Sons Buy Two Suits, One Brags About It

Hai mum,

I'm sure by now you're aware that your eldest son is getting married.

Weird to think that, but it's true!

And as it turns out I've found myself one of the groomsmen, and ended up after an exhausting night spent working on parade day (see previous post), going to the movies at an outrageous 9:50 am, going to Gander Mtn. to look at guns for some reason (being a fan of knives and axes myself I wandered around the store while your eldest chatted up some old guy about the barrel on one pistol or another..), and subsequently spent a large portion of my day in a Men's Warehouse store with a lawyer and a sales clerk who had a lot to say about people who wear suits against his personal preferences.

Yes apparently bright pink socks and blue ill-fitting suits don't match a lawyer in court and that trend where everyone wears capris is just plan ridiculous. (honestly I had no idea what he was talking about)

And I only got this picture.... 

Did you know you have to pull these dress pants up till they're at your belly button place?

Preposterous!

Well $400 later (thank you by the way) and I got my suit!.... well, a few months from now... apparently working out and being slightly tall add up to poorly fitted suits...

It was nice to catch up with my brother (as though we live in the same town neither of us really cross paths too often) and to stand in that little room with all the mirrors that reminds me just how oddly proportioned I am. Unfortunately I didn't get to see him in his suit as I was changing while he was getting fitted, but I'm sure he'll make you just as proud to see him looking smart as ever with or without my descriptions.

Actually I'm quite excited for him, and I'd wish him the best, but he's already on track towards it.

But, being the type of person who wants to learn from not learning, I decided to brag about my new suit.

Introducing Hellotalk! 

Hellotalk is an app I use every night before bed, or just when I wake up, or when something interesting happens and I feel like rambling on about it in either Japanese or Chinese.

In fact, one of the reasons I take so long to respond to texts is because of this magical little toy I have.

It works by connecting you with people who speak the language you want to learn (who also happen to be learning your language).  It's like a free language partner service with all the bells and whistles! (though I pay for it so that I can talk to both Chinese and Japanese speakers) You can post onto it just like facebook, and it has a message section where I've met several of my current friends from across the world.

But the greatest thing about this app is that your language partners (or even complete strangers) can correct your work! and they're really helpful about it!

Here I had two typos and used a rather overly formal phrase to express

that my professor didn't show up for class due to an illness

but also that her substitute didn't show up either...

There are some days where I pick up more from this app than an entire month's worth of language lessons could have taught me and I would seriously recommend it to anyone wishing to learn a language.

This is actually my second account on Hellotalk. My first account was getting 100 messages a day (after I shaved my beard) which was overstimulating at a time when I worked at Wal-Mart. So I up and left it for a while and brought my good friends with me, some of which I talk to daily and plan to visit when I go abroad.

But they updated it and have really made it into a rather necessary resource for crazy people like me. 

I hope you're in good spirits and good health

much love,

-Alexander