June Leftovers

Nothing is leftover because I am so far behind on posting, but here are a few that might not make it anywhere else.

That is a lot of Duolingo.

Fancy toilet paper at the B&B

Remember eating these?
I had completely forgotten until I saw them.
I did not buy them.

One of my favorite running spots.

This was taken 19 minutes in July, but I am putting it here because I got to see it the evening I returned home. It opens only once and only at night. I was so lucky to see it.

Streaking

I have been using a meditation app every day for four years.
Sometimes it is a short time, sometimes longer, and sometimes
more than once a day. I don't pay a lot of attention to the
number of consecutive days, but I am glad I keep using it.

My Duolingo (language practice) streak is longer and
that one I feel more pressure to keep going. Maybe I'll stop
at 2000 or maybe just drop a language or two. 

 

It's Almost That Time Again

 

Some time ago I was given this book,
which was published in 1956.

A few scenes remind me of sabbatical travels with my siblings and parents or with my husband and children, but mostly it is an entertaining piece from the past.

I am guessing a lot of people speak English, 
but I hope to learn a bit of Dutch.

It is not as much like Danish as I would have guessed.

I think our next year away will be different since we won't have any children with us, but maybe they will come visit! 

Labels

I appreciated the labels of everything in Iceland, even if I could not read them. Every creek we crossed had a name, every part of a waterfall, every little street.

Dynjandi

Strompdljúfrafoss

Göngumannafoss

Hrísvaðsfoss
(hmm, I am not sure how to type the Icelandic d, know as eth)

Bæjarfoss

Near Geysir, seen on the first day.
According to this site the name means The Royal Spring,
in honor of the visit of Denmark's King Christian IX in 1874.

My sister lived in Sweden for a year and I lived in Denmark for year. Despite our combined language skills we could not pronounce or understand most Icelandic. Icelandic does no use Q or W but has several extra vowels. In addition to the eth  (ð,Ð) there is also the thorn (þ/Þ). We had no problem getting by in English.

p.s. Found another sign among my pictures.
The signs are related to the rocks and the tradition of carrying them to show strength and
the ability to be a good defender, or so I gather from reading different translated pages.

Studying over the years

Last year I studied Castilian.

I had started studying at some point after moving to California.

About seven years ago I studied Danish.

I still study a bit each day.

In grades four and five I studied French. Thanks to my mom for mailing this to me.

Maybe one day I'll study French again and be able to read this.

"A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." I hope so!

German talent show

R.'s teacher doesn't rely only on a text book, but also uses pop music, literature, and current events. Today the Deutsch III and Deutsch IV students entertained some parents, the German consul, and several others by reciting poetry, singing songs, and a few unexpected acts (juggling, playing the piano, circus tricks).

Many years ago original event was quite small and held in a garden,
but this was a beautiful place to be inside.

R. impressed me by singing a solo in German!

This student did a variety of tricks on stage and received a lot of support.

Awards were distributed and R. was pleased to be one of two Deutch IV students to achieve the gold level on the 2016 National German Exam. R. is shown here with the German teacher, high school principal, and the Los Angeles German consul.  Congratulations!

Keep on truckin'

This shows my 160 day streak, although some of it was Danish, which I have now stopped
in order to focus on Spanish.  The good news is that when I want to form a Spanish
sentence I don't automatically create in Danish and then translate that into Spanish!

I have also been working on yoga.  It turns out I just dislike yoga class, not yoga.  I am happy to try different things without an audience.  Some of us cannot turn off our competitive streak.

Sometimes it is hard to figure out how I worked three days a week!