Goodbye For Now

Hi again everyone.  This will be my last post on this blog :(  Since the last time I've posted I've spent two weeks traveling Europe, another two packing my bags and saying goodbye, and one last week vacationing in Normandy before getting on that plane in Lyon, homeward bound at last.  This year has been absolutely amazing in every way, and as I write this from my home in New Hampshire, I'm beginning to realize just how much it's changed me.  Montbrison will always be my home and a part of me, and I know that I'll return sometime soon.  For now, it's time to send out one last thank you to everyone who's followed my blog throughout this year, and to Rotary, who made my amazing exchange year possible.

As sad as I was to leave Montbrison, I'm thrilled to be reunited with my family and on my way to many new adventures.  It's time to turn the page on exchange and let a new chapter of my life begin.

***

Mais le renard revint à son idée:
- Ma vie est monotone. Je chasse les poules, les hommes me chassent. Toutes les poules se ressemblent, et tous les hommes se ressemblent. Je m'ennuie donc un peu. Mais, si tu m'apprivoises, ma vie sera comme ensoleillée. Je connaîtrai un bruit de pas qui sera différent de tous les autres. Les autres pas me font rentrer sous terre. Le tien m'appellera hors du terrier, comme une musique. Et puis regarde ! Tu vois, là-bas, les champs de blé ? Je ne mange pas de pain. Le blé pour moi est inutile. Les champs de blé ne me rappellent rien. Et ça, c'est triste ! Mais tu as des cheveux couleur d'or. Alors ce sera merveilleux quand tu m'auras apprivoisé ! Le blé, qui est doré, me fera souvenir de toi. Et j'aimerai le bruit du vent dans le blé...
Le renard se tut et regarda longtemps le petit prince:
- S'il te plaît... apprivoise-moi ! dit-il.
- Je veux bien, répondit le petit prince, mais je n'ai pas beaucoup de temps. J'ai des amis à découvrir et beaucoup de choses à connaître.
- On ne connaît que les choses que l'on apprivoise, dit le renard. Les hommes n'ont plus le temps de rien connaître. Ils achètent des choses toutes faites chez les marchands. Mais comme il n'existe point de marchands d'amis, les hommes n'ont plus d'amis. Si tu veux un ami, apprivoise-moi !
- Que faut-il faire? dit le petit prince.
- Il faut être très patient, répondit le renard. Tu t'assoiras d'abord un peu loin de moi, comme ça, dans l'herbe. Je te regarderai du coin de l'œil et tu ne diras rien. Le langage est source de malentendus. Mais, chaque jour, tu pourras t'asseoir un peu plus près...
Le lendemain revint le petit prince.
- Il eût mieux valu revenir à la même heure, dit le renard. Si tu viens, par exemple, à quatre heures de l'après-midi, dès trois heures je commencerai d'être heureux. Plus l'heure avancera, plus je me sentirai heureux. A quatre heures, déjà, je m'agiterai et m'inquiéterai; je découvrirai le prix du bonheur ! Mais si tu viens n'importe quand, je ne saurai jamais à quelle heure m'habiller le cœur... Il faut des rites.
- Qu'est-ce qu'un rite ? dit le petit prince.
- C'est aussi quelque chose de trop oublié, dit le renard. C'est ce qui fait qu'un jour est différent des autres jours, une heure, des autres heures. Il y a un rite, par exemple, chez mes chasseurs. Ils dansent le jeudi avec les filles du village. Alors le jeudi est jour merveilleux ! Je vais me promener jusqu'à la vigne. Si les chasseurs dansaient n'importe quand, les jours se ressembleraient tous, et je n'aurais point de vacances.
Ainsi le petit prince apprivoisa le renard. Et quand l'heure du départ fut proche:
- Ah! dit le renard... Je pleurerai.
- C'est ta faute, dit le petit prince, je ne te souhaitais point de mal, mais tu as voulu que je t'apprivoise...
- Bien sûr, dit le renard.
- Mais tu vas pleurer ! dit le petit prince.
- Bien sûr, dit le renard.
- Alors tu n'y gagnes rien !
- J'y gagne, dit le renard, à cause de la couleur du blé.


Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery

Ode to French Food

So, now that my time in France is (all too quickly) coming to an end, I figured I'd post on a topic I can't believe I haven't talked about all year: French food.  Confession: this post was originally going to be about the amazing (surprisingly gourmet) food truck that sits in the center of my city selling delicious food to passersby, and which actually isn't scary or health-compromising like any American equivalent would be... but then I decided that since I haven't really talked about French food at all this year, now would be the time to do it.

For starters, French meals are a little different than American meals.  Breakfast is fairly light (but not really a skip-able meal, like it often is in America), and always sweet.  Leftover desserts and other good things like that often get put out on the breakfast table, while American classics like eggs and bacon are unheard of as breakfast food.

Lunch is the largest meal of the day, and is eaten at home with one's family whenever possible.  Schools and workplaces generally give about two hours for lunch to give everyone the time to commute back home, prepare a meal, eat with their family, digest, and return to work/school.  The meal generally consists of a first course of salad or vegetables, then a main course of meat and/or grains, a bread and cheese course, and then fruit for dessert.  The French definitely eat much more slowly than Americans, which has been enjoyable, and I also feel like they put more effort into each meal- cooking is really a pleasure here.  Also, everything is less sweet here.  Every time I eat "American-style food" like sandwich bread, American cheese, juice, milk chocolate, peanut butter, or anything, I find myself almost overwhelmed with the sweetness.  It's strange, but once your palate gets used to lower doses of that stuff, too much of it can honestly make you feel really sick.  Makes me wonder how I'll do readjusting to American food (all day, every day) when I go back home.

Around 4:00-6:00 pm, we have tea time, a custom that I've really grown to love here, and I've officially decided I'm never going back to that "old life" that didn't involve drinking 3-4 cups of tea per day (breakfast, tea time, after dinner, and sometimes seconds).  This is also the time of day when we eat sweet desserts, biscuits, or other baked goods, rather than just fruit like we do after meals.  This little break sort of marks the end of the school/work day and the beginning of the evening, and it's a nice time to stop what I'm doing, relax, chat with my host family, and... well... bask in the hot, delicious splendor that is tea.

Dinner is late- around 8:00, and is quite a bit smaller than lunch.  It generally involves soup in winter, salad or vegetables in summer, and whatever leftovers we've been wanting to clear out of the fridge.  For my fellow Americans out there, it's easier just to think that lunch and dinner are kind of reversed here, compared to the way it is at home.  The meal doesn't last as long either, but if no one's in a rush, we typically stay around the table a bit longer to chat and drink coffee or tea.  Then, after a while, that conversation and those caffeinated beverages tend to make their way into the living room, where we sit for a while in front of the TV before all going to bed.  Since we eat so late, my host family and I are generally already showered, done with homework, and in pajamas by the time we sit down to dinner, so it all works out pretty well.

Anyway, there's my spiel on food- one of the best parts about the country, and really just because of the time and attention that goes into meals.  I know that once I go back to America, I'll have to take some time to readjust to my family's (and my country's) cultures and norms, but I'm hoping these long, careful French meals are something that I can hold onto and introduce to others back home.  It's one of those great day-to-day things that I know I take for granted here, but with a little luck, maybe I won't have to leave it behind with my exchange after all.


(Also, if any of you ever find yourselves in Montbrison, France, for some strange, unpredictable reason, please take my advice, and check out the food truck ;) )

To My Host Families :)

One of the special benefits of being a Rotary Exchange Student in high school is the opportunity to experience life in a number of generous, welcoming host families.  Personally, I think this is one of the things that really sets Rotary's experience apart from other exchange programs, in which exchange students live on campuses with a crowd of other foreigners, or with an exchange group of people from their native country- speaking their native language, carrying on with their native traditions and practices.  Living in a total immersion situation isn't always easy- that's for sure- but I feel like it truly is much more rewarding from a cultural perspective.  So, in honor of upcoming Mother's Day and Father's Day in France, I've decided to dedicate this blog post to my three host families who have taught me "life in French."

First, I'll thank the Paracuellos family, who first taught me my way around the city that would become my home; who introduced me to people who would become my close friends through thick and thin; and who were the first to show me that a family so vastly different from my own could have it's very own way of functioning, getting along, and caring for each other.

Next, to the Perrin family, who welcomed me into their home for the three months that included Christmas and my birthday and who were always there as a shoulder to cry on whenever I needed it; who appreciated my American cooking to a point I never would have expected; and who helped me get involved at the local hospital, as a way of giving back to the community that had given so much to me.

Finally, my current host family, the Defaux, who got me interested in the wonder that is French cinema; who reluctantly stuck (at least) their feet into the freezing Mediterranean when I just had to go swimming; and who have given me so many amazing (hilarious) memories.

All of these vastly different families have made my dream of living in France come true, and I know that when I return home in a few weeks, I'll do so with brilliant memories of wonderful moments spent with all three of them.

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
-A. A. Milne

Vacation in France

Hi everyone!  I've just recently gotten home from a two- week spring break, spent traveling and relaxing in the south of France with my wonderful host family.  This isn't really a cultural post (one of those coming soon though, I promise!), just a chance for me to update you on some of the great things I've done and seen over the past few weeks.

We spent most of vacation at a beach community in the town of Sete, France, right on the Mediterranean!  I actually swam in the ocean twice- freezing, but worth it!  There, we got to see the sights, sample the local cuisine, and visit historical sites and landmarks.  Funny enough, doing all this really reminded me how I've done relatively little "sightseeing" and "tourist-trap" type things here in France.  Weird how after just a few months, this place has really just become another home to me. Anyway, the fun vacation-type things were all the more enjoyable because of it.

Proof that I actually swam in the Mediterranean :)

 



Awesome old cathedral we saw while walking along the Canal de Midi.

 

Funny story about these guys: up until two weeks ago, I didn't actually know the French word for duckling (you know, just not one of those words you think of learning until you need it), so when I spotted these guys while taking a walk, I stood there pointing and shouting "Small ducks, small ducks!  Look everybody, I found duck babies!!!"...And then asked what they were called.

 

 On an empty beach at sunset with my host sister.

 

We climbed up a ridiculous number of stairs to get this view, but it was totally worth it.

 

This cool painted church at the top of all those stairs.

 

So, that's my update for now!  I'll be back with another post ASAP.

The Way

The Way of Saint James/ Le Chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle/ El Camino de Santiago (because this is a blog post that really calls for a trilingual title) is a famous European pilgrimage that crosses northern Spain to end at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in the northwestern corner of the country.  Now, there are routes all across Europe that lead to this specific path across Spain, and ultimately to the cathedral, but one of the most famous and the most well-travelled begins in Le Puy, France, a city that I got to visit this weekend.

Common routes of "The Way" in Europe


Le Puy, France (medieval cathedral and pilgrimage point on the left; statue of the Virgin Mary on a cliff on the right)

"The Way" is a very common and well-known journey to take in Europe, even among the non-religious, who often go for the historical aspect, or merely the adventure.

Interestingly enough, two of my three host families' homes have actually been on The Way, meaning they were on streets that were included in the pilgrimage, and which are marked with the recognizable shell emblem:



If you look on the map of possible routes, you'll notice the stretch of path between Le Puy and Lyon (which is a bit less straight than it appears on the map).  My city, Montbrison, is in between the two, and is considered one of the minor cities on The Way.  My host families have told me that just about every summer, they come across a handful of foreigners (often Swiss or Italian, since this is generally the easiest route for them to take to get to Spain) who are slowly but surely walking their way to Spain.

I personally would love to walk The Way someday.  It's pretty inspiring to see some of these people out there, with nothing but a large backpack and several layers of clothing, braving the weather, the exhaustion, and frustration, all of them acutely aware that the cliché is true- that their journey matters a whole lot more than their destination.  All along The Way, there are also brilliant sites to see: breathtaking cathedrals, castles, ancient cities, and picturesque landscapes.  Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against city-hopping and seeing the great European capitals, but if you ask me, journeys like The Way sound like the real way to discover Europe.

Last note: there's actually a movie about The Way, conveniently titled The Way.  Look it up if you're interested!  It's some pretty incredible stuff!

A taste of home: Basketball games :)

With my brother and sister both being avid basketball players, I naturally spent a decent amount of my life at home sitting on the bleachers, cheering on my siblings and their teammates.  When I Skype with my parents here in France, it's not uncommon for them to tell me the outcome of the latest game(s) and for me to express how much I miss being their to support the team.  Lucky for me, though, this last weekend I got the opportunity to watch not just any youth basketball game- but part of an international tournament, right here in my host city.

The very beginning of the Montbrison vs. Prague game.

 

The game was fantastic- Montbrison was in the lead 51 to 49 with two minutes left, and we ultimately ended up winning 55-51. 

 

Towards the end of the game: Montbrison in red, Prague in blue

 

It might be kind of dumb and cheesy to say this, but I still feel like it needs to be said: you really don't realize how small the world is until you experience something like this.  Maybe not a basketball game in particular, but just being in a foreign country, living a different life, and experiencing something so strangely familiar, and sort of reaching that realization of "Hey, we're all different, but not that different."  I was watching these French and Czech kids play basketball the way I might have watched Hollis and Amherst play.  It was a game, with no visible concern for the language barrier, cultural barrier, social barrier that separated these kids.  They were just a bunch of boys out on the court, doing what they were used to doing, playing the way they always played, united by the quasi-universal language of basketball.

 

It's strange to say, maybe, but it was really kind of incredible and touching for me, even if it was just a game.  It's kind of the same way I feel when I'm spending time with other exchange students.  There's really nothing political about it, and while we certainly don't avoid difficult subjects, there's sort of a mutual indifference toward politics, class issues, economics, and so on.  We're not at all blind to our differences, but we generally all find a way to just respect each other and get over that kind of stuff.  This is really one of the reasons I hope everyone who can will go abroad at some point in their life, or develop a close relationship with someone from a foreign country.  It's important to be to that disagreement, even on major issues, isn't at all a reason to dislike someone or to spend less time with them.  I feel like that's really kind of been a big, overarching message throughout this whole year.  Yeah, we're different, but still, everywhere in the world, there are teenagers who play basketball, and kids counting down the days to their favorite holiday, and friends who will give you a ride home when it's raining, and people who know just what to say to make you feel better.  Everywhere in the world, there are families, and nice people, and not-so-nice people, and funny stories, and embarrassing moments, and those days you wish you could relive forever and ever.  And it's always going to be like that.  It all just fills me with a deep desire to know the world- not just to know about things, but to be there, living them and understanding why things are different and how another way of doing things can be just as valid as the way I'm used to.  I feel like this is really the goal of the entire youth exchange program: not only to immerse us in one culture, but also to give us a deeper understanding of the cultures we are yet to know, and an open-minded interest in them.  It sounds idealist when put this way, but truly, if we ever want to work together to achieve anything in the world, we need to start thinking this way.



Rites of Passage

As some of you know, I'm spending my senior year in France in an actual class of French seniors (despite the fact that most exchange students get put in "Junior year" for various reasons... I got switched due to some overcrowding and technical issues), which means I'm here to witness and share in the coming of age of my classmates and friends here in France.  Kind of like in the US, eighteen is the big number in France.  But unlike in America, the eighteenth birthday is really the coming of age for a lot of factors: voting, driving, drinking, etc. and not just becoming a legal adult.

It's actually been kind of funny when I've talked to people in France about "coming of age" in the US- a lot of them think that legal majority comes at twenty-one (they confuse it with the drinking age... which they can't believe comes a full five years after the driving age... I actually find this kind of ridiculous too after spending so long), and people generally find it strange that Americans have so many different points in their adolescence that could be considered rights of passage.  In France, it all gets wrapped up in one package called "eighteen."

Another big thing that happens at eighteen: the bac.  Essentially a massive final exam that determines whether or not a student will graduate high school.  It involves a ton of studying, a challenging senior year, and a huge sigh of relief at the end of it all, when students know that they can finally close that chapter of their life.

...Then comes the next big step: moving out.  Yes, at eighteen.  Not exactly the way we think of it in America, but a big step nonetheless.  Since few French universities have housing for students, college kids rent apartments in the city where their university is located, sometimes in groups, other times alone.  During the week, they are responsible for themselves: taking care of themselves, keeping the place clean, making food, and so on.  Now, the vast majority do come home to Mom and Dad on the weekend (for laundry, "groceries," and family time).  Still, the prospect of being out on their own for the first time is intimidating for a lot of high school seniors. 

I remember one day, during cold and flu season, we wound up with eight people coming to history class, and since it was pointless to move onto new material with a quarter of the class, we sort of just chatted with our extremely motherly history teacher.  A lot of my classmates surprised me by talking about how worried they were about managing on their own and how lonely they would feel- they really were anxious about it!  Oddly enough, before I set out to leave the country all on my own for a year, I hardly felt like that at all; this was my big adventure!  Naturally, I did get homesick and hit rough points, but it was all part of the experience and all totally worth it.

The funny thing about the presence of rites of passage in so many cultures is that they try to pick a moment in time and say "BOOM! You're an adult!" where in actuality, we all know it doesn't work anything like this.  Still, I guess they are important because they force young people to take that leap and start to assume their place in the adult world, whether they like it or not.  My history teacher spent that day comforting the class that their family would always be their family even when they were gone (I mean... about an hour down the road, but still), and that their would be someone around to help with laundry, with cooking, with moral support... until one day when we wouldn't need it anymore.  One day, very soon for some of us, we'll be the ones helping the newcomers.  I think that that's really the significance of these rites of passage: not to claim that something's going to change overnight, but to sort of force us to shed our old skin and grow a new one; to leave behind what we used to be and take the opportunity to become who we want to be.