to our class as a whole that, toward the back of the fairly thick set of kana no kopii [ kana copies ] that I gave to everyone in our class last night, there are two different sets of kana no oboe-[commiting to memory]-kata [ way of verb-ing ] [ i.e. "Memory Devices" ] for ALL members of the basic sets of BOTH hiragana and katakana. These oboe-kata are merely SUGGESTIONS about ways to help you remember the kana. You will NEVER be tested on the oboe-kata themselves! You will only be tested on the actual kana. The oboe-kata are just a gimmick to try to help you remember the

kana. If you do not like any of the ones in that thick set of kana no kopii that I gave you last night, then please make up your own. If I can find the time, I will give you one more set of kana no oboe-kata. Wakarimashita ka.

Shitsumon ga attara, [ "If you have any...,"]

Ii-meeru (w)o kudasai. ["Please give me an

e-mail." ] Tesuto no benkyou [ study for the Quiz / Test ] to [ pron. like "toe," means "and" ] shukudai (w)o gambatte [hang in there] kudasai. [please.] Sore de wa, ["Well then,..."] Mata [again] rai-[coming-]-shuu[-week] [ i.e. "See you again next week."]Shitsurei-shimasu. ["Excuse me ( for breaking off contact. / for ending this communication."]

Sayoonara.

Uookaa



I thought you would enjoy that. I mean, I did.
College is hard. Scratch that. Margaret's class is hard.
Lots of laundry to do, hopefully I catch up with you later?

It will never grow old...

"I think there's a point where you realize the world has just been revealed to you. It's like realizing your parents are both good and bad. It's sort of, Oh no, thiings will never be quite the same again."

"The fact that any sort of religious faith was so disdained at Harvard and so important to the poor- not just in Haiti but elsewhere, too- made me even more convinced that faith must be something good."

"People think we're unrealistic. They don't know we're crazy."

"He wasn't put on earth to make anyone feel comfortable, except for those lucky enough to be his patients, and for the moment I had become one of those."

"Let's celebrate him. Let's make sure people are inspired by him. But we can't say anybody should or could be just like him." He added, "Because if the poor have to wait for a lot of people like Paul to come along before they get good health care, they are totally fucked."

"One can never work overtime for the poor. We're only scrambling to make up for our deficiencies."

"It's through journeys to the sick that we identify needs and problems."

"I remember the sound of Voodoo drums wafting into the army barracks in Mirebalais at night and how unsettling it was to some of us sitting there, in all its mystery. I'm sure we'd have felt different if we'd known we were probably hearing ceremonies to cure the sick. For myself, right now, I like the sound, like so many hearts beating through a single stethoscope."

"And I can imagine Farmer saying he doesn't care if no one else is willing to follow their example. He's still going to make these hikes, he'd insist, because if you say that seven hours is too long to walk for two families of patients, you're saying that their lives matter less than some others', and the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world. I think he undertakes what, earlier today, he called 'journeys to the sick' in part because he has to, in order to keep going. 'That's when I feel most alive,' he told me once on an airplane, 'when I'm helping people.' He makes these house calls regularly and usually without blan witnesses, at times when no one from Harvard of WHO can see him kneeling on mud floors with his stethoscope plugged in. This matters to him, I think-to feel, at least occasionally, that he doctors in obsurity, so that he knows he doctors first of all because he believes it's the right thing to do."

But it's fine, it's fine, it's fine

WOOOO!

Good thing I'm done reading and writing. At least for a day or so. What I mean is, I finally finished my reading and my essay to turn in Friday.

Before we move into the new apartment that we got

I don't want to read academically for awhile. (Ha..??)

I'll be a living sanctuary for You

Finishing off Mountains Beyond Mountains tonight and writing all tomorrow and Thursday. Bad news. I could write for days about Dr. Paul Farmer. Can't wait to see Tracy Kidder when he comes to Otterbein. How am I going to sum up anything from this somewhat life-changing reading extravaganza? Well, I guess God will take care of that. Just like needed appointments?

Oh, the grove worship band was playing Coldplay- Fix You tonight when I walked in. Ha, special. Thanks Jesus. Also, they played my favorite worship song- the song that at trying times grasping for sanity is the only song that comes to mind. I liked that. I haven't heard it since I went to KRBC.

Gotta go read.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX TALKS!

Here's the story. Last night I had a clever idea to stay up until 12 (woah insane i know) and send a text message to Alex once it was her birthday. I was very excited about it. I even made it all caps.

I forgot that Alex doesn't get text messages. So I didn't realize for awhile that she didn't get that.

Here's proof though. I may have been one minute late but Alex, lady, I was thinking about you. I would like to take you out to dinner/lunch? for your birthday. Let me know when you can go, it's sad hearing about your life not directly from you.



We're fun and cute!

I will try...

Remember when the last song Coldplay performed was "Fix You"?

Sonfest and The Elms

Sonfest is New Student Weekend.
I really only have interest in going to see The Elms.
Sort of also because it holds fond memories for me. Sonfest 2003 I went with a few people I adore and had a great time. It was the short lived timespan of saying "pukin'". It started out with "I'm about to be pukin'" and took off from there. (Quote that boy!)

Basically I just like The Elms and Sonfest is cute. I wouldn't mind going. We'll see what my "mandatory" schedule is like?

"When we're soccer moms gas is going to be, like, five dollars a gallon." -kim

"I'm not always on time
Please don't expect that from me
I will be late
But if you can just wait
I will make it eventually

Not like it's in my control
Not like I'm proud of the fact
But anything other than being exactly on time
I can do"
- Cathy Hiatt

"Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessle's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever had."
-Tyler Durden

Bruce the Landlord at the new apt. on Main is stuck on the south coast. Yes, this means a delay in the moving, if we even do get the apt. Well, I guess what's important is that he's okay and that the people down there get help. Ignorant me thinking of only myself and my needs.

I dare you to pick up a copy/check out a copy of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. I feel like I've probably mentioned this several times in this blog but it's important that I get the message across. It's completely inspiring and though I don't have lots of time to read it (so it's become somewhat of a burden) I adore the time that I do have to delve into the life of Dr. Paul Farmer.

"Na na na na, na na na
Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be happy!"