Month: November 2012 Page 1 of 2

Dear readers,

This month, the students have shared some excerpts from their intercultural journals, written for their « Toulouse Colloquium » class, where they analyze their observations of daily life and of French culture. Furthermore, you’ll find an account of their group trip to Paris as well as some interviews on the American Election Day Party that they participated in.

Enjoy!

Anna Ciriani Dean

On November 6th, day of the presidential elections in the United States, the Dickinson in France students participated in an Election Day Party organized by the Toulouse Business School, inpartnership with Dickinson in France, the Institute of Political Science, and other Toulouse organizations. The evening attracted many people with different nationalities. The Dickinson students animated many of the evening’s activities, such as a simulated voting booth, a quiz on American government, a presentation of the main candidates, debates on different topics and an electoral map. Their participation was greatly appreciated by the general public.

During the evening, two students, David Fwler (Tufts) and Michelle Hovy (Dickinson) were interviewed by a journalist, whose article, entitles “US Election Night in Toulouse: ‘If Romney wins, I’m not going back to the US,” appeared online the next day. Follow this link for the article. http://carredinfo.fr/nuit-elections-us-a-toulouse-si-romney-gagne-je-ne-retourne-pas-aux-etats-unis-16108/

During the fall vacation, the Dickinson students and team left Toulouse to spend four days in Paris. Some of them had already visited the capital whereas others were discovering it for the first time. During the train ride, I asked them about their perception of Paris before and after their four-day trip.

Darcy expressed her excitement to visit this famous city for the first time: “All I’m thinking is ‘Paris! I’m going to Paris! Paris! I’m going to Paris!’” After four days, satisfied of with her visit, she still felt the charm of Paris, but she had also discovered how tired the city can make you: “I walked a lot this week, so today my body is tired, my feet are tired, my head is tired, I al tired.”

David noticed a change in his perspective from when he visited Paris in middle school : “I visited Paris when I was young…this time, I’m older, but I’m now a resident of France, not a tourist.” He adds: “I was able to appreciate the city more than last time. With more independence, you can discover the lesser known parts of the city, for example.”

On the way there, Eric pointed out the mysterious qualities of Paris : “I feel like Paris is a beautiful woman, the most beautiful city in the world.” After a few days spent wandering the “city of Enlightenment,” he explained that “my favourite day was when I walked for about eight hours; I think the best way to see Paris is by foot.”

Marie came to Paris with many plans in mind. She wanted to visit a lot of different monuments and museums, but choosing her visits was more difficult: “I’d like to visit small neighborhoods, markets, but honestly I don’t know yet. I think I’ll just decide when the time comes!” In four days, she felt she had a firm grasp on the city and declared: “I was surprised by how comfortable I felt…even though Paris is a huge city, I could find my way around easily.”

Michekke wanted to visit the unknown, to get away from tourist sites: “I’m not going to go to the Eiffel Tower, to the Louvre museum or to other places packed with tourists. I’d find that a waste of time, especially when there are lots of other things I’d like to do.” She really appreciated the cultural diversity of this “wonderful and cosmopolitan city,” where you can “hear more foreign languages than French and run into people from lots of different countries.”

Having already been to Paris, Nina thought that “Parisians aren’t as cold as we make them out to be and the atmosphere is actually less stressful than other large cities in the United States.” During her thrd visit to the city, she found that Paris is “a good city to discover by foot, which allows you to see the personality of the buildings that give Paris its charm” and she also notes that “there are lots of Americans – I heard English everywhere.”

Unlike Nina, Rosy discovered the city for the first time. “The only sources of inforlation I have on the city come from films and (probably) aren’t a good representation of the city,” she said on the train ride there. Having run into Parisians during her four days, she concluded that “they like it better if you speak French because they initially tried speaking English with me once they guessed I was foreign. Once we told them we spoke French, they were luch nicer.” She was enamoured by the city and enthusiastically exclaimed that “It was almost impossible to believe I was actually there.”

Monica, also in Paris for the first time, expected to be “surprised, charmed and intimidated by this wonderful city, Paris.” She took off to discover the city alone, determined to “visit all fo the things that are most important to me even if nobody wants to come with.” The energy of the capital let her appreciare Toulouse better than before: “Paris is a beautiful city, great to visit, but I personally prefer living in the pink city. It’s less expensive, there are less English speakers, and the weather is much nicer!”

Finally, Ashleigh confided that “I’d asked my French friends in Toulouse for suggestions and they gave me a list of things to do.” Like Monica, she added: “I think Paris is great for vacation, but I’m happy I don’t live there.” She avoided tourist locations and dedicated her time to more mundane activities: “I went to a lot of cafés (and drank a lot of hot chocolate!), I went shopping, and I strolled around Paris.”

Click here to view photos from the original post http://blogs.dickinson.edu/toulouse/2012/11/19/quelques-impressions-de-paris/

One part of my experience here in France is to participate in volunteer work at my university, L’institut Catholique de Toulouse. For several weeks now I have been meeting with second and third year students in the philosophy department to speak in English. We talk together for half an hour each week, and I try to help them with their vocabulary and grammar. For them it is a nice chance to practice English outside the context of school.

By helping others with their English, however, I have noticed for the first time some interesting aspects of my own language.  By explaining certain vocabulary words, I have actually started to better analyze the details and nuances. For example, one of the students and I were discussing the “la campagne française”: We translated it as “country,” (in the sense of rural areas that are not part of a city) as we were speaking in English. She asked me if “country” has another translation in French as well, and I answered that yes, in fact, “country” can also mean “pays” (in the sense of a nation such as France or America). As I said this however, I thought a bit more on the subject, and I explained that there is actually another word: “country side”, which corresponds more with “la campagne,” but that it is used very little.  We noticed that while in French there are two separate words, in English there is only one word that is used in both senses. It is a detail that I had not noticed before talking with this student, and I wondered if maybe in the past “country side” was used more frequently and is now being forgotten by Americans. There are also specific points of pronunciation that are simple for me, but troublesome for foreigners.   For example, I was speaking of a city that is not too far from my hometown in New Jersey called “Newark” when the student asked me if I meant “New York”.  I realized then that the difference in pronunciation of these two words is actually difficult to hear, but before starting this volunteer work, I would never have noticed. It is these little discoveries that I find so interesting, and I believe that this work, though intended to help the French students learn English, is just as much an opportunity for me to gain a bit of perspective and learn more about the English language.

Before I came to France, I really believed I would have only French friends. But by the end of my seventh week, and even now in the middle of my eleventh or twelfth, I don’t have any that I see very often. And no, I don’t wear berets when I go to class, I don’t know all the French slang; I often wonder if I’m not really living “la vie française.”

It’s true that I’ve met several French people, but it’s harder than I thought to become close with the “natives.” French students my age already have their circle of friends, like I have mine in the States. The French, however, are not the only inhabitants of Toulouse. I go to a very large public university, Le Mirail, where there are almost 400 ERASMUS students from all over Europe. These students are the perfect study abroad friends for me. They gave me a friendship I wasn’t expecting, but that I desperately needed. Like me, they came here to learn French, and thus they speak a version of French that is easy to understand – which was especially important when I first got here! They come from throughout the continent – England, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Portugal, etc. Even if they’re not French, they’re European, and I never would have gotten to meet anyone like them if I had stayed at home. When you’re in a foreign country and don’t know anyone – and even when you’re in your own country, for that matter – there’s nothing you need more than friends. My first few months here have been a bit like being a college freshman again – tons of new faces, new names, new events. And although you know you won’t remember them all, you’ll remember how you felt being a part of it. And you never know which of those new faces belongs to your next best friend.

It could simply be because I study at a school of political science, but nonetheless I find it interesting that almost every discussion I’ve had with my fellow students, and this is including even the shortest of conversations, has contained questions concerning my political alignment. This surprised me at first, since in the United States your voting record is a taboo subject that tends to not be brought up, except between close friends and family. According to Pascal Baudry, the French culture is defined by the implicit, so I am to assume there is an underlying reason for asking this question besides the explicit, “I am curious who you voted for.” Baudry also notes that the French culture is “essentialist” in that you are judged by objective personal qualities, such as what city you and your diploma come from. Baudry contends that on the other side of the Atlantic people are judged more by their actions. Following Baudry’s logic, you could see this politically-charged question as an interrogation on my personal attributes and a way of getting know a person better by judging their political alignment. During this year, I will try to discover the judgements and stereotypes the French hold in relation to the American political parties

Cultural differences don’t normally worry me because they show the basic human connections that exist between us. But because these differences are constantly present, they challenge me in a new way. It’s like playing a soccer game with new shoes. You know the rules of the game and you play well, but your feet aren’t comfortable. For the most part, everything is okay, but you feel slightly ill at ease. For instance, when I have dinner with my host family, you must place your bread, the basic element of a French meal, on the table, not on your plate. It’s a nuance of French culture, but at the beginning of my stay, I put my bread on my plate at each meal, and each time I realized what I was doing and had to correct my mistake.

A piece of bread is not a serious crime. In fact, my hosts probably didn’t even notice my error, but it’s still a problem. Not a problem in the sense that I can’t function properly in France, but in the sense of immersion. I can speak French fairly well and I can live in France without significant difficulties, but I want to integrate as well as possible. Leaving bread on the table, keeping the bathroom door closed, it’s « vous zêtes » not « vouz êtes » : these are all examples of cultural nuances. If integration remains my objective, I have to break in my running shoes. I will never become French. I’m American and I won’t hide my own culture. But in the spirit of understanding a culture and finding a rhythm during the match, you have to learn the nuances, big or small.

My first night in France, I realized that I don’t eat the same way as the French. My grandmother is very strict about table manners, and according to American standards, my eating habits are very refined. But I Toulouse, I eat like a barbarian. I used my fork to stab my food whereas my host’s manner of eating didn’t resemble mine at all. She ate very delicately whereas I seemed uncouth. Today, I’m still a barbarian. I try to eat like the French, but the food always falls off my fork.

The influence of history is different in France. France boasts thousands of years of history, which the French duly remember. But the United States are a young country and have a shorter history. Americans can wander astray from historical traditions and culture with no great consequences. On the contrary, the French are forced to preserve their traditions and culture which have existed since Roman times. You can see the footprint of these eras on the French’s cultural practices.

Good manners date back to the Middle Ages, when people ate differently. During this time period, people only used their knife or dagger to eat. Eventually they started using spoons, but in the beginning they stabbed their food with a knife. Modernization during the Renaissance changed people’s habits, as they wanted to seem more refined to live in a world that read Aristotle, Socrates and other ancient intellectuals. Therefore, the fork was invented, but this event was neither the direct result of Aristotle or Socrates. The fork evolved because it allowed people to distinguish themselves as refined.

Today we use a fork and knife. But normally, the two stay in the eater’s hand for all types of food. In the United States, you can leave your knife on your plate while putting bites of food in your mouth. The French, however, don’t stab their food; they use their knife to slide their food onto their fork. The actions are a bit difficult, because (if you’re a righty) you have to keep your knife in your right hand and your fork in your left hand. In the United States, it’s different; you cut your fod with your right hand, but then when you eat, you can also use your right hand.

It’s just another small detail that points out that I’m a foreigner. The details of French culture are something I want to learn. These slices of culture and tradition define France – the country I want to know well by the end of the year.