Happy Friday everyone! Today was the last day of classes for UNIGE's cours d'ete. I'm both relieved and sad at the same time...it's been an intensive 9 weeks but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I started on June 28th only knowing the present tense and now 9 weeks later, I'm really happy with the progress I've made. Petit à petit, I'm learning! I've always wanted to immerse myself in something, like learning a new language..and now I have done that and emerged with a new skill. Now that I have the basics down, I have to find someone to practice with a few times a week. Aside from the classes, I've also met some great people from all over the world...some are leaving today for home and others like me will stay in the area for work, study, etc.
For instance, today, I said goodbye to a new friend who I met in the second session but got to know better during the 3rd session. She's around my age and has been working internationally for a number of years, most recently in Southeast Asia. In between contracts, she decided to make a small tour of Europe and was hoping to find a job in the region. She decided to come to Geneva to immerse herself in the French language, a language she's studied on and off for years now. Her journey now continues onward, first to Paris for a few days and then back home to Korea where she is from. Unfortunately, a few days ago, she was robbed at Gare Cornavin, Geneva's main train station, and where I take the train everyday. Luckily she was not harmed..she hadn't even noticed that someone had taken her bag because she was a little frazzled from having had to move out of the place where she was staying earlier that day. Anyway, I know she's looking forward to going home..she said that she was tired from traveling and living out of a bag and it would be good to just stay put for a while. I was happy for her but a little sad to see her leave...perhaps because I made a connection. Or perhaps because it's dreary out now and it's almost the end of summer here. Or perhaps I detest goodbyes.
On the other hand, what's the best reward from the past 9 weeks? Understanding and being able to participate in conversation. Today, R and I decided to take a drive to the other side of "our" mountain. En route, R was curious about a huge antenna in someone's yard so we stopped to take a closer. The owner, a retired pilot, came out and struck a conversation with us about antennas and amateur radio, a topic I know nothing about. However, I was able to follow along easily because I knew both the grammar and the vocab! Yay me!!
Courtesy of Carmen and Maggie, this should make you laugh.
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