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Hi everyone
Paris MeHi everyone, I'm John, nice to meet all of you.
I believe I'm the fourth person here from Paris, and I've had the chance to meet Hillary and Sam in person - I'm sure Dana and I have passed each other on the stairs but I don't believe we've actually met yet. Becca: hey! I forgot you were going to be in Berlin - that's awesome! We should meet later and hang out - Peer Educators fo' life yo!
Okay, having got that out of the way: I'm a junior in Gallatin. My main departments are French, Comp. Lit. and Classics, though I've taken a smattering of other things. My academic interest is centered on the relationship between a medium of communication and the message attempting to be communicated: if you write a narrative as a play or short story or a poem, how does that alter the narrative itself? And should you something from Latin to English or French, what can get lost in the message or appear that wasn't originally intended? And how do cultural factors influence our understanding of a character, or a plot development, or a phrase? These are some of the things I like to think about.
I've been in Paris for over 2 weeks now, and it's been a bit of a rough start. I found it super easy to move to New York from the mid-west entering college, so I (in hindsight, naively) thought that I had a innate knack for acclimating to big cities; in short, I was not expecting much in the way of culture shock. Navigating the city, speaking French all day, not having convenient internet access: these are just a few of the things that I have found much more difficult than I had anticipated. It's exhausting to think in another language for more than the length of your average class period - even 45 minuted can be exhausting, and now it's all day long. When I get to speak English, it's like this enormous weight off my shoulders. I don't like being that American, but it's just so nice to get to just think and speak and not have to translate in my head.
Of course as everyone's said, the food is fantastic. The buildings and views are beautiful, and contrary to all stereotypes, I have found the French to be abundantly patient and friendly. It's just truly amazing to me: I think we all try to be sympathetic to the plights of immigrants in the united states, but until you've lived somewhere where your second language is everyone else's first and vice-versa, you don't really get it (or at least I didn't.) I definitely have it much better than a lot of people new to a country: I don't have to find my own housing, and I actually have a fairly good grasp of the language, I have no difficulty reading signs or understanding what's going on around me, and I have some income from a work environment in (mostly) my native language which I had secured before I arrived. That's a huge leg up from so many people. But the loneliness, the isolation, the borderline psychological trauma of realizing that if you were in really bad trouble, there's no guarantee you could find someone to explain your problem to - there's this belief that everyone in France speaks in English, and while there is definitely a significant portion that speak some, most that I've encountered are far from fluent and there's still plenty that don't speak or understand any. They still try to help you anyway, which is very encouraging, but I just can't even fathom how I would go about doing this somewhere where English wasn't common and I didn't have a good base of people there to support me.
Kudos to all of you for deciding to study abroad, and I'm very curious to see where the class will go from here. Au revoir, John Q
First weeks in Paris
Salut, John! I'm sure we'll run into each other soon. Your concentration sounds really interesting.. Have you read Walter Benjamin? You might like his essay "The Task of the Translator" (or maybe you already know it). He also writes about the flâneur, which is fitting for the city we're living in.
I also know what you mean about the fear of not being able to communicate if something goes wrong. Last night, chopping garlic, I tried to imagine what I'd say if I cut myself and had to call SOS médicins; the best I could come up with was, roughly, "I was using a big knife and now there is a lot of blood coming from my finger, please help me." Hopefully, though, we won't have to worry about explaining traumatic situations in French.
Language guilt
Just like you two, the whole language barrier is really throwing me for a loop! When I set out to come to Paris, there was not a doubt in my mind that upon my return to the States, I would be fluent in French.
I have always considered myself to be descent when it comes to speaking the language. I can usually understand what people are saying and for the most part I can express myself. But after arriving in Paris and being here for almost two weeks, I have realized how much I really still have to learn. People talk so quickly and the second they realize that you are an American, they start speaking english, if they can. I find this so frustrating, because regardless of how hard it is, I still want to try, but sometime people don't give you the chance, even though they really think that they are helping.
Also, like John, I find it a huge relief when I am with my american friends and we can speak English but I start feeling really guilty whenever I find myself speaking english too much and I want to just start trying to speak in french again.
Peer Educators Abroad
John! I forgot you were going abroad too! I'm glad to hear that you've been able to get around the city and at least have a good enough knowledge of the language that you can read signs and ask for directions. I haven't been as lucky here, I suppose. I have no knowledge of German - there was an announcement today on the subway about one of the other train services being shut down. However, I only know that because we were told beforehand by professors that the lines were being repaired. If I hadn't known that, I would've most likely wound up in an unpronounceable plaza (Heinrich-Heine-Straße and Französichestraße anyone? Anyone??).
As per the English-being-a-weight-off-your-shoulders: I hope that you start thinking in French over the next few weeks and will be startled to hear English and to be able to understand it effortlessly. It's a wonderfully weird but gratifying feeling, to know that you've gotten so used to hearing and understanding a language that English is strange.
Anyways, good luck with the rest of your week, and happy blogging!