TESOL: i'm doing it

...Today I decided that I want to get my TESOL certificate and diploma. And I'm starting this summer. I'm doing the course online, so I'm not required to have any technical teaching experience to receive this, which is great for convenience's sake. It's something I've tossed around for awhile, and I decided that ultimately, it would probably open up more opportunities for me and make me an even more attractive candidate to grad schools. Right now, I have that little panic flutter in my stomach that you get immediately after finalizing a big decision. I know it's right, but there will be 350 hours of work to be done. But I can do it, and I want to do it. so yay!

real life began a week ago.

i just graduated from college. i am now an official holder of a Bachelor of Arts. in French. and what now?

i have many dreams and criteria to achieving these dreams:
+ being back in France within the next 5 2 years
+ where i can make good friends with similar (and differing) interests
+ i can continue learning. languages, photography, the history of an obscure island, quoi que ce soit
+ i can eat all kinds of delicious food.
+ i can read the economist in bed if i wish.

i'm hoping that working at Disney World in their College Program will at least meet a few of these criteria. need to make that money to get to grad school!

one of my quirks.

when i do my spanish homework, it is easier for me to translate what i want to say into french and use the french-spanish dictionary to figure out the correct vocabulary.

any excuse to pull out le français, i guess.

“tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
— Mary Oliver

me and my younger sister at cape canaveral, watching a shuttle launch, back in the day.

journal envy

So I took my Moleskine that I had received on the occasion of my high school graduation (and had neglected for a year. literally) to Barnes and Noble yesterday, ready for an afternoon of browsing and gleaning creative ideas. Instead, I found myself in the "Economics" section and spent a couple hours sipping Harney and Sons Holiday Tea and reading The Price of Everything by Russell Roberts. Good thing I had brought my handy little notebook along with me, because it was FULL of quotables and things I wanted to remember later, and I knew that a mental note would not suffice.

Anyways, after reading and spending that enjoyable time jotting down thoughts that I wanted to remember, I suddenly wanted another Moleskine. Granted, I definitely need to finish strong with this one, but it's a task I'm up for.

I also need to finish up my journalling from this semester in France. My mom gave me a Paris CityGuide Moleskine as a "bon voyage" gift, and I fell in love all over again.


thanks to Daniele Rossi credit to johnystadlerka

Now I'm wanting to buy the Washington DC and New York ones, and various other European city ones to make my own guidebook. I think travelogues are one of the most precious things in life, and we should take advantage of resources like this.

For now, I'll just wait :)


photo credit to trumpetvine

2009 resolutions

2009 resolutions by jillian alice

voila the polyvore set, which is a visual reminder of my 2009 resolutions :)

001. do a better job of writing thank you notes and giving thoughtful hostess gifts
002. take advantage of every traveling opportunity i have
003. watch more foreign and independent films (perhaps renew my netflix subscription)
004. try beige in my wardrobe, and continue to put in effort into my appearance.
005. buy a nice pair of boots!!!
006. continue some french habits i picked up, including the eating fresher, maintaining the fluency i achieved, and staying informed of current events.
007. make sure to record my itunes playlists. they are my best snapshots of my life at any given moment.
008. blog more often! i'm still trying to figure out the best way to make this a "plausible" goal, with achievable specifics. but i'll get there :)

blog spotlight: stuff white people like

I may be a little behind the times, but Stuff White People Like is one of my new favorites. I enjoy the blunt truth sprinkled with a little sarcasm on occasion, and this is the perfect blend of both. I'm going to let some of my favorite posts and their titles to speak for themselves.

#1 Coffee
#38 Arrested Development
#39 Netflix
#72 Study Abroad
#74 Oscar Parties
#78 Multilingual Children

Such a beautiful thing.