So this whole France thing is going so much better than planned... I love it.
I don’t know how to explain why, really, when I think of the highlights since coming here, they don’t sound spectacular to anyone but me. But I have loved learning this language, this culture, this diet, and this lifestyle. I still have a long way to go, particularly with the language, but the rest has been amazing. And now I can’t say enough about "my" church here. French people, in general, are pleasant and love to get to know foreigners and Americans, BUT it is a HUGE deal to be invited to a French person’s house. They just hang out in public places, never meet up at each other’s house, until they are extremely close. But the people at Hillsong Church have been amazing about inviting me to... well, everything. Last night they had a small get-together at the pastor’s apartment just outside Paris, so I went and had a blast. I walked into the room, and the coolest thing about being there with about 20 other people is that there were at least 4 languages being spoken at any given time. ((English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese)). So I introduce myself to people in French as default, and then as we talk, one of us realizes the other is from Britain or the States and switch to English. Then a girl from Brazil walks up who speaks only Portuguese and French, so we quickly revert back to French for the rest of the conversation. So different from the States! And then on the Metro on the way home, I started wondering whether there are expatriate groups this lively in the States...? In big cities? Atlanta, maybe? ((Though my definition of "big city" has been drastically altered by living here...)) I don’t think so. Because not only here is it French people and "immigrants" but also it’s this whole multi-lingual thing too– not one person in that room spoke only one language, and I was one of the few not legit bilinguals. So now I know people in this city– Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Norwegians, Swedes, Swiss people (is there a noun for that?), Colombians, Brazilians, and, most extraordinarily, FRENCH. Finally!
Sidenote: I have learned the appropriate way of doing the double cheek kiss now. ((This is very important, because people here will greet you that way before you have been formally introduced, so you have to be able to do it right so they don’t know you are not French... until you open your mouth and they notice your ridiculous Valley Girl accent.)) So the other person initiates it (because what kind of presumptuous American tries to start that?), they lean in, usually on the left first, put there cheek lightly on yours, make a tiny kiss sound, then switch sides, put their cheek against your other one and say their name. Nothing else, not like "Je m’appelle Blair" or "Je suis Blair" or anything like that, just "Blair." And then you say your name back to them. Now I have gotten the hang of this, which is good, BUT it still creates all kinds of problems because I have to wait for them to lean back so that they can be looking at me when I say my name, since it is almost impossible for French people to say it. Thus the exchange usually goes something like,
Mmwah, Mmwah...
"Camille," says the other person.
"Blair," says me.
"Clair?" [Notice the French way of spelling it.]
"Non, BL-air," says the one whose name is in question.
"Ahh, oui, Blaaaih." That is the closest approximation I can give to the name I respond to here... If I could think of a nickname that is slightly more French I would switch for the semester, since it truly does create untold difficulties. It’s not any easier for British people... but for them it is "Ble-AH?" And Australians, I have now discovered, can’t do it either: "Blee-ah?" I don’t MIND any of that, because I butcher their names on a regular basis. (Last names like Soubaigne, first names like Michel (which is for a man) and then Jean vs. Jeanne. Tres difficiles pour les Anglophones.) But because their versions sound nothing like what I am used to, I often just don’t answer when people call me, because I don’t know that it is my name. So I have considered introducing myself by my middle name, Lauren, but even that is pronounced "Lo-rhen" here, and it is so much more boring than my terribly... exotic name. HA! Just kidding.
Tomorrow night after class I am going to Salzburg for the weekend– getting there takes a whole night on the train, but I have a couchette, so that will be good. I’ll be in Salzburg (Austria) all day Friday, and then early Saturday morning I am taking a train to Fussen, the German town where Mad Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle is located. Walt Disney modeled Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World after this one, and it is supposed to be even better than Versailles, and significantly less crowded... though I will be there on a Saturday, so we’ll see. Where, though, but Paris can you say "oh, yes, I am off to spend the weekend in AUSTRIA, I’ll see you on Monday!"
Fait la bise,
B
P.S. Just found out two of my friends are engaged, plus a friend that I only met since coming to Paris, who is French. All of them are one year older than me.
Yeesh.