moving on

I was a little Suede happy just then. Tomorrow it's on to our last destination: London! Today I ate Danish meatballs and saw castle number "I have no idea". Thanks for putting up with these posts. They're short but very sweet. I hope to organize my thoughts later on.

Suede!

So I spent the day in Sweden and I've got to go back. I had no idea Sweden was so close to Denmark. The vikings and I are having a good ol' time. And I'm getting a lesson in geography.

I had a dream

After the past couple of days I might just say that the tulip is my favorite. That is a difficult decision to make--the favorite flower. I don't know that I've ever liked one flower above and beyond all the rest. But let me tell you...from now on, when I think of the tulip, I will think of the day I rode through fields and fields of tulips on a bike. I will think of passing sand dunes. I will think of a few mystical moments facing the Atlantic ocean. Pinks and purples and reds will blaze. Oh, I do remember that day of the tulip. Or was it a night?

5 minute update

I'm in Haarlem as we speak. I must have taken AT LEAST a hundred photos of different types of tulips today. Just letting you know that all is well in the "Nederlands." So many stories! Tot ziens for now!

Some of my favorites

Pétanque

Avignon

Saint Tropez

Bonjour à tous!

Bonnes Pâques, mes amis aimés!

Well, I'm now on my two-week vacation. Crazy, I know. Do I go to school? Where is she headed this time?! What exciting new adventures will she experience?! Oh là là! Life is like brie cheese!

Dear friend,
This time, dahling, I'm off to Amsterdam, Haarlem, Copenhagen, and London. I like the sensation of moving, what. Life is absolutely charming at the moment! It's fantastic, really. I hope all is well with you. Do take good care.
Your beloved Eleanor

That's enough of that.

Thanks, Becky, for the pictures!

(Tough escalade demoiselles at a playground in Aix)

TESOL

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

People have asked me what I plan to do with French. I find myself following a script.
Eleanor: "I don't have any idea. Maybe international relations."
Interested: "Have you thought about teaching?"
Eleanor: *ugly face* "I do NOT want to teach."

My advisor and I have had a few long discussions on the choices set before me. We've discussed diplomacy, doctorats, professorship, curating. I go along with the conversation, prodding her mind of any information she could offer. In my heart, I don't want to be a diplomat or a professor or a museum curator. You might slowly shake your head if you knew what I wanted to do. You wouldn't doubt my dreams, that I know, but my dreams aren't of a practical sort. They involve music, books, the jungle, the desert, the sky.

This morning, not 10 seconds after opening my eyes, a word fell from the ceiling and gently landed of the edge of my thought. TESOL. It's a certificate program offered by my university. It's crossed my dream traffic before; I ran it off the road. Guess what the "T" stands for...TEACHING. Yet, the more I look into it, the more excited I feel. I do not want to be a teacher to teach teachers to teach teachers. That appears to be the only opportunity with French. But if I could share with human beings the love of life...

A pastor from the Congo spoke at my church yesterday and a missionary from a small island near Australia gave a slide presentation. Over lunch, I talked with a couple from the island of Mahé. The woman was originally from Madagascar. Last Friday, my Japanese student drew me a map of Japan and pointed out the major cities. She wrote their names in Japanese. She's getting married in France and I'm invited to the wedding.

I'm still learning that the gift of life is unwrapped in time.