Live the Language

So we're back from warm and sunny L.A. and were greeted by a rainy, gray and dreary NYC. Freakin' fabulous. I'm so ready to take off again unless Mother Nature stops screwing around. But since that takes money and valuable time off work, I'll just settle for these short "Live the Language" videos made for the EF International Language Centers. Not only do they teach you a few vocabulary words, but also give you a quick taste of each city's culture.

Oy, I want to go to Europe so badly! But not just for a week-long vacation, no. I want a year abroad and truly wish I'd taken more advantage of that during my college years. In 2002, I up and went to France for a month to attend the Centre Internationale d'Etudes Francaise at the University of Burgundy and although I was ready to head home by the end of that July, I now wish I'd spent more time there. I still relish those moments I had to myself, spent wandering around aimlessly through the alley streets of Dijon, popping into random boutiques and pastry shops, pronouncing "oui" as a laid-back I'm-a-local "weh" instead (it took a bit to shake it off once I was back in the States). The tragic part was the rushed weekend tour I spent in Paris. It was unbelievably beautiful, yes, but it much too short. I didn't even get to run up to the damn Eiffel Tower! No, Paris definitely needs to be redone. And while I'm there I might as well visit Spain and Italy and Portugal and...

Have any of you ever spent a long stretch of time abroad? At work I'm surrounded by people who've traveled the globe and taken residence in random countries working odd jobs to supplement their savings so it's hard not to want that little adventure as well. Oh, and Jordan Ferney's recent move to Paris? SO not helping.