As I write my last blog post, I have a befitting topic to explore, thanks to my host mom’s fiery debates at the dinner table. I have learned significantly a lot about the French perspective for the rest of the world (honestly, it is mostly America). The president of the United States, Donal Trump did not help by suddenly withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. I had to wake up one day and be greeted with this story in the headlines. I am not American, but being a student in America, I empathized with the citizens of America on how they felt about the president’s decision. My host mother, in her usual critiquing voice, said: “Americans do not like progress.” I know this was not true, but I wondered why the comment would not have shocked her at all. I could not come up with an answer. However, I paid a closer attention to the French’s portray of the world, and in my opinion, this is how it works…
The french society celebrates their heroes, meaning that they celebrate their french identity more systematically and consistently than other countries. A case in point is the french astronaut who returned back to earth after a 196-day long mission in outer space. His name is Thomas Pesquet and he was on every news channel, radio station, a game show for about a week. The french’s local election session also showed me that the country believes in the strength of a face-to-face interaction, seen by how politicians were zooming the streets and talking to everyone they could. The election process was fairly covered in the media, with no name shaming and the likes you would see on the American political scene. I will leave this there.
France has been a beautiful home for me, and now as I am about to leave, I am not leaving the French exposure, lessons, relations I have been able to forge. I am certain that I will be back to this country sometime soon.