Feeling Complimentary

I had a wonderfully busy day today as I met with some people from my local neighbourhood association. Both contacts shared their knowledgeable ideas and learned experiences with me. To top it off, even my (wonderful, talented) language teacher mentioned that she might have some contacts in her neighbourhood that she could introduce me to! Why yes, please, I don't mind if I do! But, it doesn't end there. I also had a confidence building day in the language department. Not only were my classmates complimentary concerning my capabilities tonight (they must have been mixing alcohol into their coffees) but the man who I buy my meat products from (at a shop called SAHAN just at the end of my street) also took the time to tell me that I was definitely making progress! 'Oh, you've improved so much!' he said 'One word every day and you'll know 365 by the end of the year!' It is sound advice in my books. I found his words inspiring, and in a way, a bit funny considering our dialogue revolves around ordering ground red meat or chicken filets. But hey, I'll take any compliment I can get on my Dutch.

All the happiness and gaiety of the aforementioned events today is starting to sound like one of those annoying inspirational posters that first-year university students use to wallpaper their dorm room as provided by the travelling poster sale that visits all campuses during frosh week. The very same event which ensures that all first year students have exactly the same amount of unique individuality that can be summed up by cliché pictures and canned sayings plastered to their white walls screaming in unison and in ubiquity... "I am different!" Hmmmm, this dish tastes kind of funny; I think I went over board with the sarcasm and that dash of cynicism in the final thought.

While my recipe to balance out the day (as an ecstatic researcher followed by curmudgeon) may be a bit off-kilter, it's nice to add good days to the jumble of days lived here. Today’s events compliment previous experiences and seek to challenge/question those in the future. Feeling complimentary, contradictory, and imminently conflagatory (not really a word), I'm outta here!