Summer To-Do List: Learn French

Photo Source: indulgy (wish I could find the real source of these pictures...)

Whoa, hang on a second... Don't get any ideas that I'm going to somehow come out of this summer speaking French or even understanding spoken French. No, that won't happen. I won't be able to think in French or compose sentences in French. The most I'll be able to do is point at something, maybe not even an *object* thing, more like a *pronoun* thing or an *idea* thing, and say what that is in French. Probably pronounced wrong and with the wrong gender article and the wrong ending. But, hey! I'm learning French! Correction: I'm learning to *read* French!

This summer I'm taking a graduate reading course for French, which basically trains us to be able to read (with the aid of a dictionary) scholarly works within our discipline in another language. The Ph.D. program I'm in requires us to demonstrate reading competency in one modern foreign language and competency in another related discipline (either another language or something related to our emphasis - I chose and already passed the requirement for Latin language). So, I chose French. It's pretty practical as far as academia goes, and it's a Romance language, so I figured I'd have an easier transition to it than to German. Plus (in general) it's so much more exciting to say that you're studying French rather than German.

Summer Goal #2: Pass my French reading exam.

Summer To-Do List: Wash Dishes

Photo source: Interior Decline Tumblr (original source?: 11/2005 issue of Living Etc., p. 86)

Yep... Washing dishes. You see, my roommate over the past year didn't have the best dishwashing skills. But she was really sweet, there was a language barrier, and, to be honest, my standards in that department are a little high, so I gave up trying to fix it. I asked her once to rewash a bowl, she did, and I still rewashed it later.

It got to the point where I was only using a quarter of my dishes as a result. My choices were to rewash the dishes she had already cleaned or just let her reuse them and hog the few I really needed on my side of the double-sink.

Of course, once she had moved out and I returned from summer travels, there were a bunch of dirty dishes stacked in the cupboards waiting for me. My dish-drainer isn't large enough to hold all of them, hence the first task of my summer routine: wash some extra dishes.

Summer Goal #1: All of the dishes in my cupboard will be clean.

*headdesk*

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Update: Only two pots and two mixing bowls to go!! I think...

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Update: All clean!

I'm still here!

Summer is always pretty crazy for me, especially because of the unpredictability. It makes it a lot easier to ignore updating a blog like this when I'm travelling every single week and just now getting ready to start summer classes. The good news is that a lot of things have been happening that could make for some really good reads ;) So, I'll be back...