Japanese Language Class

So I finished my adult education class for "Beginning" Japanese language and realized I am going to have to go back to school for a real course, one with 2 to 3 days a week rather than 2 hours once a week.
I write "Beginning" in quotes because that was a joke. We went from "hi" "hello" to counting to 1 trillion...huh? Why do I need to know what 1 trillion is in Japanese? Maybe when I am super famished after walking a million miles through town one day I'll just stroll on into a Sushi joint and ask for 1 trillion unagi rolls or something like that - yea, sure that'll happen.
Yummy!!!!!!

I did learn proper sentence structure which will help me to decipher the subject of each sentence; of course I still have to learn elementary vocabulary.

Which is why I bought this:

But what I did not need to learn was "is that your sister's boyfriend's friend's red car over there by that postoffice?" I don't say these things in English!

To top this whole mess off, the required book is written in Hiragana. Why would a beginning class that assumes a student has no knowledge of the Japanese language require a book written in one of the Japanese alphabets, why?.....

This is as much Japanese language as I knew when I started:

even this confused me the first time I saw it...did it mean run to the bathroom or run out the door. Lucky for me, in the the airport both the bathroom and emergency exit were in the same place.

A fellow student told me the book is available in English, so I purchased that one also- not that it was much easier to follow. Of course this student was smart enough to drop after the thrid class and hopefully get some of her money returned.

I have a lot to learn and according to my teacher my lack of learning is because I take too many notes. Who knew that taking too many notes contributes to lack of learning.

Despite all this I am going to try again, I really want to go to the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, which we couldn't go to on our trip to Japan because the tour is conducted in Japanese!
I also will be better prepared to ask what the heck this squishy wriggling thingy is on my plate - although I think there is slight comfort in not knowing what the heck the thing is so as not to insult the chef and just eat it!

MAX!

I still have yet to update my Japan travel photos and am really wanting to post for everyone to see; I am looking forward to revisiting my travels. However I have a new struggle causing me to take time away from my blogging...MaxiMillion! Yes that is correct a puppy named Max. You ask, how could such a little creature take so much time and care that I can barely get my household chores completed?....

(This being MaxiMillion)

Introducing the new and improved Havanese, he climbs higher than any mountain goat, leaps tall objects in a single bound, chews the toes and fingers of mortal men and women, and yes folks, the new breed can out run the fastest of all cats. There is no limit to his super-Havanese abilities. He even has super hearing, one little creak in the floor and you're caught - the alarm howl sounds.

Bean Freeze

The only thing that can stop such ferocity, his kryptonite, is the Rare Frozen Green Bean. The powers of the Rare Frozen Green Bean bind the Maxinator and make him weak, but only for a limited time until he breaks (chews) free of the Bean's hold...

                                        



Beware!

Another Thank You - Camp Food

Once again I find myself needing to say "thanks" to all those who have posted reviews, this time for camp food.
The family and I stayed 2 nights in the Greenbrier State Park camp site in Boonsboro, Maryland and had a really nice time (even in the 30 degree weather, but that is a whole other story!)
Because of all the folks who have tested and sampled camp meals and posted results we were fortunate to use this expertise to our advantage. I wish I had taken pictures (too cold to get the camera out), but our meals were amazingly good.
We made foil pocket breakfasts, one with hash browns, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage and cheese and the other all that in a burrito. I think we had the best breakfasts of the families we were with. So good, premade and frozen the night before then thawed and heated on the coals, no clean-up. For the dinner to share, we made pasta salad, hard boiled eggs and premade pull-apart cheese and ham and cheese sandwiches, just heat and serve. Of course we had the obligatory smores for dessert. I am not a fan of these things, so gross. Just give me a heaping tablespoon (or serving spoon) of Marshmellow Fluff and I'm good.

*On a side note, why does anyone think giving kids flaming sticks of hot, sticky goo and melted chocolate a good idea?
I did, however, see an alternative to flaming sticks of goo in the form of an ice cream cone with all the stuff tucked inside and wrapped in foil and neatly placed on the grill for a few moments to melt the chocolate. The recipe I saw has bananas, which (when I have a chance to try) I will replace with bacon!

There were so many ideas and pictures of delicious food posted for us to choose from I went for the easiest and less fussy, but all the recipes available sounded great. Since I don't camp much, I do not have the fancy camping supplies like a dutch oven or those fancy sandwich maker things - a reuben would be really good in that thing I bet! Heck, we don't even have a proper cooler - had to borrow a neighbors.

Anyhow, this is really a big "THANK YOU" to everyone that continue to post all those great ideas for everything - people are reading, especially me!