1-8 of "24 Things You May- or May Not- Have Known About Me"

So what inspired me to get this blog up and going (for real this time) was this "25 things about me" deal on Facebook. I started thinking, "What would I write about myself?" So I started brainstorming... And here's the result. But since I have a hard time being brief, I'm going to be original and do 24, divided into three segments. Voilà!

1. I LOVE languages. French was the first language I fell in love with, followed by Italian. I have a goal to learn five other languages besides my own. So two down, three to go- although I can always learn more French and Italian…you’re never done learning a language! Right now, I’d say the other three just might be: Spanish (which I have begun- it won’t be too hard because it’s so similar to the languages I already speak), Mandarin (which I have begun as well), and German.

2. I used to think I loved languages because they were beautiful. But then, one day, I had a training at work where we learned some German. And I thought, “Wow! This is fun! I would love to learn more!” And I realized that to me, speaking a different language is a game. Can I express myself? Can I use all the rules? Do others understand me? I get such great satisfaction from all of this. This theory was confirmed during my time in Taiwan, where I learned some Mandarin. I guess, in the end, the real reason why I love languages is because I love people. I love meeting new people who have a different perspective on life than I do. I have met so many people and had numerous experiences that just wouldn’t have been possible without speaking other languages.

3. To a great degree, I owe these experiences to Madame Guillet, my high school French teacher who changed my life by teaching me how cool it was to learn about the world. Not only did she do a fabulous job teaching me French grammar and culture, but most importantly, she taught me to love it. In high school, I always had tons of homework, and I usually started with the homework I actually wanted to do. =) And that was usually French.

4. I love having adventures in the world. I crave the experience of living in a different country and having my eyes opened to new experiences and ideas. I would love to live on all seven continents…well, let’s make that six. There’s not a whole lot going on in Antarctica. So I have South America, Africa, and Australia left. This is nothing official, but recently I have been considering the Foreign Service. I figure that would be a great way to have a “real job” and a real salary, and yet learn languages and live in different places. (About the "real job" comment, my current job consists of singing songs and teaching cute French children numbers and colors in English. It's fun, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I find myself thinking, "They're paying me to do this? For real?")

5. That said, my ultimate goal in life is to create a beautiful family and raise children who will help make this world a better place. It’s just that since that opportunity has not yet arisen, I want to make the absolute most of this time of my life. I feel so enriched by these experiences I am having.

6. One of my goals in life is to be a grandma who can still do her splits. (I think the grandma on Garfield was my inspiration on that one.) =)

7. I have been to the following other countries: Canada =), France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Taiwan, and Thailand. I should be adding one or two new ones to the list in the near future: perhaps England and Ireland? There are sooo many beautiful places to see in this world.

8. I don’t know that this is my final answer: it could most certainly change. But my answer to the question, “If you could live during any time period, when would you live?” has always been the Revolutionary War. I am fascinated by the events that took place then and how amazing our forefathers were. It was a time of such great excitement- the creation of a new nation, a free nation. I love studying the Revolutionary War and how our nation was formed. (PS~ Did you know that we wouldn’t have won the Revolutionary War without the French? Without their naval aid and their financial contributions, there might not have been a United States of America.)