Je ne sais pas
This is what I am here for, why France was the target location for my next adventure. A chance to immerse myself in another language, a new travel challenge where I am in the familiar situation of not knowing anything. Now, I have travelled in quite a few countries where I don't speak the language, getting around isn't too hard once you know "yes, no" and "Where is the toilet?" But I have never had the chance to live and work with families where English is not spoken at all. Some of the French WWOOFers I worked with in New Zealand were traveling to work on their English, some only knew a couple words. I admired and coveted this situation through my NZ travels and, never being around French or studying it, it was my absolute pleasure to learn a word or two with my French friends. So naturally, the idea to head to France became another "to do" option on my list of travel ideas. Be careful what you wish for because now I am the deer in headlights when any word comes out of someone's mouth -- mostly because it's usually many words Je ne sais pas. I am delighted to start this foreign experience with a family that knows a bit of English (enough to tell me where to go and share a little), but if one language wasn't enough, they are a Dutch family. So I find myself with French in one ear, Dutch in the other and my brain struggling to find any non-English word I know to attempt to communicate. Le chat boire la lait. Oh the frustration. Oh the envy! My mind scrambles around going -- eeehhh -- trying to find a word to make some sort of sense of an incomplete sentence. Nope. Nothing. Je ne sais pas. This environment is perfect. I cannot communicate until I know more words (I knew maybe five upon arrival), so the family finds me sliding open my phone every other second furiously trying to finish my Duolingo, French lite, French Verb dictionary, Fun Easy Learn French apps and about five others, each with their own helpful feature. Although I haven't found a situation yet where "the ape eats the dog" or "there is an orange shark" as relevant phrases. This morning I was able to ask if I could have the sugar, so something is sinking in. Small victories. Mostly, I look forward to my "chore" of dog walking in the afternoon so I can loudly repeat words and phrases over and over, and over again (And yes. Even. Again.) amidst the farm fields where no one can laugh. Except perhaps the dogs, Dutch names I probably will never spell (Szurko?). All of it new and foreign encounters that keep my brain challenged. I liken this new lifestyle to learning to drive on the left side of the road in New Zealand for the first time. Flipping the usual of life shakes up body patterns. I have to think. And perhaps, in this new challenge I will struggle along, encounter awkward moments where I turn to the wrong side of the road, but in the end, I hopefully will conquer it. A new addition. Perhaps not the bilingual wish in a month (obviously not), but certainly a new understanding of culture, language and travel.
