tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post5261533955107537616..comments2023-03-10T12:38:54.612+01:00Comments on Beth in France: Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14141877537334176841noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-58895708882280054782009-09-24T21:35:51.963+02:002009-09-24T21:35:51.963+02:00I met a Japanese person here who said her husband ...I met a Japanese person here who said her husband was often confused at meetings since nothing was ever decided. Instead of trying to find common points of agreement, people tended to do the opposite (which was a nice way of saying it's all about the argument). <br /><br />In total agreement about the fact that you have to know where you're going in order for road signs to be any help. But oddly enough, once I resigned myself to this fact and accepted the need for serious advance planning to the utmost degree, it does become kind of fun to try to conquer traveling by myself. And there is some satisfaction to be achieved when you do manage to figure out the right questions and force some fonctionnaire into actually telling you something. Who needs a computer game when you can get these kinds of real-life obstacles at the drop of a hat?Pardon My Frenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11097929973860968006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-8491054919289061452009-09-19T21:57:15.805+02:002009-09-19T21:57:15.805+02:00It's been interesting reading this, and very t...It's been interesting reading this, and very timely, as well! This is not really a surprise for us (forewarned is forarmed, perhaps) but it completely resonated with me regarding our move to our current home town in Saskatchewan. We moved to the small town that is now home-ish eleven years ago. The town is very small, and people there belong to two groups - very transient or multi-generational. There is not much in the way of middle ground for introverts like my husband and me to fit in with. We now have very good friends, but most of them are from 'away', as well.<br /><br />As for our our stay in the Tarn, our landlady is a wonderful wealth of information, as is her husband, but neither one are originally from this region. They are both French, though. It will also be interesting to see how long it takes our very close neighbours to talk to us...Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09695354700835113117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-41960309159278885022009-09-14T10:12:07.078+02:002009-09-14T10:12:07.078+02:00Loved the blog and had to smile wryly at the comme...Loved the blog and had to smile wryly at the comments which seemed to resonate with everyone. It seems that it is the same where ever you live as a foreigner in another country . I can remember how it was when, as a bemused Child of Africa, I tried to make sense of the culture I found myself ..and we supposedly speak the same language and have the same forebears!<br />I have lived in the same house in the same street for 25 years and only recently am I regarded as sort of "local" but with strange habits and a funny accent! And I dare not support a British sports team/figure - I have been pulled up numerous times for not being British! I also dare not mention my Irish passport! That would really put the cat amongst the pigeons.Maryonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-531973684162938272009-09-12T15:26:47.341+02:002009-09-12T15:26:47.341+02:00Ah- but the French NEVER tell you what they think ...Ah- but the French NEVER tell you what they think you want to hear. That's completely against everything they stand for. They only feed you the bitterest truth -and that in tiny, painful, incomplete fragments.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141877537334176841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-13102436980564464602009-09-11T23:02:19.787+02:002009-09-11T23:02:19.787+02:00My midwestern darling, you tell such wonderful sto...My midwestern darling, you tell such wonderful stories! But truly you cannot capture all of the US with such kindly and sweeping generalities. When I read your representation of the French person, I see my neighbors in the southern United States, who will tell you *whatever* positive statement they think you want to hear, with NO regard for the facts. This often leads to a "Yes" answer for questions like "Do you repair German cars?" "Can you come and fix my plumbing tomorrow?" or "Is this roof going to be back on before tornado season?" The answer in the REAL WORLD, however, was NEVER "yes", and subsequent phone calls will not be returned.Momma Beehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02503538950732048064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-15815358564544964332009-09-11T19:56:56.996+02:002009-09-11T19:56:56.996+02:00Heidi- How about you move to France, but right nex...Heidi- How about you move to France, but right next door to me? <br />I am, since 1996, a French citizen. I could be your kindly "French" friend and tell you important stuff you need to know. Not that I know much...I thought that when I got my passport, all the many secrets of French life would be revealed. No such luck.<br /><br />But at least we could go to the movies together and drink tea...Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141877537334176841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-85854902165669749732009-09-11T19:19:08.447+02:002009-09-11T19:19:08.447+02:00Seattle is like France.
Which maybe means I shoul...Seattle is like France.<br /><br />Which maybe means I should not move to France, ever.<br /><br />I remember during my own collège days, during that scary, exciting, transcendent six months in France, that there were two kids a few years younger than myself who were themselves Franco-Americans spending some time in France with their French mother and American father. One of their cousins, who lived nearby, told me that on her first visit to America, they had visited a restaurant and the waitress had been remarkably chatty with her parents. As the waitress left, the girl said, laughing, that she'd asked her parents if they *knew* the waitress, because she had been so very friendly!<br /><br />They were good people...but after that six months, I had made several friends, all of whom were fellow international students and none of whom were actually French.Heidihttp://littleowl.com/heidinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-10838766570074015822009-09-11T17:32:44.438+02:002009-09-11T17:32:44.438+02:00TM- It's true that interactions even within th...TM- It's true that interactions even within the US can vary widely. In writing this I had to generalise like crazy...which was a bit unfair, but awfully fun!<br /><br />Rocky- Thanks for the supporting evidence from your corner of Europe and the kind words of praise for my post. (Sugar-free gum? Sure! Thanks! And as for dinner, next time I'm in Barcelona I'm SO showing up at your new house at suppertime!)Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141877537334176841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-70996535436535243992009-09-11T15:45:20.303+02:002009-09-11T15:45:20.303+02:00OMG
*wiping tears of laughter away*
I AM that se...OMG<br /><br />*wiping tears of laughter away*<br /><br />I AM that second person....completely. *giggle*<br /><br />Catalan, I haven't quite got so pegged, it is hard to separate out village life and language/culture....<br /><br />I have a TON of acquaintances, and honestly...one friend here. After three years. Let me tell you, I can make friends who I will keep in touch with all my life in an afternoon, and do...but here.....some of it is that their lives are full, full of friends and full of family. Part is the village. There are people who have been here all their lives, and their families have been here for thousands. Friendly salt of the earth, associate with their own. Then there are the folks who use it essentially as a bedroom community, and I basically never see them, their lives are in BCN, they just sleep here.<br /><br />Then there are folks like us, who are neither betwixt nor between....<br /><br />That said, the enthusiasm of my neighbours for the fact that we are buying the house on the same street is heartening, and may indicate that they were viewing us as transients (after three years!!! There's village thinking for you) and now that we are seeming more permanent....<br /><br />It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.<br /><br />Loved your post.<br /><br />Would you like some gum? You could come over and we'll give you dinner?orenetahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-88217855994211574202009-09-11T14:03:08.464+02:002009-09-11T14:03:08.464+02:00Oh, too funny and too, too true...I remember my pa...Oh, too funny and too, too true...I remember my parents' stories from their time in France doing language study. I was only a baby, and then later when we vacationed there I was still a child, so I don't remember this side of things. But your portrayal of the American garrulity and helpfulness is spot-on. Well, in most places. I hear they aren't so nice over in New York City...Teacher Mommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11215145025563985398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-8782436781313769992009-09-11T12:28:47.241+02:002009-09-11T12:28:47.241+02:00Hey- My rather brilliant friend!! I have just been...Hey- My rather brilliant friend!! I have just been scrambling around trying to find your email! It's a long story, but the upshot is this: I accidentally published this before it was done and before i had a chance to ask you about using a quote from you... Sorry about that!!<br /><br />And thanks so much for the thoughtful comment. It's such a ranty diatriibe, I was wondering if I'd gone too far with it. Thanks for the confirmation/affirmation!Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141877537334176841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25057281.post-11120534760363844732009-09-11T11:37:39.471+02:002009-09-11T11:37:39.471+02:00Fantastic post!
Clear, concise, and extremely i...Fantastic post! <br /><br />Clear, concise, and extremely informative at a very nuanced level--most people, who are not on the inside of a culture--if not only French culture--of course, don't know what they don't know. But since they don't know it, they can't gird their loins, or even know they <i>need</i> to gird them, in order to go out and find out what they don't know they don't know.<br /><br />Having said that, and I love your concrete example of the new school for the girls and all the "unknowns" that you don't even know you don't know, one of the reasons that I think that intercultural blogging (for lack of a better name to call it) is important is because it facilitates an extra-cultural exchange of information that can help MANY people who don't know what they don't know at the very same time. I, for one, want to use my blog subversively to empower others and help anyone and everyone to surmount and surpass those invisible walls and glass ceilings of "not knowing."<br /><br />For example, when I landed in France this time, I was hosted for two evenings at the home of my very French nephew-in-law (no reflected glory on me, but his grandfather is/was The Claude Sautet of cinema fame--so his French cred speaks for itself) and during the course of our conversations, he mentioned the new changes in French work law that allow one to become a "micro or auto-entrepreneur." A week later, he sent me a link that he felt was good regarding that new status:<br /><br />http://www.planete-auto-entrepreneur.com/autoentrepreneur/comment-declarer-activite.html<br /><br />I haven't had a chance to read it yet but who knows, maybe we all just learned something we didn't know and can now share it since work is a big need for newbies.<br /><br />Even as French culture has, does, and will change us, we too change it, whether it likes it or not and I love nothing better than to leave entire bloody loaves of bread behind on the path to lead passersby out of the woods!La Framéricainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09879118710247405871noreply@blogger.com