A million little things...
I start Turkish classes on Monday.
The last time I studied a language was freshman year in college, when, despite years and years of Spanish in high school, I placed into only 3rd-quarter Spanish. We'd been reading literature in high school (all of Like Water For Chocolate and a couple of short stories by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez) but I couldn't speak or listen to save my life. The college instructor used felt puppets to practice conversational skills. Meanwhile, I took a supplementary 1-credit conversation class to try to get extra practice; everyone else was both cooler and better at Spanish than I was, and I could never quite get any of the jokes.
I think it's going to be different learning a language when I know I will need it in just a few months. It's also a more unusual and perhaps more difficult language. And I'm curious to see who else will be studying Turkish at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
*****
Doctor's appointments, letters to write, forms to complete.
*****
I am going to miss coffee-banana smoothies from Juicy Lucy's. And poetry slams at the Bowery Poetry Club. Cherry trees in Central Park. The dog-run in Tompkins Square Park. Indie films at the Sunshine Theater. My yoga classes. And those are just places and things.
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I am also going to India in July, for two weeks. I'm realizing now, as I try to plan two trips at once, that I agreed to travel to India with a good friend from college because (a) she'll be awesome to travel with and (b) it was sort of like a "hedge" on adventure - if Fulbright didn't come through, at least I'd still get to go to India. Only, now I'm doing both!
*****
Apartment hunt, emailing back & forth, preparing the kids.
*****
It's hard teaching sixth graders about atoms, isotopes, atomic numbers, mass numbers, atomic masses... it's even harder when you have an off-again, on-again fever and d*mn near everyone else in school is sick, too.
*****
Birthdays, weddings, high school graduations, middle school graduations, celebrations and goodbyes.
*****
Can I bring Valentine? (The preliminary answer seems to be yes. The details I have yet to determine).
*****
The upshot is, I'm still here, but I might be blogging a bit less. Then again, every time I say that, I end up blogging more, so....
The last time I studied a language was freshman year in college, when, despite years and years of Spanish in high school, I placed into only 3rd-quarter Spanish. We'd been reading literature in high school (all of Like Water For Chocolate and a couple of short stories by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez) but I couldn't speak or listen to save my life. The college instructor used felt puppets to practice conversational skills. Meanwhile, I took a supplementary 1-credit conversation class to try to get extra practice; everyone else was both cooler and better at Spanish than I was, and I could never quite get any of the jokes.
I think it's going to be different learning a language when I know I will need it in just a few months. It's also a more unusual and perhaps more difficult language. And I'm curious to see who else will be studying Turkish at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
*****
Doctor's appointments, letters to write, forms to complete.
*****
I am going to miss coffee-banana smoothies from Juicy Lucy's. And poetry slams at the Bowery Poetry Club. Cherry trees in Central Park. The dog-run in Tompkins Square Park. Indie films at the Sunshine Theater. My yoga classes. And those are just places and things.
*****
I am also going to India in July, for two weeks. I'm realizing now, as I try to plan two trips at once, that I agreed to travel to India with a good friend from college because (a) she'll be awesome to travel with and (b) it was sort of like a "hedge" on adventure - if Fulbright didn't come through, at least I'd still get to go to India. Only, now I'm doing both!
*****
Apartment hunt, emailing back & forth, preparing the kids.
*****
It's hard teaching sixth graders about atoms, isotopes, atomic numbers, mass numbers, atomic masses... it's even harder when you have an off-again, on-again fever and d*mn near everyone else in school is sick, too.
*****
Birthdays, weddings, high school graduations, middle school graduations, celebrations and goodbyes.
*****
Can I bring Valentine? (The preliminary answer seems to be yes. The details I have yet to determine).
*****
The upshot is, I'm still here, but I might be blogging a bit less. Then again, every time I say that, I end up blogging more, so....
posted by ms. v. at 4:22 PM
2 Comments:
Planning is exciting. And Turkish is not nearly as bad as it might seem at first. The impossible piece are the nods. Gently side to side for "why not, yes". Up once, chin forward, mouthing "no," for "no."
(actually mouthing "yok," but it looks the same)
Anyway, souns like good busy. Enjoy.
Congratulations on the Fullbright. Turkey is a fascinating country. I hope you will find time to travel some of its breadth.
I hope you keep blogging from there, as well, but watch out for the keyboards or your posts may look garbled.
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