Really warming up

It has felt so good to have warmer weather and sun!

I have tried to take advantage of the sunshine and warm, (but not hot), weather as much as I can. I have done some studying outside, I walked home some of the way from work, I walked with a co-worker during lunchtime to get some food, and other outdoor activities.

Some friends came in to town and we have had fun spending time with them. We have played games and gone out to dinner and visited the National Zoo. The picture is not me, it's the Orangutan walking on the ropes above our head over the sidewalk at the zoo. It was exciting, (and it stopped before getting to the other side and urinated down onto the sidewalk where all the people were walking). Today we visited the temple grounds and visitor's center after our stake conference. (Our stake presidency changed and our bishop is now one of the counselors.) We have had a good time so far. It is really fun to have them visit.

This past Tuesday I took a "progress test" in Indonesian. It took an hour and a half and I did okay. I still struggle a little with saying things because it's difficult to recall the words that you need quickly if you haven't used them a lot. I did fine, though. The test involves several different parts. One part is just speaking with a native for a few minutes without any kind of script. Another part is interviewing a native and reporting in English on the conversation. There is also a part where you choose a subject from among a group they give you and then speak for 5-10 minutes on the subject and answer questions. The other part of the test is reading. They give you a chance to read a shorter article for a few minutes and then report on what it is talking about. Then it is a similar format but with a longer reading. I felt better about the reading part. They tape the whole thing and analyze it. I don't know the result until this coming week, hopefully.

Still studying hard. The warm weather and sun helps the mood, but I'm not sure it will help the studying!