Editor’s note: Mark Bradford is contributing occasional posts from his diary on traveling the country with his wife Wendy while they rent out their Mishawaka home for six months.
Day 40 of our 190 day sojourn
August 4, 2023 — London, Ontario
I have to say, Miss Jaroszewski (Miss J) did her job.
I was a bored and lost teenager at LaSalle High School in 1969 when I decided, for no particular reason, to take French as my required language credit. I barely knew where France was and wasn’t aware that in certain parts of Canada, it is the main language.
Miss J was a young teacher at the time and her task was to make a roomful of folks like me actually care about learning the French language. It had to be a thankless job, although I am sure she concentrated on the several students who did care and did value her enthusiasm and effort.
Her method was simple: Drill about 100 phrases that were the most likely to be used if the student ever got into a conversation with someone from France. Or for someone who, at age 70, was in Quebec City trying to find a place to park or interpret a menu for his wife.
I have not spoken French for more than 50 years. However, Miss J taught me just enough so I tested out of taking French at Purdue and also just enough that I was able to navigate Quebec City, where EVERYTHING is in French and only a few have English conversations.
“Merci” was easy. “Bonjour” was easy. “Parlez-vous L’Englais?” (do you speak English) was one that just seemed to come out of my mouth several times only because of Miss J.
After a day of trying to avoid figuring things out, I decided to spend my final four days in Quebec studying what the placards and signs said. Some were easy, some were far too advanced. I discovered that the more I studied the words, the more they came back to me thanks to Miss J.
The final day, I was able to follow conversations a little and was not afraid to say “Bonjour” even with my Indiana farmer twang.
So as we said goodbye to Quebec City for the 12-hour drive to London, Canada, I said a quiet but heartfelt “Thank you” to Miss J. I now wish I had been a better student because she was a really good teacher.
Today, Wendy and I re-enter the USA and head to northern Michigan for a few days with Wendy’s extended family. While I am happy to reconnect, I will miss the challenge of each day in Canada. It seems like every day was a bit of an adventure as we saw new things, figured stuff out, and perhaps most importantly, strengthened our union.
Being a couple is not always easy. In fact, it is messy especially when one of you is a dunderhead. However under all is the trust that each of us will be here every moment of every day, ready and waiting to pick the other one up, or propel that same person to new heights, or maybe just sit and listen.
That is perhaps the main thing we will take back as we re-enter our real life for the next four weeks.