What am I listening to, today? Well, French music (bien sûr) but here are some songs I just cannot stop listening to. Check them out and let me know what you think in the comments box below!
This is the saddest and most beautiful song ever. I love it so much. Even if you don’t speak French the emotion of the music tells the story.
Don’t translate this song because the lyrics are prey-ty raunchy, but I love the classic rock feel of the song, and if you ignore the lyrics (like so many good songs) it’s awesome. This is a cover off the original song by Jacques Brel.
Honestly I enjoyed this music video more than I was probably supposed to. I love it so much, and the song itself is perfect to grove to. This one was actually suggested to me by one of my Au Pair kids! (The most tasteful 9 year old, ever.)
First off, this video is from one of my favorite movies growing up, “An American in Paris” (funny, since now I get to be the American in Paris) with Gene Kelly, who I was in love with. This is actually my favorite kind of music to just relax and listen to. It’s a perfect mix of traditional with a smooth collection of modern twists. In love.
Traveling is addictive. Before I even step on a plane I have plans for a hundred more places I want to visit. It is my firm belief that everyone should have a bucket list, so here are some of the top places I want to visit before I drop dead.
1. Morocco:“Here’s Looking at you kid.” I’ve wanted to go to Morocco for as long as I can remember and not only because Casablanca is my second favorite movie of all time. I absolutely love the mixture that is represented within Morocco. It’s basically a mixture of three of my favorite cultures: French, African and Arabic.
2. Camino de Santiago (France/Spain): I’m so excited to do this! This trip is one of the few that I’m insistent on doing with someone, however, which is the main reason it’s being saved (although, I can’t wait!).
3. Norway: This fits under the category of “Places I’m ethnically from”. I’m a big believer that knowledge is power, and the best way to know yourself is by exploring your heritage. I’m going to try to get this and Denmark checked off my list of places I’ve been while I’m living in France.
4. Denmark: Same as above, this is my heritage and I’m extremely excited to get to explore this beautiful country.
5. Egypt: Honestly, I think Egypt is one of the most interesting places on the planet. I’m a HUGE history nerd, so going to this country is an absolute must for me. I won’t go into details about how obsessed I was growing up, just that I may or may not have dressed up as Cleopatra more than 5 times in my life.
6. Germany: I’m part German, so I really want to go visit Germany. This trip will also probably be with someone, because it’s not a country that I’m at all familiar with, but I think it’s going to be amazing.
7. Ghana: Two of the five kids I nanny are from Ghana, and I would love to see the country that has become so close to my heart while looking after them! I’ve fallen in love with Ghanaian culture by being surrounded by two amazing boys who have stolen my heart. I can’t wait until I get to adventure to their home country, someday.
8. Italy: One word: Calcio.
Another word for translation: Football.
And one more for Americans: Soccer.
9. South Africa: Is it wrong to want to go somewhere just because of the accents? No? Good. Because that’s one of the main reasons I want to go to South Africa. I have a friend from South Africa and I absolutely love just listening to her talk, which probably is weird for her, but South African accents are my absolute favorite (right next to Irish and Scottish).
10.Latvia: The only country in Eastern Europe, I’ve wanted to go here for a while now. I think the country is so beautiful, and Latvian is one of my favorite languages to listen to (even though I can’t understand one word of what they’re saying).
Also: This is one of my new favorite songs. So beautiful.
This weeks list of things to get ready for France:
1. Credit card: I got my first credit card this week as part of a “life hack”. I’ve never done this before, so we’ll see how it works out, but after meeting with the lovely people at Chase bank, I got set up with an account that allows you to get $500 toward air travel if you spend $2,000 within your first few months of having the card. As a nanny, I already know I’m going to have to pay a pretty hefty chunk of taxes in the next couple of weeks (since I don’t take them out per check during the year). So with that amount and all of my other bills put on the card I should be able to reach the $2000 pretty easily. And, I actually benefit from paying bills, since that will take a pretty big chunk off my plane ticket to France! Yay! The key, of course, it to pay the expenses off as soon as they are charged so there isn’t any kind of interest accruement. Here’s to trying new things!
2. Twitter: I used to be a Twitter junkie back in the day, but I stopped using it a couple years ago. I don’t actually remember why, but I’M BACK! I decided that one of the best ways I can brush up on my French is by changing all of my social media over slowly, and Twitter is the first to start. TweetMe @darkkhorsetweet or click the Follow button on the side panel of this blog ——>
3. French TV: Last night I discovered that there are full episodes of “The Voice” France on YouTube. This is one of my absolute favorite shows on TV, and I’m so excited to watch en français !
4. Transcripts: There’s a lot of paperwork involved in becoming an Au Pair, so this week I’m going to be working on some of the pieces I can (a lot of it can’t be sent over until three months before I leave, so not until May). Yesterday I requested my transcripts from college to “prove” that I graduated for the French government. Looking over my transcripts was kind of fun. I’d forgot how much work I had put into my education until I was looking over all the classes and grades. Magna Cum Laude, woot!
5. Writing a letter of intent: Again, this is for my Visa application. I have to write a letter that states my intentions of why I want to come live in France. If anyone has written one of these before, I would love advice! I’m pretty good at filling paper with words, but I’ve heard the French government is pretty picky, so any friendly advice would be much appreciated!
6. Tattoo: I’m getting a tattoo this week and I’m so excited! Just a couple of lines on my arm, (no soaring eagles holding the American Flag – bummer, I know) but I’m excited none the less.
Today I realized that next year, about this time, this is what I’ll be seeing with the au pair family I’ll be living with. I can barely believe my life. I’m so excited!
Six months from today I will be in France. And that’s scary.
In six months I will be in a different culture, with completely different people. There will be different customs, different expectations and different ways I will have to live in order to adapt to them.
But today, while I was having my daily panic/excited thoughts about my upcoming adventure, I was reminded of something a teacher I had in college used to say: “Don’t be scared, be prepared.”
With the Olympic games going on right now, athletics seem to be the go-to for life analogies, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s only one time, every four years, that these athletes have an opportunity to showcase their absolute best. And, if you asked most of them, you would find out that they have been training for this moment their whole lives. Similarly, in everyday life, we have to start training for goals long before we find ourselves standing in front of them.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to see goals as far off expectations; things we can think about when we get to them. But the challenge is to start running long before we ever see the start line of a marathon. Yesterday I was reminded of this while, in church, we were talking about living the present with the hope that our future reality brings.
We don’t know what exactly lies for us in the future. For me there are still a lot of undetermined variables that go along with the huge move I’m about to make. There’s paperwork, translators, classes, packing and numerous other aspects. But, what drives me in the now is the hope of change in my future, and it takes constant reminders to remember that there is an end goal I am working toward.
Because, ultimately, I have the option to do one of two things:
1. Panic and shut down because the obstacle looks too large to conquer.
2. Start preparing myself now, so that when I reach those obstacles I’m prepared to conquer them.
If you know you will need to run a marathon months away, you start training now in order to be ready. You start running now. You start logging your hours now. You start living in preparation of the future while you are still in the present.
The people who are the most successful are the people who begin with what they have and work toward what they want. It’s easy for me to look at goals, such as learning another language fluently, or successfully living and helping take care of a family I’ve never physically met, as mountains I don’t even begin to know how to climb.
But, when I start going into freak out mode, I remind myself of the promise for hope in my future. One of my favorite bible verses is Deuteronomy 31:8:
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Discouragement is one of the biggest battles when you’re fighting toward change in your life. There’s always going to be the negative input from outside and inside telling you you’ll never make it, or the challenge is too hard. But, when I start to listen to these voices, I take a minute and stop to remind myself that I will NEVER be left or forsaken and that discouragement and fear are not of God, and therefore of absolutely no interest to me.
He will never leave you nor forsake you.
It’s crazy, the power of words. They are essential to reminding us of our identity and our rite to live a life of freedom. They allow us to remember the promises of the future, by looking into the histories of our past. And allow us to work toward goals that are so much bigger than our comfort zones.
Six months from today I will be in France. And that’s scary. But fear is only an emotion – one I am not willing to allow to control, taint or command my actions or decisions. I live my life turned toward the reality of serving a God who promises me strength for today and a bright hope for tomorrow…and six months from now.
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Karim Seddik
Darkk Horse Travel 