Life is a whole different ballgame these days

I've got grand plans in the works for the fall. I've been trying to figure out a trip to Austria sometime around October. I know a few people who have European destinations they'd like to visit, so I was trying to combine this solo trip with one of their destinations where I'd travel with them to their destination for a week or so and then head to Austria when they head home. I'm thinking it's not going to work out with another person, but either way I'm headed over there.
I'm actually going there to visit Christian, a former guest from here at the cabins. Today I was in one of the cabins and I happened to spot something out of the oridnary out the corner of my eye. We have a basket full of travel guides and pamphlets for local attractions and I noticed one sticking up that said Innsbruck (where he lives) across the top. It took me a second to realize it was out of place because I've been researching travel there for a bit now so Innsbruck is in the back of my mind constantly. It's been there since the Austrians left and I just now noticed it. Subliminal message? It's a publication for some sort of alpine association. I haven't read it because, well, it's in German. But. . .

Since I know I'm going to Austria, I figured I'd learn a little German. I already understand some German because: 1. the heavy anglo-saxon influences on English and 2. Dervid used to speak random bits of German to us when I was growing up. The funny thing here is that I actually started to sort of look into teaching myself German earlier in the year. I ended up losing track of it because I was busy here. Well, going to a German-Speaking country is some damned good motivation, so I've been teaching myself again. All I've been teaching myself is the grammar. I think if I can understand the grammar the rest will come easily. I already understand the syntax of simpler statements, which is awfully strange. Word order is more flexible at times than it is in English because you're less reliant on word order to denote meaning. German uses verb conjugation and noun gender instead of relying solely on word order. There are other times, though that word order is important, so I guess it's a trade off.
It's kind of interesting to apply old text to learning a new language. The way English has changed is interesting. English used to have masculine, feminine and neuter nouns way back when, but we've since left that behind. Verb use also used to be a bit different. German managed to hang onto these things over time. Knowing the little bit that I do about German now actually instantly makes old english make a lot more sense to me. Shakespeare would have made more sense to me back in the day if I knew this. They should teach grammar based on Shakespeare so that you actually understand the application and progression, as opposed to memorizing the outcome. I hated that about school - it was all memorization, there was no attempt to internalize and truly understand. If I don't know why something is done my brain dismisses it as unimportant. The best evidence I have of this is with calculus. I never understood it because it was just a set of rules I had to follow, which made no sense to me. There was no purpose. Finally, I randomly read something that talked about how Newton came up with calculus and what void he was filling with it and I instantly understood it. I just need to know why! I don't ever want to know the steps to get something done, I want to know why I'm doing it and what I'm hoping to accomplish. Similarly, I didn't ever remember the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit. Finally, one day on a test I needed to make that conversion without having it in front of me. I knew the boiling and freezing points in both systems so I just used that knowledge to form my own equation (which, obviously, is exactly the same as the one they teach you) and I haven't forgotten it since because I understand how it's derived.

Okay, so back to the language learning bit. After seeing it from the grammatical perspective, I've become more interested in language. I've been half considering getting TEFL certified for some time. It just seems like a great way to travel and be immersed in a culture while doing it. My newfound interest in language has made me want to do it even more because I'd get to learn more about it and teach it, too. I've requested information about a school in Florence where you take a 4-6 week course to get certified and along the way they help you make a resumé and secure a job. The whole thing is a year-long commitment. You can start almost any time, but I think the best time to start would be the Fall. If I'm going to Austria anyways I'd be close to Florence and would be able to go straight down and do that. I just don't think I'm ready to jump right into it, though. I've already been a bit anxious to get home to meet and get to know my niece now that she's at a more interactive age (she'll be about 1 when I get back). Maybe this will be something I do in the Spring after working over the Winter and saving some money.

My life has changed quite a bit in the last year. I'm so thankful I finally got the push I needed to make some drastic changes. Even if I'm going noplace in whatever life situation I find myself in, I'm entirely capable of doing the same thing for a long period of time because I tend to get stuck in a rut. It was a series of unfortunate events and misunderstandings that made me make some big changes. In the midst I wasn't thrilled, but sometimes bad things happen for the best, I suppose. Life is funny.