I dream in FRENCH

...and my dad thinks that's weird. Mon père, whose own mother and father were native francophones! Why does he think I'm the odd one?

Anyways, I awoke this morning with the French equivalent sugarplums dancing in my head. At first I was slightly disoriented -- unsure of what continent I was exactly on. You see, just before the sun's mid-morning rays peeped through my blinds (just kidding, it was more like my dad's never-ending hammering up in the kitchen, even holidays are not exempt from new additions and home improvements), I snapped out of another countless French dream. I'm not sure how long they last, but I really am speaking in French in those dreams to other people who understand (natively I assume) the language.

Some days I'm amazed because I know the French word for extravagant objects in my dreams, which are fleeting images the next morning. Maybe my French vocabulary is impeccable in my subconscious. Other times I falter in my dreams, but mainly I have a good command of the French tongue in my sleep. I have taken over eight years of the language, including a brief summer abroad so maybe I really don't give my grasp on the language enough credit.

Either way, this is what I saw:

I was in a pâtisserie, badgering the chef about his biscuits, tartes, gâteaux, galettes, and petits fours.

I don't know where I was or when it was, but I think I saw my future. When I say I dream about my year in France (beginning in September) I literally mean it.

It's kind of funny, how today, July 4, is a day when most of us are celebrating our American heritage with pyrotechnics, flags, baseball, barbecue and all things patriotic and all I can think of is my impending expat status. American Independence, to me, is not the event it should be. Yes, I love living here and I do feel very lucky, but for the longest time I've never been home/free to properly celebrate the event. Last year, I was working at a baseball game. The year before that I was in France of all places!

So Happy Birthday America. Thanks for giving me the chance to experience a life in a different country while grounding me in the ideals and opportunities on which this nation was founded.