List of the skills acquired or perfected during the last five years that I put to use here during my intensive German classes:

  • ability to speak English fluently;
  • ability to cook;
  • ability to take decent pictures;
  • ability to sing along with a good number of Belle and Sebastian songs;
  • ability to talk about beers / wines / vodkas like I really cared about anything else besides whether or not I like them;
  • ability to plan a trip;
  • ability to dance;

List of the skills acquired or perfected during the last five years that nobody gives a shit about:

  • ability to give a scientific presentation;
  • ability to do science;
  • ability to use a computer and know what I'm doing with it;
  • ability to write a fucking PhD dissertation.

List of the skills I've had for over ten years and that impress the most people:

  • ability to speak French fluently;
  • ability to pronounce "an en in on un" in French;
  • ability to book train tickets and take the train without it turning into a nightmare;
  • ability to wander around a medium-sized city (called, in that context, "big city") without panicking / losing myself / getting robed / noticing anything unusual about the situation;
  • ability to know where the car is parked and remember where the post office is;
  • being French.