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I finally felt financially secure enough to pay the exorbitant import prices for corn grits, and I made Polenta for breakfast/lunch. Oh corn as a carbohydrate! How I missed you!

we’ve been adopted by a teenaged cat. Kat & Hans call her Squeeky. she says “ao?” all the time.

we’re in Thailand, so naturally we go to a Japanese restaurant.

Roy and I are sitting on the porch of our bungalow in Koh Chang, Thailand. we’re talking about money, but I’m also vaguely thinking about this past year and our futures and stuff. luckily for us, this bungalow —Baan Preeda— has wireless Internet as part of the package, so I can use teh intarnets.
So, now I’m trying to reflect on this past year and what I’ve done, accomplished, overcome, etc.
however, the day is so warm and sunny that I can’t really focus on anyhing.
well, I’ll tell ya later then.

DearGodzIForgotHowGoodThisIs Yummmmm!

Today, Roy and I went to the memorial event and banquet celebrating the 50-year-old sister city relationship between Sapporo and Portland. It was a pretty good mixer for networking, I think. We re-met a man who had been working in Portland when we left there for here, and now he’s back in Sapporo working for the police department. I think I shall write an お便り to him when i can get Sensei’s help at the language and greetings.
In the last moments of the banquet, we finally caught up with the mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, and got to network just a bit. Now I have his business card. Whee!

I’ve had a cough for about 4 weeks now. Seriously. It’s a fitful, overwhelming yet completely unproductive cough that interrupts social engagements and work responsibilities (can’t speak for long periods of time), not to mention has reduced the number of foods I can eat (since it seems to be triggered by spicy foods).
I have felt like a pathetic sicky for ages now. No one seems to believe me when I ask them to pretend it isn’t happening. Instead, several times a day, I get called “poor thing” and everything falls silent as people watch to make sure that this time I don’t choke on my own throat and die this time.
Suddenly I have so much sympathy for Granddad in his latter years of life.

Said goodbye to Kuma today.
Our house is still full of his things — litter box, cat toys, feeding area…
It’s kinda hard.

Lawt winter, roy and I took and failed the JLPT level 2. We took it again this summe, just before our vacation to to the U.S. We just got the results today. We passed!!!!
Yay!

I went on a ride-along with my police officer cousin Cali. My other cousin Kat had the first turn and there was excitement from the start. However, I got to witness a wide variety of experiences in a police officer’s job: traffic stops, arrest/transport/book-ing, investigation, assisting other officers, impounding vehicles, filing reports about shoplifing, department drama, and — of course — high speed car chases. It was good times. It’s really awesome to see people who are good at their work do their work. I repeat, it’s really awesome.