I’m now in my first week of classes at the AUCP, and assimilating into
the culture here in Aix. I’m learning that there are many minute adjustments
that come with living in another country that might not be apparent at first
glance. As I learn more about the French culture, and experience it every day in
my apartment, the cafés, and on the streets, I realize that every student must
go through a personal shift during his or her time abroad. Taking this
evolution into mind, I couldn’t help but wonder…
How much is the French SommerAnn like the American SommerAnn?
As part of our orientation program, we’ve been talking a lot about
cultural education and cultural intelligence. There is much more to living in
another culture than simply possessing cultural tact or sensitivity. I feel
that in America we are forced to have such tact to act in our society both
politely and with our American notion of being “politically correct.” I’ve
always thought myself to be culturally open and tolerant if not completely
accepting of people’s cultural backgrounds. Thus far in my life, acting and
thinking according to such principles has served me well, and I don’t think
anyone would describe me as culturally insensitive or close-minded.
After my first two days in Aix I’ve learned, rather alarmingly, that
this method of thinking is not going to suffice during my time abroad. One
cannot simply respect another culture when living in it, one must assimilate,
and one must adopt to the customs of the culture. I cannot simply think in my
head “Oh, that’s so interesting that the French think interdependently and
really value family.” I must change my habits to demonstrate my understanding
and my respect of their culture. This means asking my host mother to join me
and meet my friends when they come over to the apartment, this means asking my
host family for recommendations when I’m travelling somewhere so they don’t
feel left out. This means taking definitive actions each day that are not
within my American cultural vocabulary.
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| The Cours Mirabeau, the main street in Aix. (McCullough, 2012) |
While there are definitely aspects of the American SommerAnn that are
changing due to this French adaptation, there are certain parts of me that I
don’t think will be evolving any time soon. One of these facets includes my guilty
pleasure of reality television shows. Monday night, I watched the series premiere
of “L’amour est dans le pré” or the
French version of The Bachelor. While the show uses all the same cheesy lines
of “finding true love” with the same
types of amusing and crazy contestants, it is very different in the fact that
it takes place with 14 people each season. There are seven women and seven men
all searching for the love of their lives, and they’re all French farmers! The
shows consists of these farmers receiving letters of interest from possible
suitors, choosing two, and then having a date with these two people at their
house: at the same time, which is where the hilarity and craziness will start
to emerge! Frédérique told me this show was great for my French education since
I am learning about the French regions (each farmer lives in a different region
of France), while increasing my comprehension skills (they don’t speak with a
very intelligent vocabulary, thus making it easy and fun to understand!). I
like her logic.
Another aspect of the American SommerAnn that I’m sure many wish would
change, but I’m afraid is here to stay, is my love of talking…rather loudly.
Sadly, this is a very American habit I have developed over the years, and one I
have tried to tame in the past, but never to any avail. The other day I
was engaged in a conversation with my classmates as we walked down the streets returning to the Center. My host mother, Frédérique, came out of a nearby
boutique because she recognized my voice (yes, from inside). It was a very cute
moment as we “faire les bises” and chatted a bit about our days thus far. However,
it also proved that despite any efforts I have made so far to blend into the
French culture by being more discreet, I’m still on the loud side. But, I am
not giving up! I refuse to be that annoying loud American girl at the bars this
Saturday night.
While I’ve found some customs much easier to adapt to, such as having a
café every day (definitely not a burden!) or even doing my Yoga in French (even
if it’s only in my head for now!), I know there are many larger adaptations
that have yet to occur. As our director Lilli says, don’t think “That is weird”
or “That is wrong,” instead ask “Why do I feel that way?” and turn it into a
learning experience. I will definitely keep this in mind as I continue to live
in Aix.
On a more familiar note, today we had our first true classroom discussion at the Center! We discussed the evolution of the family, looking at the different types of families (nuclear, single parent, same-sex parents, etc.), the idea of divorce, and the concept of egocentrism in our modern culture. The comfortable banter of voices, philosophies and scholarly opinions reminded me so much of a Denison classroom! I knew I could never leave my liberal arts education behind, and am so glad to discover that the same class atmosphere of healthy debate can be discovered in a French classroom. It makes me even more excited to start my true classes next week.
I’ve continued to meet new students at the Center this week, and am very
excited to get to know everyone else better! Forming friendships with other
American students, in French, has been a very fun experience. I’m pretty sure
I’m still the same SommerAnn in all of those regards!
A tout!
Bises,
SA
I laughed at first at the idea of French vs American SommerAnn. I thought you had created some super french alter ego that only comes out on french soil of after imbibing gratuitously.
ReplyDeleteBut you bring up a universally valid point. I dealt with it in americorps because even though we're all american we were all from very different backgrounds. And there are things about everyone's culture that are "deep" and unseen. And sometimes unlearn-able at first. It's more obvious for you because everyone understands that you might now know. And that's a real asset because you can use it as you have been to gain a real understanding. But it happens between people of the "same culture" too. You can probably retain this culture sensing skill and use it when you come back to better understand why some people act and react the way they do. I've all but forgotten it. :)
I'm glad you're trying to really embrace France. I knew you would.