325 dtg (Hello Mum!)

This is so excellent. My mother, presumably sick of waiting for her son to call her and let her know he is still alive, has taken to making contributions to my blog in order to send a subtle message that it is time again for me to call. Okay Mum, I promise I will. Tomorrow.

In the meantime, the list is complete - I invite all the language learners out there to increase their adopted vocabulary by attempting (twice) any 30 of the following, within one calendar year ...

1. Go to a local soccer (football) match
2. Attempt horseback riding
3. Host a tea-drinking ceremony
4. Visit a naval museum
5. Attend a wedding service
6. Haggle for something at a local market
7. Order and eat a customary dish
8. Take traditional dance classes
9. Learn a traditional song
10. Go to a supermarket with a shopping list of at least 10 items
11. Visit the post office
12. Purchase something from a travel agent
13. Get into a brawl at the local watering hole
14. Watch a locally produced film
15. Go to a public auction
16. Get a garment tailored
17. Get a haircut
18. Become attached to a local lady
19. Have a meal/drink at the neighbours' place
20. Become a member of the library
21. Visit an art gallery
22. Join a local online community
23. Join the gym
24. Travel to the "interior" of the country (a.k.a. "butt-fuck-nowhere") on a weekend trip with NO reservations of any kind whatsoever (AH! Take pictures and share stories)
25. write postcards to family members and friends back home
26. all for take in food (whatever you feel like)
27. Join a Wine Club or a Food Tasting Workshop
28. Go from the first train station of your city to the last one (in the same city, pelase)
30. Organize a dinner at your place for 3 friends and ask them to bring 1 unknown friend each
31. Go on a blind date
32. get a pair of shiny piercings in your testicles (I do not know if you will do this twice, but I am sure you will learn some interesting ways of expressing yourself both in the language you are trying to learn AND in your own... especially in your own &*%#%@$!!!).
33. Get completely lost in the poorest district in town
34. Have a conversation with a cab driver in his native tongue
35. Smoke the cheapest, nastiest local cigarettes.
36. Drink the cheapest, nastiest local alcohol
37. Eat the cheapest, nastiest local food.
38. join a cooking class
39. sell a local identity australian wine
40. learn how to cook a local dish so that you can cook it in Australia
41. go to the opera
42. buy a present for your mother
43. visit a temple
44. learn a song to teach your father

And, last but not least, thanks to Devrim for ...

45. Go to a party and attempt to pick someone up / make a new friend by lying to them (in your new language) over the entire course of the evening. The more outrageous the story (yes, I am an acrobat in a travelling circus and I was brought up by gypsies in Eastern Slovakia) the better.