French in Action

Obviously I have spoken very little French since I came home. Once in Seattle I went to a coffee thing to speak French with some other francophiles for about two hours. Another time these two French guys bought some produce from me at the farmer's market and we spoke for a few minutes. That's pretty much it. Oh, and I also speak French to my cat sometimes. She responds similarly to me when I speak French and English, so I'm pretty sure she only speaks Cat but I'm also pretty sure that she likes being spoken to at all because she's an attention whore.

Anyway, I really need to keep up my skills for multiple reasons:
1) I love languages and I really like French a lot. In fact, sometimes I find English really annoying and I feel a little jipped that I'm anglophone.
2) I'd eventually like to be fairly close to fluent in French and I'd also like to have some working knowledge of German too. To do this I need to practice and study and make it a habit to stay focused on these things.
3) One day I would like to be qualified to apply for a job as a professional in Europe or in French Canada. At the very least I would like to be qualified for a job in the US that requires me to be bilingual or at least proficient in French.
4) Next year I'll be clerking for a judge who enjoys speaking French too. He hired me so he can have someone to speak French with. Since this is about 90% of the reason he hired me over other candidates he'd be pretty peeved if I have forgotten all of my French by next Fall. So you see, my current job depends on this too.

So now I finally get to my point: I need to study more. I've been spending some free time working out of my Practice Makes Perfect French Grammar book. It's helping a little bit and showing what a terrible speller I am in French. I also really enjoy French movies and plan to buy a few I've had my eye on as well as snippets of French on TV, because there's pretty much no French TV here.

Then I read on a blog for language nerds about the French in Action reunion. French in Action is a learning series for levels I and II with all 52 episodes now available online! I scanned through the topics presented in each of the lessons and most of the skills taught I have some abilities with already. However, this is just what I remember from high school and skills I picked up while living in France. I probably make tons of errors when I speak on a lot of topics and I'm sure there are tons of holes that need filling in.

So I've decided to do one lesson per day for 52 days starting October 1. Hopefully the lessons aren't too long and hopefully they will help me to remember some little grammatical rules that have fallen by the wayside. This, in addition to the occassional peek at my Practice Makes Perfect book and some conversational practice when it's available should lead to me at least retaining what I have learned thus far.

As for German, I have no idea when I will get to really dig in and start learning my basic grammar and vocabulary. Maybe if I had a study buddy or a class to audit that would help...hmmm...

Wanderlust Relapse

Wow, this is tough. When I flew home from Paris in May I thought because I felt ready to come home for a while that this transition into normal daily life and work would be easy. Boy was I wrong! I've only been working my "big girl job" for two weeks and already I'm trolling the internet for future jobs to apply for: in my current city, cities I've lived in before and cities I've never even been to but I hear they're great.

Don't get me wrong, my job is great. I've already learned a lot and I anticipate I will learn something new every day for the next two years. The pay is fair, my co-clerk, the other staff and the judges are all amazing to work with. So far everyone is friendly and willing to help each other.

But something is really nagging at me- it's this semi-permanence. I don't do well with it, I never have. Now here it is staring me in the face. What is so fundamentally wrong with me that I can't just enjoy this time like a normal person? Anyway, it's been getting to me enough that I've been thinking about the way, way far off future, but I still want to enjoy my time here. So I've been thinking out loud in front of Leigh (who is less than thrilled with my current little bout of crazy) and I've come to some general guidelines that she seems OK with.

So it looks like we'll plan to stay in Alaska for about five years. I have two years of work for the court system lined up, which is great. I'll learn a ton and meet lots of people. Hopefully this will build a nice foundation for my career. Then I'll try to get another government position working with business, finance, natural resources, or something else I find somewhat interesting (note that criminal law was not mentioned in that list in any way) for about 3 years. Leigh is hoping to find something she likes in health administration and might go for her RN also.

After 5 years I think we'll be ready to leave Alaska (unless something changes between now and then, of course, but seeing as I can barely stay in one place for a year I doubt it) I might get a fellowship or something. We're talking about Seattle, of course, but Washington, DC is also possible because it's easy for me to become licensed there. Recently we've been talking more about moving to Canada and I'm really liking the thought of living in Montreal.

Montreal, QC, Canada

Seattle, WA

Washington, DC

Of course there's always the Europe issue. I love Europe and lately Leigh has said a few times that she misses France. If I find a fellowship or something similar in France, Germany, or BeNeLux I think we'll have to take another leap of faith. Even though I was ready to come home to see my family again I wasn't quite finished with the Continent. It would be great for us to have another go around with Europe as real adults with real jobs and see how it goes.

Strasbourg, France

Speaking of Europe, of course we've been talking about traveling in a less permanent sense as well. During the summer we talked about a Southeast Asia trip sometime in the next few years, and that's still definitely on our list of things to do fairly soon. Additionally, I'd really like to go back to Taize before I'm 30 so I can stay more than one week. So while we're living in Alaska for the next 5 years it's very likely we'll take one big trip to SE Asia for about a month and also a big trip to Europe. I'll probably go to Taize for about a month before Leigh meets me there and then we want to visit Germany and maybe a few other places.

Can you tell we're both feeling a bit isolated? Is it possible to have island fever when you're not on an island? Maybe it's called something else like Arctic Fever?? Hmm...

The entire weekend was spent indoors relaxing. I wasn't feeling well yesterday and today we made a serious attempt at breaking the laziest girls in Alaska record. I think we may have succeeded. Anyway, back to work tomorrow. I hope my mind and soul settle in quickly so I don't go off my rocker...

Initial Reflections or Thank God It's Friday

This has been a long week. I was wondering why I felt so grumpy and tired today in spite of it being a fun day until Leigh reminded me it was my first full week of work (due to Labor Day last Monday) and I'm just not used to working 5 days in a row like that. Plus this week I got tons of exercise and not quite enough sleep, so it's all coming crashing down on me now.

If I can survive the next two hours at work, and I have faith that I can, the rest of today should be fun. There's a work party thing early this evening that Leigh is attending with me. Then it's the weekend! I've promised myself a nice sleep-in session tomorrow and a great bike ride (assuming the weather is pretty). Sunday will see more sleeping in and a short church service and at some point this weekend Leigh and I will go see a $3 movie. Bring on the relaxation and the fun!

I like to keep up with some Indie bands I like via their blogs, etc. It's a good way to know who is playing when and where, if a new album is coming out, etc because these bands dont' always get much press. When I lived in Buffalo, NYC, and even in Europe it was always possible I'd hear about a group I liked playing nearby and go see them. I love shows in small venues with tickets running $10-$15, plus you get to take pictures, etc. It's really awesome. Anyway, when I lived in Buffalo I saw a few shows in Toronto and could have seen tons more but I always had homework (lame!) and failed to realize how awesome my proximity to Toronto was at the time. In New York I saw The Cliks play a show, which was really fun and only one of many times I have seen them play various cheap/free shows around the country. When I was in Europe I saw The Cranberries in Marseille (OK, not a cheap show or a small venue but still awesome) and An Horse in Berlin- this was probably the best example of why I love Indie bands in every way. The show was amazing, I got to meet the band briefly, the venue was small and fun and attracted an assortment of people and the tickets were very affordable.

The reason I'm writing about this today is that I still like to follow these bands via blogs, etc but now the information is far less relevant to me. So far I'm really enjoying living in Anchorage, but I'm also realizing how isolated I am from the world now. I don't think I could have much more contrast between isolation and the opposite of isolation than my life in the past 12 months. This time last year I was landing in Paris to start my year in Europe, where there are tons of people everywhere and major cities are only a few hours apart. The lack of isolation was probably my favorite aspect of being in Europe because I could see and do so much in a relatively short period of time with relatively very little money. In contrast to that I now live 1,414 miles from the nearest large city (Seattle) as the crow flies and musical acts rarely, if ever, come this far north. Plus flights to the East Coast run about $500-800 per person, so it's not only geographically isolating but also financially isolating as well.

What I must remind myself is that Alaska encompasses some of the best aspects of America: natural beauty, wide open spaces, wildlife, untouched land, etc. There is a great deal of experience and adventure to be had here and I didn't move here for the nightlife or the "metropolitan" experience. I can have those things anywhere. I moved here to start a life somewhere totally different and to have an experience that few others choose to have. So, while the isolation will take some getting used to, instead of focusing on what I miss about other places I need to just focus on what I love about this place. Besides, as far as I know, the rest of the world isn't going anywhere and I have plenty of time to go back for a visit.

Autumn in Anchorage

The weather forecast for Anchorage said we would have nearly 10 days of beautiful, clear weather. That was the case for about 4 days. The past two days have been a bit cloudy and today and downright icky with lots of fog, but it's still not terrible. The trees are turning pretty colors that remind me of Autumn in Virginia and the temperature is cool in the morning and a touch of warmth in the afternoon. When the sun is out it is golden and shows the prettiest shades of every color. Lovely. I am a bit fan of Southeast Alaska, but from what I understand this time of year is the rainiest of all, so at the moment I'm very happy to be enjoying some mild Anchorage weather.

I'm in week two of my new job and things are going pretty well. Leigh and I are nicely settled into our apartment, Juneau the Cat is learning how to thoroughly terrorize us and many objects within said apartment (including launching her clumsy self onto the screen-less window sill while three floors above the nearest landing surface- jaysus!), and the city is slowly starting to open up to all three of us.

I've been biking to work since Monday (so that's three days, but who's counting?) and it's going pretty well. There seems to be a little club of people who use the trails around the same time every morning, so I'm seeing some familiar faces during my commute. The 7 mile journey each way is just long enough to make me question my ability, and sometimes my sanity, to do it at 7:30 each morning, but I figure if I can keep it up for a month or more it'll become regular habit.

After only three days I'm finding it not only satisfying but also the best way to fit exercise into my day without having to pump myself up for it before or after work. Instead it's how I get to and from work and how I save money that would normally go toward gas. After my first week of work I noticed that my car was draining fuel at an amazingly high rate considering that all of my driving was just a series of short trips around town. So rather than fill my tank every 4-6 days hopefully a tank of gas will last closer to two weeks from now on, in addition to my being healthier and in better shape.

Leigh is doing well also. During my first week of work she applied for jobs like it was, well, her job (which I guess it is to some extent) and it seems to be paying off. She starts a long temping gig on Monday and has an interview for a "big girl job" on Thursday (TOMORROW!). I'm so proud of her for being a trooper during all of our moves and for working so hard to find a job she likes. Unemployment can be heartbreaking and job searching exhausting, so I'm glad all the dedication is finally starting to be fruitful for her, and for us!

NEW BIKE!!!

After about a week of trolling Craigslist, wishing and hoping, I bought a great "pre-owned" bike for $80! My new baby is a black Schwinn Hurricane. I'm probably its third owner because the girl I bought it from says she bought it at a pawn shop. I did some googling and found out this model was made in 1993 and 1994 and sold for about $280 brand new at the time. From my point of view I got a good bike for a good price, so I'm super happy!

As you can see, the bike is black with pink letters on the cross bars. It also has a nice long neck so I can sit back a little bit if I need to give my back a break. Leigh also found a nice bike for herself for an even better price, plus it came with some odds and ends. Hers is an orange Mongoose and it's tall enough for her, which is not an easy bike to find!

Leigh and I took a nice ride around Anchorage on Saturday to test out our new bikes and the route I plan to take to work. We rode down Lake Otis Parkway, across town on Chester Creek Trail, then North on Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. We went all the way to my office and then some before turning back toward home. By the end of the day we'd ridden about 17 miles and I calculated a one-way trip from our apartment to my office will take me between 35 and 45 minutes, varying depending on traffic, etc.

I am a bit concerned about wildlife encounters on the trails, especially in the mornings before a lot of people are out. So tonight we went to Wally World (don't judge me!) and I bought a bear bell for my handlebars and a canister of bear spray that I'm keeping in my water bottle holder. Hopefully the bear bell will keep the bears away so I'll never have to use the spray because, honestly, I'm not entirely sure I wouldn't just freeze up and let the thing eat me!

Now, on the other hand, during the winter months I'll only have to worry about moose encounters. The worrying part is that I have no idea how to deter moose encounters or what to do if faced with one. As far as I know all you can do is back away from the animal slowly and hope it doesn't decide to trample you just for the fun of it. I'll do some more research on this... or maybe look online for a biking buddy to keep me company in the mornings....

Anyway, tomorrow is my first day biking to work and I'm super excited. I've always wanted to be able to get to work either on foot or bicycle, so hopefully I'll enjoy it and the habit will stick!

New Job, New City, New Life

So I guess I live in Anchorage now...

Our little apartment has come together nicely. We have successfully purchased a great, like new, blue couch with a hideabed and a red "leather" love seat. They look awesome together in our tiny living room. We also bought some odds and ends like side tables and a mattress set. Now all we need is a bed frame, side tables and dressers so we can finally move our clothes out of our suitcases. It's looking pretty good so far. Unfortunately we're completely tapped out for cash, so the remainder of our purchases will have to wait until I get paid/reimbursed for travel/we get an unexpected generous gift of some sort. Anyway, it's great to have furniture.

I started my clerkship last Thursday, worked two days, then had a three day weekend. So far government work is pretty fabulous. It's way too early to say how much I'll enjoy this position, but my predecessor said multiple times how much fun he had and everyone I work with seems to be very agreeable and they even have full-scale senses of humor! Who'da thought?

We spent Labor Day enjoying some lovely sunny weather and walked for about an hour on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail from downtown. This inspired me to research whether I could ride my bike to work from our apartment in midtown on Lake Otis Parkway. It turned out to be entirely possible! I'd ride on the bike path/sidewalk on Lake Otis Parkway for two miles, then take the Chester Creek Trail to the west side of town before biking to my downtown office location on the Tony Knowles Trail. Perfect! It would take about 30 minutes and right now my car commute is about 20 minutes due to traffic, so it seems like a great alternative. The best part is I'll save money on gas and be guaranteed some exercise every day that the weather isn't too shitty to bike.

Now I just need a bike....