Lost in translation

It's 22˚ outside, I have to travel about 6.4 kilometers to class which starts at 13h30 (and it's on the third floor which really means the fourth) carrying a bag that is approximately 1.8 kilograms and costs 25€. Oh, and you're probably reading this earlier in the day than when I wrote it. As if the language barrier weren't enough.

No, don't worry, I am not going to spend the rest of this entry talking about math and numbers. Come on, it's me. It's just the little things I like to appreciate, the things you wouldn't think of until you're living it. For example, the paper here: It's all like graph paper! The spaces are super small in between the lines; you have to use at least three lines to write a word. But then you have all of these other lines running through your sentences. I creeped on some guy in the seat in front of me the first week in class to see how he writes on it. If my elementary teacher told me I had to write on that, I would have cried.

And then there's shopping. They give you bags when you buy clothes but not for your groceries. That was a fun little surprise my first trip to Carrefour. I had to bag my own groceries, take out my wallet, translate the number "17,80" in my head and figure out which color of Monopoly-style money I owed all at the same time. On the subject of money, I like to try to guess how many dollars I'm actually taking out of the ATM when I ask for euros. It's always more than I imagine, so not only do I lose more money but I lose my own game.

Now the big question everyone's been asking: How is my French? Well folks, know that if I'm in trouble I can scream for help. Ah I'm joking. My French isn't too bad, but it's far from good. I can get by. I can ask for directions, order food and have rudimentary conversations with people. It's very humbling, actually. You know how people just have a knack for things? My sister can play sports, my good friend can sing, another can do math, my cat can sleep for like 14 hours straight... Yeah I don't really have a knack for languages. It's quite sad because I love them. Nay, I'm fascinated by them. But learning another language doesn't come naturally to me. It's really hard. I feel like every time I learn something new in French, I also learn just how much more there is I don't know. It's extremely frustrating. But fluency is a goal I really want to achieve, a goal I have to achieve if I ever plan on graduating. It's not the hardest thing in the world to accomplish, there are so many people who do it better than me, and there have been countless times I've wanted to give up - accept my defeat and move on. But here I am. I refuse to run away like I always do (mainly because "running away" in this case would cost about a thousand dollars and another year of school). So, French, buckle up and prepare to get yerself learnt. I'm not going anywhere. Well, not until May anyway.

Until then, I will keep Wordreference bookmarked, my conjugations memorized, and a fresh box of tissues ready for finals week. And as always, thanks for reading!