C'est la vie according to me: January 2013

A post is a post is a post because really, each time I post it’s to give you a piece of my mind (in a good way. Why has that evolved to bring forth a picture of a crabby old lady in an apron shaking her finger? Bref.) This is just a little food for thought and an important realization, one that has defined my exchange and may shed light onto why exchange students have such a hard time returning and explaining their experiences abroad.

“The more I travel and learn about other cultures the more I realize that if I try to compare everything that is “new” to things that I’m familiar with, I will never have a globalized view. Therefore, I will just accept things as they are.”

-Maggie’s journal (special best-friend-blogger-to-reader moment)

That was Maggie writing while she was half asleep and kind of distracted, but in essence, there are some things that just can’t be explained and that’s OKAY. I am finding so many things that are similar to the food, customs, sayings, etc. back in the USA but they aren’t the same. There have been many times where I’ve failed to be able to explain our culture to friends here and I have had to stop myself because no amount of fancy vocabulary could ever be enough to give a sufficient description of a tator tot (even spell check doesn’t know what it is). For real. Another example is how we stand up eating breakfast or eat in the car. These things are easily explained but not easily comprehended.

I believe this to be the point of Rotary: to discover that this new and different culture I am experiencing is like looking into a mirror, the Mirror of Acceptance, if you will. It goes both ways; they think our customs are new and different just as much. When everyone accepts each culture as they are, war and prejudice would be eliminated.

Walty coming at ya:

“You are also asking me questions and I hear you,

I answer that I cannot answer you must find out for yourself.”

- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

And just because it’s so beautiful and I believe it goes along with what I’m trying to say, I’ll give you another:

“Agonies are one of my changes of garments,

I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become

The wounded person,

My hurts turn livid upon me as I lean on a cane and observe.”

- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Feel free to ponder, digest, and then shoot me an email, message, or thought via brain connection (Kiana J).

Bisous,

Maggie

Do you hear that? Sorry. That’s the obnoxious sound of me laughing at myself after reading my first posts upon arrival. And I apologize if some of the icicles hanging off your gutters just fell; I just slapped my face out of embarrassment and the sound waves reverberated all the way across the Atlantic…

This will be a brief reflection because I’ve been getting complaints that I am long-winded, hem hem, Jasmine (I’m not so sure that deserves merit in my sacred blog, but since you wrote me a lovely letter, I’ll look past it just this once). It was true that I was thinking and dreaming in French after the first day or so, but it was little conversations with A LOT OF MISTAKES. I’m just realizing how much I didn’t know before and how much I have learned so far. If I am speaking with another exchange student or someone who speaks English and French I can easily go between the two languages (and every other sentence has a word or phrase in French that has become so normal to me and it slips through the cracks.) In the beginning I was struggling to say things like, “When I woke up” and “I’m not hungry anymore.” I just wanted to take a moment to pat myself on the back because I’ve learned so much. It’s just hard when I learn a new concept or tense and start to integrate it into my everyday conversation because I make so many mistakes! pat on the back – you’re doin’ alright, kiddo.

Can I just say that the French really know how to eat? They can pack it in! For New Year’s my Canadian friend, Tina, came to visit me and we were astonished at the mountains of food. We basically ate Thanksgiving dinner five times, I’m not kidding. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes with nutmeg, green beans, cakes, crackers, my favorite couscous dish, anchovy dip, olive dip, chocolates, foie gras and fig jam on fig bread, and clementines were consumed with relish. Leftovers were quickly replaced by new meals. It’s too bad the food is excellent and that I can’t push the excess under my plate, but I’ll work on coming up with a portal to transport the leftovers to you guys.

Snickerdoodles!

Soup made by Simone - soooo goooooood

Christmas Eve dinner

La buche de Noël (Christmas cake)

New Year's cake

For New Year’s Eve Tina and I stayed at my house with my host sister, Lucie, her husband, Axel, and some family friends while my host parents went across the street to be with the “old people” as they said. We had a great time, ate so much food, counted down in French, and gave each other a whole mess of bisous when it became << l’année deux mille treize >> “2013”.

Jean-Pierre, Sabrina, Magot, Xavier, Will, Lucie, Tina, and I

Tina and I in front of (covering) the Christmas tree

While Tina was at my house we were able to make a Persian dish called Adasi that her Canadian mom makes. It was sooooo good! We also went to Fréjus together, and my friend, Emma, took us on a walk around Puget-sur-Argens. It’s so nice to hang out with another exchange student every once in a while (I know it’s not encouraged to do all the time, but during vacation it’s wonderful) because we helped each other speak French, we watched Gilmore Girls and Grey’s Anatomy for the first time in France, and gave my host family another perspective on our culture. I was also fortunate to have had the chance to meet my host mom’s brother, his wife and son, my host mom’s aunt, her husband and his sister, along with a few friends of the family. My host great-aunt (can I say that?), her husband and his sister live in Monaco so naturally; I was invited to hang out with them when it got nicer. When it gets nicer? But it’s like sixty degrees out every day… in January.

Tina (Canada) and I at Fréjus Plage (beach)

Adasi

Overall, I am so thankful for my host family and how generous they are. New Year’s resolution: make more of an effort to participate in preparing meals, learning the language by asking questions, cook, and draw for my family.

I am currently at Tina’s house in St. Tropez, which is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Her house is so cute, there’s a different atmosphere to the town probably because it’s spotted with Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci, Fendi, and Dolce & Gabbana like it’s normal. We got to walk around by the port last night, bought ingredients for chocolate chip scones, and watched some more Gilmore Girls. This morning we went on a run and had a snack with Tina’s host mom’s two friends in a café that looked out onto the port. It was fabulous!