My French experience was not a culture shock. This is an important takeaway. I am European, and I have been to France before many times, so I was not shocked or too surprised by the things I saw or experienced.
Yet, I discovered that behind a shallow surface, there are so many things I didn’t expect or didn’t understand before. The French culture was not as clear and obvious as it seemed from the start, and I loved that I was able to learn that from the inside.
I feel like with every extra word and new phrase, I learned more about the way people think and reflect. The words highlighted the logic of the French people, their ways of looking at things, and their overall perceptions of the world. It felt like with the language, I was able to get a new identity for myself, a French version of my personality that could think and see the world through the prism of the French language and culture. It made me richer and happier.
The first time I had a dream in French was very memorable. The dream was very funny, and the French in it was not too advanced, but it was a French conversation anyways, and I dreamed in it. I dreamed about the mustard, or la moutarde, and the French fighting over it because I remembered my professor’s joke over how French people would obsess and complain if there was no mustard.
I don’t like mustard, but I liked the French and France, and I am happy I got to experience what I experienced. The world gets tiny and welcoming when you know how to communicate with it.