Anticipation

Anticipation (ann-tee-see-pah-see-ohn: anticipation) is something both Anglophones and Francophones share, both as a mot (moh: word) and a sentiment (sent-ee-mehn: sentiment).  Sometimes this anticipation can be a bad thing, like waiting for the court results from your latest traffic infraction, or anticipating just how many pages your credit card statement is going to be this month.  And sometimes, anticipation can be a welcome feeling, such as waiting for an exotic trip to Turkey with your boyfriend whom you haven't seen since January...just as a for instance.

I've had my fare share of dealing with anticipation in both the Franco and Anglo context these past six months.  Jour (jwar: day) after excruciating jour of anticipating my every financial move on my pitiful assistant's salary compounded with the anticipation of just how in the world I'm going to give English oral examinations to 200 primaire (pree-mer: elementary) students is definitely the less welcome form of the term.  Anticipating just how much of a tan I'm going to get by spending Saturday by the canal Saint-Martin on a sunny April afternoon, on the other hand, is definitely a much more appeasing use of the concept.  As is anticipating just how much bliss I'm going to experience spending an entire week roaming hand-in-hand with mon petit ami (mon puh-tee ahm-ee: boyfriend) in the moped and food-stand filled streets of Istanbul.  In fact, that's plaisir anticipé (pla-zeer an-tee-see-pay: anticipated pleasure) of the highest degree.

The crazy part of anticipation is that the emotion is really just a huge build-up to an unknown future.  Maybe those dreaded speeding tickets will be tossed out by the judge (hey, it can happen!).  Maybe that credit card bill isn't going to be six figures long--without the decimal point factored in...  Or maybe that suntan by the canal will turn into a third degree sunburn or the romantic Turkish vacation with a sexy Californian will turn into a scene from Midnight Express.  The fact of the matter is, no matter how much I anticipate the future, I'll never be able to know exactly what to expect, whether the future happens to be good, bad, or boringly mediocre.

I guess what keeps anticipation alive is the fact that half the fun of the future is imagining all the different scenarios that may result until the big moment anticipé (moh-mehn ahn-tee-see-pay: anticipated moment) finally arrives.  I just hope my students don't notice that I've already planned to be mentally checked-out the rest of the week while I'm busy day dreaming about souks and Muslim prayer calls.  After all, isn't airheadedness part of my Californian charm?