We are still in the introductory phase of the 44-week class where we talk about relatively simple topics. For example, our biographies, food, education, vacations, hobbies, family, and how we like to spend our free time. However, vocabulary for other, more complicated topics is starting to sneak into the lessons: human rights, protests, freedom of the press, domestic violence, corruption, the environment, and more.
Over the last couple of weeks, I missed one day of class due to illness. We also had Area Studies days twice, so there were only seven actual language class days. The days can feel long but the weeks are passing quickly. As week nine ended last Friday, we hit the 20% course completion mark.
Awesome things that happened during the past two weeks of Bosnian class…
- The free gym in our building wasn’t working for me, but fitness is a priority. So I decided to join a really nice gym in a great neighborhood adjacent to ours. It feels good to work out there. As opposed to our building’s gym, which is hot, crowded, has no windows, doesn’t feel clean, and at any given time half the cardio machines don’t work, my gym is spacious, extremely clean, air-conditioned, and has a ton of equipment and amenities. I people-watch from the floor-to-ceiling windows as I work out. I see people outside going about their everyday lives in a context I understand. It feels like the right place for me to be and it’s contributing to my health and fitness in a way that doesn’t feel like a chore.
- I completed my first month of physical therapy (PT) and rewarded myself with some new workout clothes (and, frankly, because I was getting tired of the three T-shirts I brought here from Burma). I usually go to PT three or four times a week, directly after language class. I simultaneously dread it and feel incredibly lucky to be able to do it. I can feel myself getting stronger, although many of the exercises my therapist asks me to do are still challenging and take considerable effort to get through. Still, there has been significant improvement in what I can do now compared with what I was capable of at the beginning. Recovering properly, minimizing dysfunction and pain, and regaining the full use of my body after my accident remain among my top priorities.
- I also bought a couple of pairs of knee-high boots for autumn and a leather belt. I already own boots, and belts, and… many other things. Unfortunately, almost all of our possessions are in storage—either as a result of our summer 2025 packout in Virginia, when we put about 85% of our household effects, by weight, into storage, or from our packout a few months ago in Rangoon, when we were only able to bring back to Virginia 450 pounds of the approximately 1,800 pounds we had originally brought to Burma.
Having to replace things you’ve already paid for but simply don’t have access to is, for me, one of the most frustrating and disheartening aspects of this lifestyle. It makes me feel as though I’m caught in an endless cycle of disorganization and consumerism (buy, purge) which is fundamentally at odds with how I run my household and my life.
My natural inclination is to buy, maintain, keep, repair, conserve, and reuse. I like knowing where things are, while also making sure I’m not ruled by them. Worrying about how much everything weighs also gets so old. - V and I live only a couple of blocks from a movie theatre, so we celebrated Halloween by joining a monthly subscription club where we can go to the movies up to four times per week. We spent the spooky holiday watching Verity, a creepy suspense thriller, instead of passing out (or eating) candy.
- I received news that the criminal proceedings against the driver who hit me last year have concluded. I’ll write a separate post about this at some point.
I don’t know how to feel about the fact that I’m already one-fifth done learning Bosnian. I don’t even really understand how we’ve arrived in November when seemingly 10 minutes ago it was August and I was wearing sandals and tank tops. I have the feeling the rest of it is going to go much faster than Burmese did.
Our progress is underlined by the changing of the seasons. The trees are starting to shed their autumnal leaves. The clocks fell back last weekend and it’s already getting dark much earlier.
Sometimes, as students, we complain about the pace and difficulty of our language classes. At other times, we’re able to step back and appreciate our time at FSI as a reprieve from the challenges of embassy service overseas. The truth is, every work assignment has its own challenges. For now, I’m really enjoying being in a learning environment again, rather than being responsible for keeping up with the depth and breadth of ever-evolving consular management knowledge.
It has gotten harder — to speak, to read, to grasp grammatical concepts. I’m sure what lies ahead will make the present look like child’s play, though, so I regularly look back at earlier lessons and remember how far I’ve come. Twenty percent done is something we can build upon.
