(That was such a fun CV. I loved touring around with you. Thank you!)
I was tagged a while back by Marinik and Finn, two writers whose words flow like poetry. I have to list 10 things about myself. I don´t like talking about myself and am actually writing this while covering my eyes...
1. I do one brave thing about every five years. Move to a new country, start a new business, list 10 things about myself...
2. I met Jorge in Philly while he was studying for his MBA. One of the first things he told me was that, "his father was a famous bullfighter"... I laughed... and haven´t stopped...
3. My children are bilingual (with a little Basque and French thrown in). From the moment they were born I spoke to them in English and Jorge in Spanish. And from the moment they could speak their first word they would say it to me in English and to Jorge in Spanish. I always considered it my gift to them. I´ve also made them promise to continue the tradition. Hopefully my great great grandchildren will also be bilingual...
4. I´m losing my English. (Does that even make sense?) I´m losing my ability to communicate in English. My brain just isn´t big enough to accommodate two languages...
5. And on that note... I´m starting to teach English again this year. (I had an English academy years ago.) It started out as a favor.... help....
6. People tell me all the time that I look like someone they know... I just have one of those faces...
7. Not a day goes by without someone asking me for directions...
8. I have no sense of direction. Jorge and I go to France and we can´t find Spain again... Really...
9. I don´t understand the fixation with Oprah...OK, I´m still here. For a minute there, I thought I was going to be struck by lightening... The last show I saw was of her "learning" that she should sit in her garden and smell the flowers... She got this from a book... Huh? But she does lots of charity work you say. Yeah, and I think it´s great. But come on people, she has like 50 billion dollars.... I know lots of wonderful people who do charity work, with a lot less... and they don´t shout it from the roof tops....
10. I can sometimes be very cynical.... But I´m working on it...
44 comments:
I can relate to 3 & 4! Laughed at 7 &8:)
Great that you are in a family with lots of laughter. Thanks for the fun glimpse into 10 more parts of YOU!
i did laugh also! my english is not the best, i missed some point, but it is very frech!
i know your blog by the frenchie mulot!
beautiful pictures, very deep, all the time! BRAVO!!
sounds good to me, let's have some tea
Nice portrait ! I sometimes think being cynical -and skeptical - is necessary ;)
Have a nice day
I knew you make great photo's but it is also nice to know these 10 facts. Number 9 is so true and please stay cynical, it's more fun to read ;)
Mio Dio Jane!!! I'm crying because laughing hurts like hell!!! You've made my laugh soooo loud, I just can't stop. Too funny, too funny honey, XXX, Carmie.
to bring laughter- one of the charity works, and without money! and lady, you are good in it-thanks!
i relate to 6. ;)
Oh, you should write more about yourself!
(I agree about Oprah, but shhhhhh)
Best from rainy Germany,
Juli
Cute and funny. Nice to meet you, Jane.
I think Oprah is already out of fashion...but then who am I to say.
oh, Jane. Could I love you more. I cannot go with you on ten, alas, the business God's WOULD strike me by lightening, but I love every word you wrote. Every word. xoxoxoxox g.
I like the 10th. I am a bit of that too...and working on it...
we are also 1 and 3 here : moving every 3 to 5 year and starting all over every time, the kids are bilingual french (with me) and portuguese (with their dad), and on their way to speak english because we are in guyana....I like you to be cynical, it suits you nicely...
www.d-un-bout-du-monde-al-autre.com
Loved your 10 things and I have to agree about Oprah although I don't understand how people can be so into famous people. I really don't care. They are just people that have a different kind of job than me. That aren't any more special than anyone else. I don't care when or where they shop or eat or sun bathe. UGH!
Have an awesome day today!
but jane, what about all the other parts?
You may be loosing your ability to speak English, but you are still a very good writer in English. You also do very well making these lists entertaining, even if you don't enjoy talking about yourself. I always start feeling stumped after number 3 or 4 when I try writing those.
I haven't watched an entire show of Oprah for years, but my mom loves her show and talks about it all the time. I grew up about 40 miles from Chicago and part of the fascination there, is that she's a hometown girl who made good.
"Cynical" is a survival skill.
Your 10 things about you made me smile. I hope 5 won't be too difficult because of 4. You must have that kind of 7 face too. Don't work too much on 15!
How nice to learn a little more about you, Jane! I believe bilingual children were taught from birth a linguistic skill that adults cannot replicate, and I totally understand to your losing the ability to communicate in your mother tongue.
PS Who's Oprah:)
I like you even more after this! I can so relate to number 4. I'm losing my Spanish, but I feel I'll never be able to push my English as far as I could push my native language, it used to be so easy, to play with words, and now it can be such an effort... it's frustrating, but I still try. I love words.
Which is why my children will also be bilingual! It's definitely the best gift you can give them.
Yep, Oprah, I'm always hoping that someone from USA would be able to explain the whole thing to me.
And on a Spanish pop culture aside: no es divertido que Ana Rosa Quintana quiera ser la Oprah española?:)
Ha!! Oh, please... Oprah! I couldn't agree more! I think I'm the only stay at home mom in America that doesn't watch her show or run out and read whatever book she's promoting! Ug! Ok, I better stop before I really start going!
Happy Day, Jane!
is this picture from Amsterdam? The city where you´re going to live...
we may be relocating with my two small, bilingual kids to my husband's country and just reading your blog makes me feel like it might just be what we all need. To come visit, you need to go north from spain, cross all the other countries and stop when you hit a falafel stand.
beautiful... and funny!! I love 3 and 4 togather, 7 and 8 together (hilarious) and 9 and 10 (also too funny). And ZI honestly agree with 9. oh, 7 and 8 crack me up! To be bilingual would be magnificent! Your children will be polyglots!
... that would be "together" and "I". jeez, I need to proof BEFORE!
You make me laugh! A lot!
It's good to know all these things about you! Most of my friends (who are not British because we just don't do 2 languages well) and bilingual if not trilingual and the kids are being brought up the same - such great mixtures - a greek married to a german, a dutchman married to a Spaniard, a dutch girl married to an Irish man, a Mexican married to a Costa Rican, a Russian married to a German, an Italian married to an Irish man, an Italian married to a french woman and on it goes.....me..... I'm neither married or bilingual ;o) but I do have a very good sense of direction if that helps!
If Spaniards are anything like Italians, then you must look like a Spaniard. No self-respecting Italian would ask a foreigner for directions, no matter how long she's been in the country.
Thanks for being you, Jane.
Hi Jane,
Thank you so much for your visit to my humble blog and your kind words (by kind words I mean you didn’t tell call me a stupid idiot). I like to call my sense of humor my sixth sense. (I used to think it was common sense until I realized there is nothing common about common sense. Common sense would be like .20 sense or maybe even .50 sense).
I do have a couple of observations about your post for today. (Not 10, ‘cause frankly I don’t know you that well). Feel free to reject my long winded comments without any fear of hurting my tender feelings. (I will however cry and pout and talk about you on my blog).
Observations
1)
I know what you mean about English. I was born and raised in the US. In fact, I have never left the country. But, having been born and raised in the Deep South of the US, I never really bothered to learn proper English. Some would say I have an accent (perhaps you can hear that in my writing… I don’t know) but I can’t really tell. I do know that the folks from up North are a little hard to understand.
2)
Don’t get me started on Oprah… (The name Oprah was used with express written consent of Major League Baseball)
3)
I suggest that you never loose touch with your cynical side. It is my experience that this is the closet state of mind that even remotely resembles a sane mind in today crazy world.
Again, sorry for the long comment but sometimes I start typing and just don’t know when to stop.
Craig Glenn
Catalina is in Roma. I will be there in a few hours.
Sorry
Ha, I completely agree with the Oprah comment. I just never bring it up because I always get an earful about it. Great post!
I so enjoyed reading your list Jane! I also sometimes feel like I'm loosing my native language; I use English on daily basis and learn Italian as well. I only hope my baby won't get too confused- I speak Polish to her, while Corrado speaks
Italian to her and we both speak English to each other at home. I wonder what her first word will be... :)
Have a great weekend!
Kasia
xoxo
ok, so let's hear 10 more! i'm pulling up a chair and i've got a glass of wine in my hand...
ps i love oprah!
i was already sold on you, my dear, but these ten tidbits really sealed the deal. you are a gem!
i know your blog by the frenchie mulot!
beautiful pictures
How to make a website
Nice to know you a little more, Jane. David and I plan to raise our kids trilingual (when/if we get any that is ;-) ) Danish, Spanish and English.... I wonder if that's even possible?
Ps;
I've never seen an Oprah show....!
Jane, it totally makes sense that you are loosing your English... here too. I get really frustrated when we visit my family and I have to ask my German husband how to say something in English... ggggrrrr!
I used to teach ESL, so I wish you well with this!
districtdispatch.blogspot.com
Still laughing at #8 and not finding Spain! I SO AGREE about Oprah! I didn't know she learned to sit in her garden and smell the flowers from a book.....weird!
Oh my gosh Jane, I am soooo cynical too! My sisters believe my blog is me in some sort of parallel universe.....whatever that means. Now, I'm afraid Dave (my hubby) and I have created very cynical children. Well, Araina was born cynical actually...maybe it's a gene thing!
lisa
I can totally relate with the language problem. We speak most of the time 3 languages during the day. Dutch with each other, English with friends and German with everyone else. So, not only do I speak German and English not well. But I forget words in my mother language. At home Mark and I speak a mixture of the 3 languages sometimes mixed in with a little bit of French.
How complicated....luckily we still understand each other. ;)
It was great to read your 10 things! You are a great storyteller!
Great post! Moving to a new country is a big adventure ! Yes, you are brave! ox
I know just what you mean about losing the English. I struggled with that a lot when I was attempting to learn Spanish. Now that I'm on to language #3 I tell people that I speak three languages poorly!
Great post Jane - you may be losing your English (terrible isn't it, I'm the same after 23 years in france)but I love coming over here for some good ole' British humour and cynicism!
Wharte are you from by the way?
This was fun to read! Now I'm curious: Was it true that Jorges father was a bullfighter or just a fun "pick up" line"? :-)
I can relate to three and six. I'm bilingual myself and I will do my best that my daughter learns two languages as well. In addition to everyone saying that I look like someone they know, people often ask me for help in shops - thinking I work there :-) Doesn't matter what I'm waring.
I love your list! a bit cynical... the real life!
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