What Was I Thinking?
About a month ago I had a very intense dream. That is almost all I remember, the intensity and a need to understand French. I've never been interested in learning French, but recently I have wondered why I had such a block regarding the German and Spanish I took in high school and college. The dream and the musing came together, and I decided to take a weekly French class through Bellevue Community College. I'm curious if a desire and a more balanced life will make understanding a language easier.
This is very impulsive for me. I can't believe I'm taking a class based on a dream. It sounds so weird, that I couldn't resist the impulse. It's not like I'm planning to move to Paris and be an artist or take an extended vacation in France. There is a mysterious urge at work, and I'll have to see if it will carry me through the class.
I noticed as I was scanning news today, that tomorrow is the 63rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There was a pretty straightforward war, fighting against idealistic nation building. Was it the ideals or the nation building we opposed? In either case it does not cast my country in a light which makes me comfortable today.
My most powerful association with the French is the Resistance during World War II. Admittedly I don't know much about it, beyond understanding they were opposed not only by the occupiers but by their own government. A testament to the courage of the French people. Seeing Pearl Harbor reminded me of my desire to study French. It is a tenuous connection, perhaps living only in my mind, but I feel a bond of admiration for a people who would oppose a seemingly invulnerable enemy who used the most brutal methods imaginable to convert the world to their narrow and exclusive dogma. I'd like to someday be able to read literature in French or watch films or plays in French, and understand the language and culture it reflects.
This is very impulsive for me. I can't believe I'm taking a class based on a dream. It sounds so weird, that I couldn't resist the impulse. It's not like I'm planning to move to Paris and be an artist or take an extended vacation in France. There is a mysterious urge at work, and I'll have to see if it will carry me through the class.
I noticed as I was scanning news today, that tomorrow is the 63rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There was a pretty straightforward war, fighting against idealistic nation building. Was it the ideals or the nation building we opposed? In either case it does not cast my country in a light which makes me comfortable today.
My most powerful association with the French is the Resistance during World War II. Admittedly I don't know much about it, beyond understanding they were opposed not only by the occupiers but by their own government. A testament to the courage of the French people. Seeing Pearl Harbor reminded me of my desire to study French. It is a tenuous connection, perhaps living only in my mind, but I feel a bond of admiration for a people who would oppose a seemingly invulnerable enemy who used the most brutal methods imaginable to convert the world to their narrow and exclusive dogma. I'd like to someday be able to read literature in French or watch films or plays in French, and understand the language and culture it reflects.
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