My Life in and Love of France

Well, it's basically been two months since I updated about my life here- that either means I'm really busy or really lazy, but knowing me, it's both!

I've fallen nicely into the rhythm here, but a two-week school break this week and last has thrown off that rhythm a little. (And I can't decide which is better: not having to drive the kids back and forth to school every day, or not having to watch the kids by myself all day. I like the vacation days because they're so relaxed, but then all my friends are away on their own personal vacation, so I will be ready for the normal school days to start again.) I can't believe that it's already been almost two and a half months! That's insane! Christmas will be here soon! (And yes, I do get to come home! Hooray! Thanks mom&dad:))

Claire, my neighbor au pair, and I "go out" at least twice a week so that we're not stuck at home and so that we're maximizing the incredible opportunity we have here to be a part of a new culture and region. There's an au pair club that meets twice a month, and the leaders host a Bible Study every Monday night that we have been attending. We have also met a couple people via couchsurfers, and have discovered new places to hang out via other au pairs. There's also a wonderful English-speaking church twenty minutes away, and a contemporary church service on Sunday nights in Geneva. And of course, there's French class twice a week, in which we have met more au pairs! What else!

I have never been a drinker, as I simply don't like the taste of alcohol, but with Europe being such a different environment for drinking, I'm starting to try some new things out. It seems that here, almost no one drinks to get drunk; the exceptions would be foreigners and young college kids. I knew that drinking was a social experience here, but it's hard to understand what that means until you're involved in it. But when everything closes by 7pm and the only things left open are classy little bars and pubs, it only makes sense to grab a drink with friends at the end of the day!

I have come to love the region and pace of life here so much that I'm starting a search for a job to take after my year here as an au pair is finished. I'm primarily considering and English-teaching job, since I have an English degree and should have enough experience with French and children at the end of the year to qualify, but I am really open to anything. However, the cost of living so close to Geneva is somewhat high, so I'll have to find a good enough job to cover expensive housing costs.

Things I love about the culture/region, etc.:

• It's not necessary to smile at everyone. Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy person and I like to smile, but it does get tiring to smile at anyone you make eye contact with, like you would in the US. I like being generally left alone, especially if I'm not in the mood to smile! ;)
• Everyone is extremely polite and courteous. This concept overlaps with the no-smiling custom, as people simply want to be kind and respectful towards others, helping when necessary and giving them their space when it's not. The principle of non-toleration towards screaming children in public also falls under this umbrella.
• I love roundabouts, aka rond points. When I was first learning to navigate these curious little streetways, I hated them; but now, as I sometimes miss my turn... I think they are wonderful little inventions for the absent-minded or lost citizens who need another chance to make their turn without having to turn into a parking lot, etc., to turn around somewhere down the road. Insert philosophical musings on second chances in life here, haha!
• Everyone is much more health-conscious. Meals are balanced, sugar is not eaten in excess, fruits and vegetables are grown locally, and packaged foods have color-coded health notices. Because all the food is so much healthier, everything tastes better and I enjoy trying new things almost every day.
• Nothing can compare to looking outside and seeing the Alps every day. Nothing. I can't imagine wanting to live somewhere where you couldn't see such a wonderful landscape every day.
• When there is a price sticker, you pay exactly that price! The tax is included! This is brilliant if you only have a certain dollar amount to spend, and you know exactly what your total will end up being. Revolutionary (except that it's really not). Let's do it in the US, please.
• The historical atmosphere of Europe is wonderful. I love seeing simple houses that have been there for hundreds of years, old architecture, famous historical spots, everything! When I visited Annecy and saw a French prison that Frenchmen had been detained in during World War II, it really hit home to me where I was and what I had become a part of by living here.
• Even though tea is common in the US, it's more of a tea-friendly atmosphere here. I've never been big into drinking tea before, but after getting sick and drinking it for the benefit of my poor, sore throat, I discovered how much I enjoy it. Also, tea is so common that you can get great tea at any place that serves any kind of drink, and not just some basic bland tea that you would probably get at a restaurant in the US. Therefore, the social drinking concept includes tea (and coffee)!

I'm sure there's much more that I'm forgetting, but I am obviously enjoying it here! It's hard for me to know what I should share with you, so please let me know if there is something you would like to hear about! (And yes, I do know that I need to post about traveling to Paris and Annecy... I am indeed a true procrastinator!)

Can you see the evidence of our first snowfall? The pictures are hard to discern, but it was lovely to watch coming down! It snowed October 27th and 28th, but there hasn't been any more since then.

Word Wednesdays >> Language Levels and Anecdotes

I'm alive!!! I know I haven't posted in a long time, but it's probably because I feel like I finally have a life here! haha:) (I'll talk about what I've been up to in a subsequent post.) But the kids have school vacation the next two weeks during which I have to work and my au pair bestie, Claire, doesn't have to work, so I should have extra time to catch-up on my blog posts!

I have done a lot of thinking about levels of language learning in trying to figure out exactly what level I'm on and what a reasonable goal is for a level to finish on at the end of the year. First, I'll lay out how the levels are set up for French. The DELF and DALF exams are proficiency tests that you take to receive a certificate showing which level of French you are, and you can use that certification on CVs. Unlike the English TOEFL, you are not tested to receive a grade; instead, you test in a specific level and get the certificate of completion if you pass the test. The levels are DELF A1, A2, B1, B2, and DALF C1 and C2. Basically, level A is beginner, B is intermediate, and C is fluency.

I am currently taking classes (two hours, twice a week) on the B1 level, so I am on the lower intermediate level. However, it is not very challenging. I can't decide how much I like the class, because it's good practice, but it is still sometimes fatiguingly easy. For example, I am currently learning the difference between the passé composé and the imparfait (the two most common past tenses) for the millionth time. That probably means that I am therefore reasonably good at it now, finally, but still. So. Boring. I've considered moving up to the B2 class, but it may be too much trouble because it is nice to be on a lower level than what I may be capable of since this is the first time I'm actually actively using what I'm learning and can immediately apply it, and because switching classes would present scheduling problems.

But because I would like to be able to test for the DALF C1 by the end of the year, I will do my best to work ahead on my own in order to progress far enough to qualify for the C1. I have some supplemental texts that I have started working on in addition to the work in class, and I have a wide variety (both in terms of genre and level) of French literature I can read for practice. It will take a lot of work, but it's possible.

In terms of speaking, I get really lazy about speaking French because I know that my host parents and any French-speaking friends speak English, so I usually just slip into speaking English. A lot of that has to do with the type of learner I am, however. Claire and I are on the same level of French and in the same class, but our personal level has variations. I am better at reading and writing and Claire is better at speaking (and we are about the same on comprehension). This is because I want to be perfect when I speak, and am therefore hesitant to say anything unless I know precisely how to say it. Claire, however, takes the bold approach of talking a lot, not fearing what actually comes out. In that method, she does make a lot of mistakes, but she is actively using the language and gaining confidence in it. In truth, there is no one best way to learn, and we can both gain fluency on our own terms, but it does complicate the issue of deciding what level we are really on.

In comprehension, I have been doing pretty well. I can listen to my host parents talking and understand a majority of what is said; what holds me back the most is simply vocabulary, which will come with time and exposure. And in reading a text, it's the same; in both situations you can use context clues to figure out the basic message, even if you don't understand quite a bit of the vocabulary.

Therefore, depending which skills one considers, I am on a B1/B2 level, and if I work hard enough, it shouldn't be impossible to reach a level of fluency by the end of the year. I primarily need to work on speaking out more and being willing to make mistakes in order to progress, but that will always be something I do less than Claire simply because of personality, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Language Anecdotes

I just learned today that I've been telling the kids to take off their shoes/coats using lever, when the verb is really enlever... oops.

Words that kids use don't always work in adult situations... Most of the time it's nothing of great importance, but there's a significant difference between using the word coquin/e for a child and an adult; for a child, it's something to call them when they're being mischievious and it is very acceptable, but for adults... yeah. Not the same. I'll let you figure that one out.

Oui is yes and ouais is yeah, and apparently  there is a way in which you can change your tone when you say non which makes a similar distinction of formality/informality. Go figure. And the kids yelled at me when I used ouais with them because they're taught that it's very impolite. Oops again. I just have to remember not to use it when I'm around them.

The French make a pfft sound to mean I don't know a lot, which Claire picked up on quickly and then I therefore picked up on from her. It's pretty fun to learn these little subtleties and use them without thinking about it because that means we're really immersing ourselves in the language and culture.

I'm planning on writing a post later today about what I've been doing lately, so I'll talk to you again soon! :)

Jura Mountains

Here is a "scrolling" stream, left to right, of the Jura Mountain skyline just behind where I live.

Now for my house location! Right in the middle of this picture there is a pink house, and our house is the white one directly behind it. See the next picture for a closer shot.

So, now you can see that I live right at the base of the Jura Mountains! There is an au pair who lives on one of the roads that goes up the mountains.

I went hiking in the Jura Mountains today, and took these pictures at the highest point I reached, probably about halfway up the mountain. Here is another "scrolling" image, left to right.

In that second picture, you can actually see Geneva, which is evident by the fountain on the lake. Towards the left of the picture and in the middle of the shot, there is a white smudge- that's the fountain that sprays hundreds of feet high. Aha, the fountain has it's own Wikipedia page! It's 459 feet high!


And now for a surprise!!!

I will be leaving Thursday night to go with the family to a suburb of Paris where my host mother's family lives and will be returning on Monday, as the mother's nephew is getting christened on Sunday. So... I get to spend Sunday and hopefully part of Saturday in Paris!!! I'm so excited! I will definitely take lots of pictures! Claire's host father has been kind enough to make a tour plan for me, as he said he would be a tour guide if he didn't work for the UN, so I will hopefully be able to see quite a bit in a short amount of time.

I also have my little trip to Geneva to tell yall about, so I've got some exciting stuff coming up! Wish me luck in not getting lost in Paris!

Picture Perfect

I know I need to write a proper post, but some pictures will have to do for the moment! :) They're not the best quality since I took them with my iPhone, but oh well. I need to take some pics with my camera and check the quality difference.

(You should be able to click on these pics to make them a little larger.)


*drumroll* Mont Blanc! The view from the upstairs bathroom:

A bit closer...

A view from the living room, also the Alps- to the right of Mont Blanc.

The Jura Mountains are on the other side of the house and much closer, but I haven't gotten around to taking pictures yet... I'm really slacking... :)


The Château de Vesancy (a nearby town that is even smaller than Gex, and pronounced Vay-zahn-see): Front:

Back:

Cool slit window, view from inside:

A little hallway opening to an original stairwell with a gate at the bottom:

The tour guide wouldn't let us go all the way up to the top of the tower because "it's just the empty, old, original part and there's nothing to see." That's what I came to see! Bah! So we saw the renovated part of the "castle" that they use for the town hall and weddings, but it really wasn't very interesting at all.

This is carved into a little underpass street in Vesancy. I don't know what it means, but if it was carved in 1734... omg. I love old stuff.

And here is the church of Vesancy, almost directly next to the Château.

A pump organ!!! And it looks like it's still in use!

It seems that the churches will have a plaque of those who died in both world wars from the town. Very interesting.

I also have a few good pictures from Geneva, but I'm going to put those in a proper post for you!

My Progress

Salut! Sorry that it's been so long since I posted - I've been busy! What has happened since I last wrote?...

Well, I'm slowly getting better at everything as each day passes: driving, finding my way around, understanding the language, understanding my tasks, getting used to the way of life...

And I have to get used to military time!

With driving, I'm more afraid of getting lost, etc, than not being able to drive a standard properly, but I am still far from perfect with the driving!!! I can say, however, that I'm thankful for mistakes because they teach me what to look for next time. For example: I stopped at a stoplight and put the car in first, or so I thought; it took me two and a half light cycles with people passing me for me to figure out that I was in third instead of first! Oh la la! I felt like an idiot after that, but now I know that that's something I need to be especially careful of and something to look for if I have the same problem again! With the traffic, there are a ton of round-abouts and, particularly in the smaller towns, the streets have no rhyme or reason to how they are organized, and so it's hard to learn how to get around. But, I'm getting by, even if it means arriving somewhere a little late because I got momentarily lost.

I don't know how to track my language progression except for basic explanations. For the most part, I can understand almost everything that is said with a combination of current knowledge and context clues, but there are still many times when I simply don't understand. I'm still pretty bad at speaking because of a combination of lack of vocabulary and stage-fright/thought translation lag, but I'm hoping that all of my "absorbing" with oral comprehension will soon translate to better speaking!

My French classes start on October 1st, and I'll be in the same class as Claire (we are the two American au pairs of Gex!); I'm ready for them to start because I hope they'll help me with my grammar so that I'll feel more confident in speaking. I'm also using Duolingo to brush up on basic vocabulary (and as I advance in the program, learn more difficult vocabulary), and I have a little phrasebook that I skim through. Soon, I'll also start using Livemocha and see how helpful it is, because I got an all-access key for really cheap. I get motivated for language work by Benny the Irish Polyglot, who stresses immersion, among other things.

I'd say the most stressful thing is learning how to take care of two small children, as I've never done so before. Erine is in the stage of testing me to see if I'll respond to bad behavior like the parents do. Oscar is still warming up to me, but it's coming along. My patience is definitely being tested, particularly when I don't know the vocabulary to tell them to do or not to do something or to explain an answer to their questions.

I'm sorry I haven't posted any scenery pictures, but it has still been so foggy that I can hardly see the Alps in the distance. But here are some pics of my current room vs. future room!

My current little space

The insulation being worked on in my future room

The walls on opp side being finished

The main view from the door

(I don't know what's up with the spacing, btw. I worked on it for ages and it wouldn't work right.)

I'm going to learn how to make a Croque Monsieur (typical French dish- like a toasted ham sandwich, basically) tomorrow, so I should have a lovely food post for you on Friday!

Food Fridays >> French Cuisine at Home

((Note on the time stamp: I've changed the blog's time to my time zone so that I can publish my posts according to my time, so it will therefore not correspond with my home Central time zone in the U.S. I'm just letting you know in case you get confused:) ))

So far, all the food here has been wonderful. I mean, sure, there's Nutella, which is nice to have (and in a glass jar, not plastic- I find that interesting for some reason), but I'm talking more about the quality of food. My family will be glad to know that I ate cantaloupe, salmon, and tuna, and I liked it all. I'm convinced it's because of my sister's assertion that the food here is so much better because it's so fresh; she told me to try anything because it would probably be better than at home, and she's right so far! (But I still don't like apricots... However, I can stand them if they're not alone.)

It's also interesting to see how balanced the meals are. At lunch and dinner we drink only water; juice and milk is for breakfast only, and maybe for snack-time at about 4pm (and no soda! However, I wonder if this would be different with a family that has teenagers... I had some orange Schweppes courtesy of the Wednesday nanny.). There's a small main course that has a meat and vegetable, and that can be followed by cheese or bread. Finally, there's dessert: fruit or yogurt. The kids only get chocolate or nutella, etc. at breakfast or snack-time, and in very small doses.

Some examples of the wonderful food:

Brioche: a (sandwich, for us) bread baked with extra milk, butter, and egg so that it's nice and moist. It can come with little pieces of chocolate baked in, too. (And there are probably more kinds, but I haven't been to the grocery store yet to see.) Maybe I'll find some classic Brioche rather than the sandwich sliced variety at the bakery.

Camembert: (on the left of tray, above) A cheese that's white and slightly hard on the outside, coming in a round shape about 4in in diameter, and slightly yellow and soft on the inside. It's a teensy bit strong for me, but it's good- and it's the kids' favorite. Here's the Wikipedia entry for it.

Comté: (on the right of tray, above) A light yellow hard cheese that comes in rectangular blocks with a thin brown edging. It's pretty mild, and therefore good for my non-French taste buds. W Entry.

Mirabelle: (small fruit seen above) A small round fruit a little bigger than a grape with one large seed and a skin like a grape, native to France. It tastes like... je ne sais pas... It has hints of grape and apple, but is a unique flavor; pretty sweet and very good. W Entry.

Tuna Tart: I'm not sure what all was in it, but this made in a round dish with a pastry crust and tuna and small veggies, blended for the filling and cooked.


And sometimes I have "duh" moments, as I expect something to be totally different but is just like we have something here. An example: the Wednesday nanny made some fries and I thought everyone was callings them "les fruits," and I was thinking, well, ok, that's not fruit but whatever. And so I realized they were saying "les frites," which is short for "les steak-frites," which are fries! :) The brain does funny things when it's trying to make sense of something foreign to its current understanding! And yes, the kids here love fries with ketchup as much as American kids- some things are universal.

Word Wednesdays >> New Vocab

It's pretty late in the day, but here's my Wednesday post:) These are the most essential words that are used every day, with the exception of an interesting type of beetle we saw today.

hop= there/done/voila (pronounced "up") They say this all the time. I couldn't figure out exactly what it meant because they used it for so many things, so I asked and the mom said something like- it doesn't really have a meaning, but it's like voila. Step one to sounding like a native= say "hop" 83242735 times a day. :)

le dodo= sleep (slang) Little Erine loves to plunge into her bed and exclaim, "Gaga, dodo!"

doucement= gently/slowly/quietly. This one is pretty universal for talking to kids! And it was one of the favorite words of my one-time driving teacher (I swear I was not going fast- she was just hyper-sensitive).

un doudou= special stuffed animal. The kids' doudous are small stuffed animals that they carry around with them and sleep with them; they have one or two for the house and one or two to take to school. I'm wondering if the word came from dodo since they are typically things that are slept with.

un gendarme=... normally this is a policeman, but it's also some type of beetle- a stink bug? You tell me!

un mouche= fly (insect) They're a bit of a problem here, particularly when doors/windows are left open during the day. C'est fou!

My Arrival and First Full Day

Eh bien...

My brain is in French overdrive! Talk about immersion! The parents will speak English if I don't understand something or if they want to make something easily understood, and I speak English with the other au pair, Claire, but otherwise everything is in French and it's spoken pretty quickly! For the most part, while I don't understand 100% of what is said (probably about 50/50!), I get the basic message, or if I look confused, they'll say it differently! :) But I've immediately found myself saying little words to myself in French automatically since it's basically all I hear. It's hard to imagine myself becoming fluent, but I guess it will come with time.

I hated the nine-hour flight because it was cramped and I couldn't sleep, but there was a good movie selection, so I watched The Lucky One (which is a one-time watch kind of movie... super cheesy) and part of The Avengers. I was so glad to get off that plane! Then I had to go through security in the London Heathrow airport, where they're much more strict than at DFW. (The lady made me try to cram my liquids into a sandwich-size bag and pulled out most of the contents of my bag into a separate bin, so that it was practically impossible to be organized any longer- gee, thanks!)

I finally started to fall asleep on the second flight, but then they served a snack and I was hungry... And then the best part... the view! Omg. The view of the Alps coming close to Geneva was the most spectacular thing I've ever seen!!! I wish I could have taken a picture, but the best views were during the slow descent and I couldn't have my phone on. The mountains stretched across the horizon and they were so majestic! It was the perfect welcome to my new home!!! (Oh, and I can see both the Alps and the Jura Mountains from my house! It was too foggy for pictures today, but I'll take some as soon as I can! I can see Mont Blanc from the second story!)

Apparently, Claire (the au pair of a nearby family) was on the flight from DFW to London as well as from London to Geneva, but I had no idea what she looked like and so I chanced asking this random girl what her name was right before going through customs and it was her! haha! The mother and the kids were waiting for me, and the kids were extremely shy at first, but I'm practically best friends with little Erine now!

Today, I played with Erine, had my driving lesson, chatted with Claire as her little Marie and my kids played, and drove around Gex a little with the mom and kids. Ah, the driving lesson... mon dieu. Evidently the driving teachers are insanely strict here and most people fail their test at least once. My teacher kept tsk-tsking me when my shifting gears wasn't 100% smooth and she told me that if it was a test I would have failed and that it would be very hard for me to drive here, and so I should get an automatic instead. Talk about a stressful hour! But then get this- I drove around with the mom and she said that all I need is some practice because everyone has trouble at first, and that I'll be just fine! She also said that the teachers are so strict these days that even she would probably fail if she had to take the test again because now they have a lot of confusing questions on courtesy and theory.

Upcoming...
The kids' school starts next Tuesday, so a schedule will fall into place then. I'll have the kids all day long by myself on Thursday and Friday! Maybe next week, I'll be going to Bourg with Claire so that we can register for our residency. I also have an appointment at the bank to get an account and a debit card on the 9th, I think. My school starts on the 17th, so I'll have to take the placement test the week before to see what level I'm on.

I've got information overload, but everything is going ok so far! I'm definitely ready to go to bed, however! (It's about 11:30 here!)

Final Pre-France Update

Well, I'm not really sure what to update on. I haven't quite finished packing yet... but if you know me, that comes as no surprise. It's the phenomenon of moving, in which you have no idea how much stuff you have and how much you need to do until you get down to it; and I'm a perpetual procrastinator, so that really doesn't help matters. :)

Once I get packed and am on the road to the airport, it will all be downhill from there. It's just stressful particularly because I've never moved to another country before. Traveling is one thing, but moving... gah. Especially because shipping costs are extraordinary and not worth it unless it's mandatory, so I can't forget anything!

I've also got all my stuff spread out across my floor right now, and as I'm about to go to bed as I'm typing this, that's a problem considering I need my air mattress to go somewhere... It's really bad when your procrastination makes you lose sleep.

Well, I would really appreciate it if you all keep me in your prayers as I travel and get adjusted in a new world. I'm sure I'll get used to everything, but thinking about it is slightly terrifying. I also really hope I don't have to sit next to a smelly person on my nine-hour flight. Really.

My blog posts will probably be in and out for the next week as I get used to a new schedule, so bear with me!

See you on the other side!

Bookmash >> No 2: The Minotaur Skin Game

The Minotaur Skin Game

The minotaur skin game.

The lovely bones, the jungle.

Curse of a winter moon.

Thanks to the authors: Barbara Vine, Max Allan Collins, Alice Sebold, Upton Sinclair, and Mary Casanova.

I got this idea from Stan Carey (his last one is here), who was inspired by Nina Katchadourian's Sorted Books project.

Feel free to comment with your own Bookmash or a link to it!

Food Fridays >> Family Recipe Fudge

My second cousin once-removed has a recipe for two different kinds of fudge that are really easy to make and SO GOOD! She taught me how to make them, and with her and I both having a love of baking, they've become a staple dessert in our family!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick butter
9 large marshmallows
3/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

• Cook sugar, milk, and butter until soft-ball stage, then take off heat. (see explanation below for soft-ball stage w/o using a thermometer)
• Add marshmallows and peanut butter (immediately after taking previous mixture off heat) and beat/stir until thoroughly mixed. 
• Pour in buttered dish (I use an 8x8 pan), and let cool.

Just poured

Mmm!

It looks dry and crumbly when it's done, but it's actually very moist.

Soft-Ball Stage Instructions
In candy cooking, there is soft-ball and hard-ball stage. Basically, soft-ball stage forms when the mixture sticks together but is still pliable, when a small amount is dropped into cold water. Hard-ball stage forms when the mixture forms a hard, non-pliable, ball-like shape when dropped into cold water. So to do this for the fudge, keep a small bowl of cold water nearby, and test for soft-ball stage by pouring a small amount of the mixture into the bowl (maybe 1/4 Tb. worth). If the mixture disperses in the water, it is not ready. Here is a picture and a video of what soft-ball stage looks like (Snot. It looks like snot.). It will probably take about twenty minutes for it to reach this point (depending on your heat setting; I had it on medium high), so be patient; but don't forget to keep stirring fairly regularly, because it will boil over if left unwatched.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions if you don't understand this explanation!

Soft-ball Stage

Tiger Fudge

Ingredients:

1 pkg. vanilla candy coating (can be found in baking aisle, and it's a flat block that breaks into large squares)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3oz choc chip (but I made it 4oz and still thought it could have used more)

Directions:

• Melt candy coating on stove and stir in peanut butter.
• Pour mixture into 8x8 ungreased pan.
• Melt chocolate chips in microwave (15 secs at a time with stirring in-between) and pour the melted chocolate over the mixture in pan.
• Swirl the chocolate through the mixture lightly (so that it's evenly mixed but not combined).
• Let cool!

Vanilla&PB poured

W/ Chocolate poured on top

W/ Chocolate swirled

Yummy Time!

Life Goals Timeline

I'm the kind of person that likes to have everything planned out, even years in advance; so, I thought it would be fun to write about where I'd like to be at five-year milestones in my life and see what your goals are as well. And if you are beautifully-aged, add on what your goals were when you were younger and how you reached them or why you didn't!

This would pair well with a bucket list!

What I want to have accomplished when I'm...
>>25 (3 years from now)
Be fluent in French.
Travel to 15 new countries. (see next item for the reason for the high number)
Accomplish at least 20 items on my Bucket List (because there are a lot of traveling in Europe items that I could reasonably do next summer with some time to travel).

>>30
Be fluent in one-two additional languages.
Start or have started a graduate program.
Be married.
Have or have on the way at least one child.
Travel to 5 more countries.
Accomplish at least 5 more items on my Bucket List.

>>35
Be fluent in four foreign languages.
Be called Dr.!
Have three (or more) children.
Accomplish at least 5 more items on my Bucket List.
Buy my parents a cruise trip.

>>40
Be fluent in six languages. (!!!)
Accomplish at least 5 more items on my Bucket List.
Publish a book (which is actually on my Bucket List).

Word Wednesdays >> Vocab Learned Thus Far

Here is some fun and useful vocabulary I've learned through communication with my French family!


l'assurance maladie- health insurance

une boite manuelle (short for: la voiture à boite manuelle)- stick-shift car

le bord du lac- lake shore ("le bord" can also mean edge/side/rim with objects and places)

le bricolage- DIY

chanceux- lucky

un chariot- cart (can be used for wagon/carriage/cart, but in my case it is used for a baggage cart!)

coucou- (slang, exc.) hello! woo! "coucou me voici": peek-a-boo! (The mother of my French family used "coucou" as a greeting in an email, like "bonjour/salut".)

coulissant- sliding (for doors in my case= les portes coulissantes)

les feux d'artifice- fireworks

Je meurs d'impatience!- I can't wait! (Literally, I'm dying of impatience)

miam-miam!- yum yum!

ravi- delighted

le sable- sand

secourable- helpful

youpi! - yippee!


And I'm going to have to study driving vocab since I arrive Monday evening and I have my lesson in driving the standard car that I'll have the next day at 2:30... Yikes. :)