Remember old livejournal/xanga blogs where you had the option of broadcasting your current mood by way of smiley-face pictures?  I just remembered those and have to say my current mood is somewhere between playful and contemplative, or a strange amalgamation of the two, so I hope you'll read this with a similar state of mind.  Or at least understand that I'm not as nutty as I seem (ha..ha).  :)


I was at the grocery store, picking up a few things for dinner, and had a brief and very pleasant conversation with a woman who was also examining some Swiss chocolates.  As it turned out, she happened to be from Switzerland and still maintains her citizenship.  I thought it would be nice to offer a greeting in French, and my accent must have been passable, because her face lit up, and I had to explain that I only know very basic French.  Nevertheless, she was very gracious and taught me some food-related French phrases, and upon parting, wished me a wonderful life in that lovely and elusive tongue.  Our final goodbyes were said in Italian.  (Oh, but to possess her savoir faire in addition to her facility with the languages :)

It's oddly exhilarating to be just on the brink of understanding..when she was explaining her friend's chocolate flavor preferences, the meaning behind the fluid French words slipped in and out of grasp, much like water flows between your hands.  There for an instant and gone in the next.  I know that's a frustrating aspect of learning new languages - the goal after all, is to be able to understand and carry on your part of the conversation, the words springing readily from thoughts to speech.  Right on your tongue when you need them.  Currently I am in no position to be conversing in French, but that feeling of just being able to comprehend - that is what excites me.  The anticipation is akin to the fleeting moments before something glorious, like a great work of art, is unveiled. 

Not too long ago I ended up sitting next to a Japanese woman on the train.  Somehow we had a conversation in Japanese, talking about her vacation to America with her son and granddaughter, the New Jersey leg of her journey, where she stayed with relatives, and the upcoming tour of DC.  Again, she was incredibly gracious and patient as I found the right words to speak with her. I was very thankful for my Japanese professors in college who drilled the correct constructions and honorifics into us :)

I think I'm drawn to the melodies and rhythms of languages.  French, Italian, Arabic - the common denominator I hear is the softness-the gentle ebb and flow of the phrasing, speech like strands of silk flowing in the wind, water babbling through a brook.  They evoke romance and sensuality, and are utterly enticing to me.  Those who know me know that I can be flighty when it comes to settling on languages to learn, and my fancies must seem like caprices at best.  Sometimes I have a burning desire to learn Hindi (Bollywood, duh) and the Devaganari script (incredibly lovely and almost made sense when Denise and Nisha explained it :), other times I decide the Cyrillic alphabet is my new lover and so I devote a few weeks here and there to studying my Russian book.  It's honestly just because I love how they all sound (and look) so I have a hard time deciding. 

Thanks to a mentor though, and a lot of thought/experimentation, I've decided to commit to the three first mentioned above (Fr, It, Ar), as new languages to study.  With the hopes that I'll be able to hold my own part in conversing and making connections bound by the love for the language and culture.  And now I'll stop with the comparisons to relationships, haha!  (It was too easy, couldn't resist :)