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Hello from Grenoble! It is a beautiful day here, and I was lucky to go on a run this morning to see the sun rise above the valley and mountains. I have attached a photo below 😀. Today was the first day of my course and also the first day I have begun to settle into the rhythm of living here. I think this is probably natural, but on my trip to and since arriving in France, I have experienced a lot of mixed feelings: I have felt like an imposter because of my lack of fluency in French and unfamiliarity with Grenoble; I have felt lots of excitement about learning a new language, exploring the mountains here, and getting to know the family whose home I am living at; and I have felt eager to grow as much as I can from this adventure. I have also already had the chance to interact with several French-speaking people, and I thought I would reflect on one particularly memorable one here.

On my trip from Lyon to Grenoble, I stopped in a town to get food at a small eatery. The place was practically empty except for one group that looked like a family. Maybe because of jet-lag or maybe just because of my poor French skills, I stumbled over my words when ordering my food and drink at the register and could not understand several of the things the barista was saying to me. I already felt like a total idiot, but this feeling heightened when I looked over at the people nearby and saw them staring, whispering to each other, and laughing a little. On the one hand, I found the situation funny, too, and was able to laugh at myself. On the other, though, I was embarrassed, offended, and struck by a rather blunt sense that I did not belong here.

In reflecting on the encounter––and considering some of what we have learned so far––I have come to see the experience in a slightly different way. For one, the family sitting at the eatery likely meant nothing. It might be unusual for them to encounter people who do not speak French; not to mention, it is possible they were laughing about something completely unrelated to me. More so, just as they may have made some initial––and in many ways, fair––judgments of me (perhaps that I am ignorant and/or an outsider), I certainly judged thier expressions without knowing anything about their background. I hope to use this experience to keep growing in humility, to motivate my French-language learning, and to work on not making assumptions about people’s actions and expressions!

I realistically expect to maintain my Russian language proficiency over the Summer. This will be my first trip to a Russian speaking country, meaning that it will be the first time I can productively use my Russian language skills to communicate. This is no longer a classroom, meaning that communication is key.

My lived experience has to this effect been very insular. A teacher and a major can only take you so far, and at the end of the day, I must be able to apply what I have learned to the real world. My lived experience is comparable to that of an infant, and it is daunting to know that it is a world of unknowns in which I voluntarily enter, passing the threshold that is the plane’s walkway. In a sense, this trip will be a test of my education, and it will be a test of my preconceived notions of Eastern Europe.

I have written extensively on Eastern Europe, on NATO, on Russia, and my unconscious bias, my frame of reference as a member of the Western community, will of course seep through into my writing. I can only hope that my world will widen.

Я желаю чтобы мое мир ростил.

Imanalla mashikuna, kawsakunkichu?
Kunanka ñami kimsaniki hunkay kashka. Ñukapa kichwa ayllupika, chishimikuna punchapi tawka imakunamantami rimanakunchik. Kay killkaypika kichwapurakunapa, Ecuadorpi kawsak mishupurakunapapash, estadounidensepurakunapapash estereotipo nishkakunamantami rimakrini.

I do not have any auto-stereotypes about Americans, since I do not identify myself as American; I am just an international student. Instead, I would say I have some hetero-stereotypes. One evening, after finishing the cozy dinner with my host family, we talked about the auto- and hetero-stereotypes of Kichwas, Mestizo Ecuadorians (i.e., white or mixed-white Ecuadorians), and Americans. In this post, I will share some of the hetero-stereotypes about Americans from the perspectives of me and my Kichwa host family, with special reference to the Ecuadorian culture(s).

Personal space of Americans, Mestizo Ecuadorians, and Kichwas

Ecuador is a multi-ethnic country, and the cover term “Ecuadorians” can contain a number of different cultures. For example, my host father told me at the dinner, “The notion of the comfortable personal space between people is very different between Mestizos and Kichwas. For instance, when Mestizo friends meet up, they often show the greeting involving more physical actions, such as hugging, tapping on the shoulder, and giving a friendly kiss next to the cheek (like bisou in French). On the other hand, Kichwas do not do that; when Kichwas meet each other, they just shake hands, and nothing more. So, compared to Mestizos, Kichwas prefer a larger personal space when meeting or talking with somebody. This is like Americans, right?”

I thought that this is an interesting observation, not only because there are very different cultures within one country that have been coexisting for centuries since the Spanish colonization, but also because I myself did feel the cultural similarity between Americans and Japanese in terms of how people keep personal distance. When I see Americans how to greet, where to sit on the bus, and how far they keep their distance to each other when talking, I feel it very similar to what I am used to doing in my Japanese culture, whereas I still cannot help myself feeling awkward when people start hugging and kissing casually.

To be honest, “optimistic”, “warm-hearted”, and “closer personal space” had been my hetero-stereotypes of both Americans and South Americans (or Latinos in general) before getting immersed in their culture myself. I did not even know that there are multiple layers of cultures in Ecuador. Since coming to the United States and Ecuador, I feel that my unreasonable hetero-stereotypes about others have been deconstructed and have become more fine-grained and objective.