We're engaged!

On Thursday, May 26th, Hanako and I went up to Yosemite National Park. The weather was perfect. The waterfalls were spectacular. After a long day of walking through the woods we reached Emerald Pool above Vernal Fall. Our legs were aching and our clothes were drenched from the mist. At the top we basked in the sun and lay on the warm stones. I asked her to marry me after I graduated from graduate school. She said yes.

Tonight, we finally had the chance to talk with her father over the internet. At first, it was uncertain whether he would approve, but I'm happy to say that all went well. In two years time, I'll be part of the Kamo family and Hanako will be part of the Merrill family.

Hanako will be leaving back for Japan in three days and I'll be leaving back to Morgantown in five. I'll be sure to update more once I get back.

Thanks for all of your support, everyone!

Summer Break

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve been back here in California and life has been busy. The biggest part of this break has been the arrival of Hanako. Some people on her plane had been coughing a lot and sure enough she came down with a cold a few days after arriving in Fresno. Things like getting sick seem to occur like Murphey’s Law when you go on vacation. I’ve always had a good immune system and rarely get sick, so despite all of her coughing and being sick in bed, at least we’ve been able to watch a few simple movies in English and Japanese together. You don’t need to know Japanese to understand good comedy like in “8ji da yo! Zenin Shugo”. I’ve never seen a DVD of this show with English subtitles so creating one will be one of my pet projects. My list of things that I need to do is so long that I’ll probably get around to it after I retire.

I haven’t been completely slacking through this break though. I’ve been going through the “BRS Pathology 4^th edition” text for about 2-3 hours every day to get a head start on the summer course. One of Hanako’s main goals was to study English while in America, and even though my English instruction is top-notch, whenever I’d teach her we’d get sidetracked in our conversations. I’ve enrolled her in an English course at the local adult school in the morning. While she studies English I study pathology, so it works out.

I imagine that when I take her sightseeing next week I’ll be taking my textbook as well. At least the BRS Pathology text is a lot thinner than the Robbins Pathology tome.

Freeeeeedoooom!

Do you all remember that scene in Braveheart where Mel Gibson was being tortured and then with his last breath he shouts 'freedom'? Our last test of the semester is over so that's the expression of our class right now. At least until summer classes begin.

Now, it's time to pack and plan for the flight back. I'll be taking my Robbins Pathology textbook with me to get a head start on the summer course. It looks like we'll be doing a whole chapter everyday for 7 weeks straight.

So, I expect my next posts to come from California rather than West Virginia. It's time to celebrate.

2 Tests Down, 1 To Go

We just had our anatomy test today. I've got a better feeling of my performance on this one than the anatomical techniques test on Monday. The only test that's left to study for now is pathology.


I got my cholesterol read this morning at the student health center and even though it's not too good, I'm not surprised. It's always been high for my whole life, but this time it's lower than my usual level.

Total Cholesterol: 210 mg/dl
Triglyeride: 163 mg/dl
HDL Cholesterol: 35 mg/dl
LDL Cholesterol: 143 mg/dl
TC/HDL Ratio:  6.0
Glucose: 90 mg/dl


Since I'm going back to California this summer break, I've been moving a lot of my belongings over to a kind classmates' apartment. I must have walked 10 miles or so today, so that's gotta be good for my health. Too bad I can't exercise and study at the same time.

1 Test Down, 2 To Go

It almost feels like the countdown to the new year.

Surprisingly, this week actually seems a lot more relaxed than a normal finals week. It must be because since our classes are over we don't have to spend time learning new material while studying for tests on older material.

Not even the drizzly weather of Morgantown can keep our spirits down now.

If any of you know Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, that song is the feeling of this week.