learning and growing...little by little.

It's been 3 years now (last 23 august to be exact) that I strive, struggle and enjoy all blows of life in a foreign land and the learning process is not yet over. The most difficult part - learning their language - has been a great challenge but it's just a part of the adventure. Learning it was difficult, capturing it was another story, knowing it and being able to understand and engage in a conversation was a turning point. Living in another country without learning their language is for me, a waste of time. You will never know, appreciate and enter into ones culture without this weapon.

One thing I learned and really appreciated just this morning, on my way to a meeting in Paris, is that I could actually pay the taxi with my visa debit/credit card. Isn't that great? It was my first time to try it so I'm quite overwhelmed. To be frank, I forgot to take some cash with me (I normally don't have any cash with me as I always pay with my card or check, yes France I guess is the #1 user of microchips which I think is convenient), and to be more frank, once I got my feet into the train station at Dijon, I also forgot to withdraw some cash. But hey, I left my place at 6am, and I tell you, I was still on my clouds. And worst, when I arrived at the train station in Paris, I again forgot to withdraw. Am I having an Alzheimer here?

So I asked the taxi driver to drop me off somewhere where I could take some cash. To my relief, he told me I could pay him with my visa. So I thought ok, but I still have to take some cash for my next taxi, and he again told me that I should reserve a taxi and precise beforehand that it will be a card payment. Yeah, alright, I finally understood it :) kulit ko!

Oh well, little things like that facilitate life. Good to know. Actually, for my last two arrivals here in France, twice I arrived without any euro in my pocket? And twice have I searched for an ATM machine inside the airport with the luggage, the jetlag and all...I swear, it wasn't funny. Little did I know that I could eventually pay with my card. Oh well, innocence is sweet, but ignorance kills!!!