Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Ides of March

It might not have been the best of days for Caesar, but, for me, today was like a gift. One of those wonderful, extraordinary days that life hands one from time to time. It's amazing what a night's sleep can accomplish. Having been left almost catatonic by only 4 hours of class yesterday, I went to bed quite apprehensive about my 7-hour class schedule today. Tossed and turned all night, with wakeful fits, interspersed by really odd dreams.

But the brain is a mysterious thing, possessed of remarkable recuperative powers. Somehow, when the alarm went off at 7:30, I leaped out of bed, ready to face whatever the day might bring. And it turned out to be truly awesome. Four hours of conversation in the morning, followed by a 3-hour grammar review in the afternoon -- an experience that managed to be both exhausting and invigorating. I love the school, I love my classmates, I love the city. Shopping for groceries in a supermarket that would make my foodie friends (you know who you are) weep with envy, getting to indulge my modest stationery fetish while choosing just the right notebooks and pens - when you do it in a different country, everything is more fun!

Even the TV -- normally an insidious time-suck -- seems more like a benevolent presence as it drones on in the background, subliminally imprinting correct grammatical structures in my brain, even as I type. God bless 'em, French talking heads do like to talk. But they speak such excellent French -- how could I bar them entry?

It's late. Time for bed, and a few more chapters of "Jane Eyre". I admire her spirit enormously. Those Bronte sisters were quite a trio.

3 comments:

  1. Weeping with envy...as I go to microwave my Trader Joe's frozen Chicken Tikka Masala.

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  2. We're rereading Jane Eyre in our house as well -- in English, though. I hate to say that the recently-released movie version spurred us to do it, but it's true.

    I admire her spirit as well. I love her speech to her "no relation" aunt.

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  3. Jerome: I'm reading "Jane Eyre" in English as well - to try it in French just seems too forbidding. Anyway, there will be plenty of French classics to try in due course.

    Great to hear from you.

    david

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