I don't have a lot of new detailed information, so far as people are concerned, but I do have a few brief comments.
I have located D&D Deodorant. The name is coincidental but the implications HILARIOUS and it made me smile on the train ride home.
It is raining. I WISH it were rainy season, but this week's rain has nothing on that miserable week in June. At least the weather is relatively cool at present. We have been getting a curious mix of hot and cold lately. My arms are very freckled from the sun, but this week is scheduled to rain the whole time. Rainy season, or tsuyu, is rain nonstop for a few days, but it is HOT and HUMID and the rain itself is warm. It is most unpleasant to be in but something that will be endured because I don't really have a choice.
We had a member run up to us in church and excitedly tell us about her friend, whose entire family seems interested in the Gospel. We dutifully took down information and before we had a chance after church the member called us again and told us that she called her friend and had set up an appointment for us, could we go visit her on Wednesday?
Why yes, yes I think we can.
I really like this ward. We visited the bishop unexpectedly in order to ask him a question (and figure out where he lived), and he and his wife cheerfully invited us up into the apartment where we were served homemade cookies, homemade herbal drinks, homemade ice cream, and homemade curry (using mostly spices she grew herself). His wife is astounding and decorated most of their home with various paintings, masks, and wall hangings. She is a good artist and a VERY good cook. They cheerfully entertained us and we were able to learn a great deal about the ward and what was expected of the missionaries, and we were able to share a few of our ideas in return. It was a happy meeting and I have new respect for the bishop, who I admit seemed a little scary at first. What was I thinking? The man is a true comedian!
In the ever changing and updating food legacies, I have discovered that I don't mind seafood curry, but I have to have NO IDEA of what I am eating. I carefully explained the idea to the Japanese members, as follows:
To me, eating squid and octopus is very hard. This is because I do not think of them as food, but animals. How do you feel about eating dogs, cats, or insects? It seems a little odd to you, right? (Yes, is the usual reply.) Well, I've eaten insects before and I can tell you they don't taste all that bad. If I said that, would you be willing to try it? (Some say yes and some say no, but generally the reply is reluctant). Well, that's what squid and octopus are like to me. I would have just as hard a time eating them as eating insects, dogs, and cats because they are animals, not food. If I don't think about it or don't know what I'm eating then it actually tastes pretty good, but the moment someone tells me I put a tentacle into my mouth it becomes vile to me.
This is my same issue with cheese although I really do object to the flavor. Cheese is rotten milk to me, if I think about it, and it just tastes bad to me either way.
Oh, the curry was served with cheese bread. I think I had more issue with the mayo on the cheese bread than with anything else.
OH! The whole point I wrote this blog was to give instruction on how to eat a Tim Tam. If, for some reason, some of you receive Tim Tams from me in the near future, please take note of these instructions. (A Tim Tam is a chocolate biscuit made in Australia).
HOW TO EAT A TIM TAM
1. Prepare some hot milk or hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is better but really sweet.
2. Take a Tim Tam and bite off two opposite corners. The bite should not be too big, but you should be able to see the chocolate cream within the cookie pretty well. This Tim Tam will be used as a straw.
3. Dip one bitten end of the Tim Tam into the drink and use the other bitten end as a straw. The Tim Tam will start to melt. Eat it before it falls into your drink!
4. Glory in a sweet chocolate-ness you have doubtless not experienced until now.
NOTE:
-The hot chocolate should not be so hot that you are forced to slurp it, but it should be quite warm. If you can drink a tablespoon without burning yourself then you are good. If you can't melt chocolate in it then it's not hot enough.
This method of eating the chocolate biscuit is called "A Tim Tam Slam."
