Home alone

Despite not feeling up to par, Jim left early this morning for another looooong day of travel. He will arrive in Atlanta around 10 PM our time and in Shreveport around 3 AM our time. I sure hope he gets a nap in there.

And I'm home alone for what is sure to be a looooong 8 days.

Although our trip to Scotland was wonderful, it was surprisingly nice to return to our little apartment. Weird how "home sweet home" is basically wherever your stuff is.

Plus, strangely enough, I actually missed hearing people speak Flemish. So this has inspired me to work a little harder to make time to study and not just wait for the weekly Flemish lessons. I was initially overwhelmed and thought "we'll be back in the States before we get it". But, I'm feeling better about it and I am convinced we CAN learn this language! So I've been busy making flash cards and practice sheets all day!

Yesterday, I decided to buy some coffee at a little store in downtown Hasselt. The clerk and I were the only ones in the store and she said she spoke "a little English". Well, I've learned when someone here says they speak "a little English", it really means they speak at least as well as I do. I told her we'd recently moved here and I wasn't sure if I'd ever learn to speak Flemish. She offered me a cup of coffee and we chatted for a minute (in English, of course). I said that everyone, including her, is always willing to speak English, so I do too. Therefore I really never get to practice outside of our lessons. This prompted her to say she would speak in Flemish! I said "Oh no, don't do that, I wouldn't have any idea what you are saying." She said she was sure we would learn Flemish, but she advised we must begin speaking only Flemish at home.

I thought about that and I guess this may have been the beginning of my inspiration to work a little harder at speaking Flemish and to be one American who speaks more than one language! We will see.