The title of this post is pretty much the only sentence I can say in French. It’s probably wrong, but I say it all the time just to prove that all my time in French classes was not for nothing. I took French until grade three, on and off between grades 4 and 9, and all through high school. I came out of high school with an alright understanding and the desire to take it further, but I hit a roadblock in my first year of university. Sitting in my first day of class, the professor spoke nothing but French and everyone in the class seemed to be already fluent. I dropped it after the first day because I literally had no idea what was going on or what the expectations would be (beyond already speaking French…).
Being the giant lazy sloth that I am, I just stopped. Well, that’s a lie, I attempted, poorly, to take an independent class through Athabasca University, but that was a complete wash and a waste of money. Now, I have decided to finally get back on tackling #6 on my life list to become fluent in French. I have been fairly dedicated so far, listening to podcasts everyday, reviewing old French textbooks, listening to French news stories to get an ear for the spoken rhythm of the language. I’m hopeful. I also will be enrolling in J’explore a French learning program offered at various locations across Canada, care of the Canadian government. The program is 5 weeks long and I hope to be able to do it in either Montreal or New Brunswick. The goal is conversational French fluency, but of course they have varying levels of classes. My personal goal is to not end up in the beginner’s class!
So far, my absolute favourite tool has been Coffee Break French, produced by the Radio Lingua Network. Radio Lingua has several different French podcasts, including One Minute French and the video-based Walk, Talk and Learn French, but so far, Mark and Anna at Coffee Break French have been the absolute best at helping me get a new lease on the French language. I highly recommend you check them out if you are also trying to learn or relearn Francais, either at their website or on Itunes!
A long time ago I had “Party Like a Rockstar in Dubai” on my list. I removed it after reading about a string of arrests made to innocent people for having legal prescription drugs on their person or having stepped on a microscopic piece of marijuana. Articles like this make me want to go to Dubai though because it is literally insane. It’s like if Las Vegas took crack, has a baby with Monaco, and that baby had a baby with Thailand. Or something. It’s insanity.
Best Nude Beaches
via Matador Trips
This one might not be on my list, but it caught my eye and was certainly a fascinating read. I suppose a nude beach might help with # 71 Go skinny dipping. Or maybe just something to consider as a new addition altogether.
Best Coffee Shops in Amsterdam
via Matador Nights
One of the first things I added to my list was to smoke pot in Amsterdam. It’s sort of a when in Rome type deal I suppose. This is a nice compiled list of the best places to go to partake whilst in the Netherlands.
Applies to
#72 Smoke pot in Amsterdam
My Life to do List
I’m not going to lie, I took a few items off of this excellent list. I’m not above borrowing great ideas, but I have to give credit where credit is due. Make sure to check out his blog, he seems to have a never ending array of things to do.
Intrepid Lifestyle
New site recently launched, but tons of great articles for the serious traveler. Really practical and well laid out.
So I took a break from cleaning, studying, writing and all that good stuff this afternoon and used it to clean up my music collection. Since part of the cleaning process let me properly set up my giantess of a laptop that holds my music collection, I’ve also been able to listen to it for a few solid hours. Between the downloads, moving, deleting, and – sure enough – grooving, I got to thinking about how important music was to my travels this summer. It kept me company during lonely nights in Guelph, drowned out chatting people on the overnight bus to New York, and distracted me on long flights across the continent. My Ipod only holds 2 GB, but it provides me with hours of entertainment on the road and gives me some solace when I’m missing certain people’s company.
Here are my fave songs for certain travel situations!
Needing Sand and Sun: Madera – Hey Ocean!
Packing: In Love With a Bad Idea – Matthew Good
Pre-Flight Jitters: Time Bomb – Beck
First Leg: The Distance – Cake
Roadtrips: Running Down a Dream – Tom Petty
Overnight Travel: Turn Up the Stars – Hey Ocean!
At the Hostel: What I Got – Sublime
No Itinerary: Ruby Soho – Rancid
Traveling Alone: Two Hoboes- DJ Champion
Train Travel: On A Train – Waking Eyes
Lost and Confused: Sing Me Spanish Techno – The New Pornographers
Homesickness: I Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
Destination No Where: To Here Knows When – My Bloody Valentine
The Ride Home: Jimmy – Tool
Back At Home Blues: Everyday is Exactly The Same – Nine Inch Nails
I crossed one more thing off of my list this summer. I’m excited for when September 8th rolls around and I can officially see how many things I accomplished in the last four months. Yesterday I put a big strike through #43 which was to donate blood. I had planned to do this shortly after my vacation out east, but I was suffering from breathing problems when I got home and did not end up donating. Since I had a day off yesterday, I rescheduled for a morning appointment.
I arrived late thanks to pretty much every road in downtown Calgary being under construction. They weresuper nice regardless at the 737 13 Ave location, the main office for Canadian Blood Services in Calgary. I went through the normal procedures and was taken into the donation room, where I saw the size of the needle and had to avert my eyes from the vein puncturing. I can take needles without blinking and normally watch, but this was a freakin’ huge needle!! Of course, no trip anywhere with me is complete without drama, so I half passed out after they removed the needle. Yeah, everything was fine until I was completely finished and they took the needle out. It got all bright and loopy, and then I was suddenly aware I was wet (cold damp cloths to help you come too) and people were staring at me. Completely embarrassing. Completely. Regardless it is off of my list, and I have another appointment booked in October. I think I can donate two more times before going to Mexico in December/January.
If you live in Canada and aren’t a donor yet, call 1.888.2.DONATE to make an appointment. It’ll take about an hour in total but you could add years to someone’s life.
I’m always encouraging people to create life lists and accomplish whatever goals they have in life, since I don’t think your life is something to waste.
As it turns out, I helped my mom accomplish what she *says* is her entire life list, which was to be on my other, smaller blog Things We Said. While I don’t necessarily believe that was her only goal in life (thought it actually wouldn’t be *that* hard to believe, if you’ve met my mother), I was happy to help regardless.
When I add things to my list, it is not always through pure inspiration in my own life. I use the wonderful thing called “the internet” and this other neat contraption called “Google” to help me find ideas. Since I, in theory, am stealing other people’s ideas (never to the point of copying and pasting like I have seen on some sites, you have to have some originality), I figure I should post up some of the sites I’ve frequented and found some awesome ideas on. Be forewarned, the first two may contain some more…adult…content.
