It is hard to define “culture” because the definition can be different for each person. Culture is something very evident, but it is also present in life’s implicit codes. I like Edouard Herriot’s definition of culture. He said that culture, “is all that remains when everything else is forgotten”. Culture is more than foods and festivals. It is values, customs, history, and a way of life. When I arrived in France I knew that there were cultural differences between the United States and France, but it was hard to explain outside of the stereotypes. Nonetheless, I have already noticed certain things that are individual to French culture.
Communication and spoken misunderstandings are perhaps the funniest. The “false friends” of the French language create a delicate dynamic. One week, I visited a photography exhibition with some friends. When I told my hosts about my day, I used the word “l’exhibition”, not “l’exposition”. My hosts then told me that “l’exhibition” in French means a public nude demonstration. Thankfully, with more time, I am making fewer of these mistakes, but there are still plenty of other things to adapt to.
After the first month, I began to have some regularity for each day. Initially, I ate a lot at restaurants and didn’t cook. Now, I try to cook more. In the States I go to the grocery store on Sundays, but when I went to the market Sunday afternoon all of the vendors were closed—the grocery stores as well. Now I will go shopping during the week because that was truly frustrating.
Other than daily activities, the other thing that takes up much of my time is school. I have survived two weeks of school at Jean Jaurès. Thankfully, for the most part, I understand my classes, even though my notes resemble hieroglyphics. It is truly different from Dickinson. The classes are in large rooms and the professors use microphones. The amphitheater that hosts my clinical psychology and psychopathology class could easy fit 1,000 students. It was impressive and intimidating the first day. Even though I can understand my courses, in general, I am scared for the exams because the majority is oral! Thankfully, I have plenty of time before the end of the semester to continue to better my French and to discover more things that construct not only the French identity, but the identity of Toulouse as well.