A language manifesto, and a few curious questions...

A gift which is truly a gift is never a gift merely.
It is a force, a fierceness, a drive. It does not bestow itself, it rather demands pursuit- tantalizes, taunts, eludes, rouses its servant to a frenzy of determination, a glow of enthusiasm, an intensity of ecstatic purpose. It is struggle, and it is joy. It is agony and sweat, but only as childbirth is- a glorious agony, bringing life, new meaning, into the world.
To have a 'gift for languages' is in essence this:
To be the thrall of language, enslaved by language learning. To cherish these bonds.
No chains could be more enlivening than those which place all the beauty and mystery of human communication and culture into the trembling manacled hands of a student who strains for them, dizzied with wonder.
In other words, language learning, though work-intensive, is fun. Exquisite fun. 'Deliciously fun', as one of my professors likes to say.
During the four years I've spent studying French, two years of learning Chinese, and three days of tackling German, I've continuously encountered a question which I find utterly incomprehensible. People phrase it in different ways:
"Why are you studying _____?"
"What's the point of learning ________? What are you going to do with it?"
"Why on earth would you want to know ______?"
Confession: People who ask this make no sense to me at all. When I meet someone, and they mention that they're studying a language, I feel an immediate kinship if it's one I'm studying as well, impressed if they're more advanced, envious and gluttonously eager to glean their knowledge if it's one I'm not learning. It never occurs to me to wonder why they're learning it. If they're the 'right sort of people', I already know.
This love of languages is characterized by a certain element of greed. I want them all, can't bear to encounter one without acquiring at least the rudiments of it. Possession for its own sake is a thing I strive for compulsively. So, the honest answer to the questions I continuously encounter is this: I study any given language in order to know it. I'm driven by the desire to master it, revel in it, and bask in it merely for its own sake. I learn languages for the sole purpose of knowing languages, and for the infinite pleasure and challenge involved in acquiring them. What I intend to do with these languages is to know them, and glory in the knowledge- to communicate with the vast new expanse of human beings each new language gives me access to, to read their literature, listen to their radio stations, befriend and adopt them. I never begin the study of a language with any more practical thought in mind than this starry-eyed fascination with people and cultures and words. Foreign languages, and the attendant cross-cultural friendships, are the thud of my heart, the pulse of my blood, the flame, the voice, the motion of whatever elusive quality is 'I'.
I've come up with many practical uses for my habit, primarily as an excuse to continue along this path of linguistic addiction. Language, words, are my catnip, an irresistible lure. To stumble over new words like an infant, gradually growing in confidence, to watch a tiny kingdom of vocabulary gradually explode into a vast militant empire of sentences, and then paragraphs, of which one is master, to begin practicing with native speakers, and shudder under the thrill of the complacent comprehension and casual response with which they increasingly meet one's stammered utterances, to sense the delicious invasion of one's thoughts, and then one's dreams with the seamless transition to a new tongue... This is living, as living should be.
Last year I discovered the magic of teaching languages, of opening up a whole new universe of sound and expression to students.
While in France I fell in love with translation- testing my competency in an adopted tongue by bringing it to life in my native one- striving to retain the subtleties of style and meaning of the original French while producing an accurate, culturally approachable, contextualized text in English. The magic of it catches me like a spell, nerving me to a delicate, painstaking attention to detail. I understand now why translators are compelled to spend hours searching and scribbling until the exact word or idiom, the precise turn of phrase is discovered, and another piece of the puzzle falls neatly into place. I want to do this.
Bref, the thought of spending a lifetime mastering the tools of translation and honing the  skills it demands, eventually adding multiple languages to my translating repertoire is enthralling, both in terms of satisfaction derived, and practical benefits such as working from home, a flexible schedule, having a fully portable career which is independent of location, and making contacts with 'language people' all over the world.
Certain elements, of course are intimidating- the massive tech savviness increasingly demanded of translators and interpreters, the aggressive self-marketing and meticulous organization/dedication to deadlines necessary for building up a respectable clientele. Mais peu importe. Je ferai mon mieux, et un tel travail vaut bien le travail qu'il faut pour s'établir.
So, to answer another, more reasonable question which I've received a lot since returning from France, my plans, admittedly loose, are thus:
To graduate at some point in 2013.
To return to the Loire region of France (probably to Nantes or Rennes) for a paid internship, teaching English as a second language, and hopefully taking a couple of French classes on the side. I can't express how eager I am to go back to Europe. Partly because it's Europe. Partly because... translation's not the only thing I fell in love with while in France.
Possibly, to go to graduate school to obtain a masters in French literature or something of the sort.
To go to China (Xi'an?) for a year to teach English and gain immersion in Chinese.
To continue studying Chinese independently, and as aggressively as possible. To self-study or take classes in German whenever possible.
During this time, to research, and study, and make contacts, and eventually establish myself as a French-English translator online and/or in my community. (Eventually, perhaps German-English as well)
At some point in the next six years, to return to China to work and build cross-cultural relationships for an indefinite period of time.
Eventually, to return to the U.S. to raise a family, and homeschool a herd of children.
To have an intentionally hospitable home near a university, which can function as a hub for the surrounding community of internationals, particularly becoming a second home and resource for international students. Perhaps to offer free English classes and conversation groups for ESL speakers. Perhaps to teach French informally as I previously have with our homeschool group.
To keep striving to better understand this terrible, wonderful, frightening, and topsy-turvy world of human beings and solemn mysteries which we inhabit.
Stuff like that. :-)
Those of you who were wondering, AND who read my blog, should be a bit more satisfied, now. Those of you who wonder, but didn't... I guess I'll have to keep answering these questions over and over again for you. And in English, too, which is boring... ^^ Quelle dommage!