7 month anniversary

Hello all,

How time flies! I have been in France for seven months, as of Wednesday. In honor of that I thought I'd do a little summary of my feelings at the moment. Have I had the time of my life? Definitely. Has it always been rainbows and butterflies? Not at all. There have been a lot of times when I've wanted to run to the airport and get on the first plane out of France. This past week, the mass transportation workers striked in Grenoble, meaning that one in four buses passed in town and where I live not a single bus passed until 3:00 in the afternoon, by which time I had missed all my classes. It's little things like this that are a normal part of French life that I have not and will probably never become accustomed to. The language is another obstacle. Although I understand almost everything that is said, there are also a lot of times when I have no idea what's going on. This is often the case at dinner when there are at least seven of us at the table every night (sometimes up to twelve or thirteen people) and everyone is talking quickly and loudly at the same time. This has been one of the hardest adjustments for me because I prefer peace and quiet and large groups of people exhaust me after a while.

Despite all these annoyances, there are also many things that I enjoy. I can tell that I have grown in so many ways from my experiences here. Never again will I mock a non-Anglophone's accent in English. Even friendly teasing really hurts and it's extremely frustrating to know that you stick out like a sore thumb the moment you open your mouth (I can't tell you the number of times that I have been asked if I'm German or Russian). I can also say that I am much more sulf-suficient. Being in difficult situations, dealing with them yourself, and coming out OK is a liberating feeling.

I guess I would sum these seven months as a love-hate relationship with the French and their culture. I dislike the fact that the French are always on strike (they get four weeks of vacation and 35 hr. work week, for God's sake), that almost every single person has or currently smokes, that they NEVER pick up dog crap, they don't talk to their neighbors, and that NOTHING is open on Sundays. On the contrary, I appreciate their waste-not attitude (if mold is growing on the cheese, they just scrape it off), they use the least amount of water and energy possible (10 min. showers, at the most; no drying machines), cities are very pedestrian and bike friendly, and they appreciate a good bottle of wine. It's impossible to say if France is better than the US or vica versa, but I can appreciate the positives and negatives of both cultures.

There are a little over three months remaining before I head back home and I am both looking forward to it and dreading it. While I have improved in French, I now find it difficult to express myself in English. It is difficult to think of words that would have come easily to me before and the fact that I will be taking Spanish next semester will complicate things even further. Another small but significant change is that I have followed French culture for so long that I have no idea what's going on in politics (I heard about the health care bill, don't worry), what songs and movies are popular, what clothes are "in". In other words, returning home will be like entering a foreign country again. My host family asked me the other day why I don't follow American news and my response was that France was my home until July. When I left home, my goal was to emerge myself as much as possible in French culture and I've done that to the best of my ability.

One of the activities that I've engaged in is a musical that is taking place this weekend. This past week we have been rehearsing at least four hours each night and we're all exhausted. It's hard enough to memorize 25 songs in English, but this is in French! However, there is one song in English and I'm providing an excerpt because I think it's hilarious.

"Hey man keep going far your own seat.
You should blow your horn and play music as I have told you tonight. Yeah. Yeah.
But if you drink or take bad sweets please watch your mind.
I will fire you and you won't come back.
Listen to music as you start up your set.
Would you please show me that you give me your best.
Listen to music as you start up your set.
You shouldn't relax up midnight time comes up..."

The Haitian man who wrote this was so proud of it and I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't exactly grammatically correct English. This is the one and only song that I have a micro so I have to do it justice. Here's hoping that I don't fall on my face in front of 300 people!