Like the desert needs the rain...

So yesterday, when I expressed delight at learning the new phrase 「風邪は万病の元」, my friend replied: マイケルは新しい言葉を「砂が水を吸うように」覚えていくなぁー。

Bingo! There's another one right there! maikeru ha atarashii kotoba wo "suna ga mizu wo suu you ni" oboete iku na- You are remembering new words like the sand soaks up water, aren't you?

砂が水を吸うように = literally to absorb something like sand, but perhaps we would be more likely to say like a sponge.

My dictionary has this example:
彼女はまるで砂地が水を吸うように知識を吸収した。
kanojo ha marude sunachi ga mizu wo suu you ni chishiki wo kyuushuu shita.
She absorbed knowledge just like a sponge.

The variant being 砂地 or sandy soil. I'm told that either is ok.