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Last Day in France



Wow! It has indeed been a really memorable experience in France. One fact that remains is that I got to understand the French better. I was able to compare what I have heard about them and make a comparison with what I was experiencing, and I have come to the conclusion that some, if not most, of the stereotypes about the French are true. For example, France is the home of fashion, food and wine.

I came into Vichy, France at a time when they were preparing for Napoleon III’s celebration which lasted a few days. It was a beautiful experience with the parade and all. Shortly after, we celebrated music in France. My host sister and I walked from one part of the city to another, listening to different types of music. It was an entertaining experience.
From the excitement of travelling into France for the first time to being awed by the celebrations, I gradually settled into a routine; wake up for prayers/reflections, bathe, have breakfast, walk to school listening to an audio player, have classes till afternoon, sign up for activities previewed for that week, attend the ones that are imminent, have lunch, visit the city, return home, have dinner while listening to the news and having conversations with the host family, call friends and family, work, bathe and sleep. On Sundays, I attended mass at St. Blaise. At some point, I think it felt monotonous.

Surely, I met new people as the school welcomes students from all over the world; Latin America; Mexicans, Americans, Asia; Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Indians, Pakistanis, Europe; Spanish, Germans, Italians, Irish, Africa; Francophone Africans. Towards the end of my stay, I began to feel more involved in activities and recognized in class, mostly after my participation in an event that involved representing one’s country in a cooking event titled “La degustation de plats internationaux”. I did very well, and many people wanted to meet with me. I was elated. I still am whenever I think about it.

As the saying goes, “whatever that has a beginning, surely has an end”, it gradually began to dawn on me that I was leaving the area soon. At this point, I had gotten used to the system and made quite a number of acquaintances. I had also improved my oral communication as well. I made a quick visit to Paris as a way to mark the end of my stay. I visited the Louvres Museum, the National Assembly, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel tower, and generally walked around Paris.
I enjoyed my stay thanks to the school, Pole University- Cavilam and my host family who were a fun and lively couple.
I am forever grateful to my sponsors and the CSLC department for giving me the opportunity to experience this level of exposure. I have really gained a lot.
Thank you so much.

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France to the World




I think it would be out of place to consider France as having a rather feminine culture just because the French do not work for long hours, and they take enough time off work in a year. In my opinion, that evaluation of the French culture creates the notion that they are weak and need all the rest they can get to get through work, for a country that has been able to develop complex technologies and systems in the case of nuclear power plants, rapid trains and the aviation industry. What I strongly believe is that they are trying to create a balance between work and social life. Thanks to the holidays they enjoy in a year, they get to spend more time with family and friends. I recall my host family planning trips whenever we are at table. Places they were going to visit over the weekend with their grandchildren, where they were going to spend the next summer holiday, what activity should be explored and cuisine to try out. Listening to them always gave me the impression that they had a very balanced life. And many times, I caught myself comparing the work system in France to the Work system in the United States where one gets paid by the hour and workers do not get much of the desired break.
The routine I observed with my host family is that at noon and during weekends, they are either out with friends and family or enjoying nature while riding their bikes or taking a walk in the park. Whenever I go to the park, I see other people doing the same activity- either walking around the park with family or riding their bikes. Little wonder the French people are usually fit and less likely to be obese.

When it comes to avoiding uncertainties, I believe that France is one of the leading countries. Listening to the news every dinner time, I observed that the French do not only cast the news but make predictions about the future occurrences and how they can be managed or completely avoided altogether. A good example is the Climate change which has resulted in excessive heat waves and hailstorms. The prediction is that it would worsen in 2050 except we cut back on a lot of activities which affect the climate. Meanwhile, we were also advised to employ precautionary measures as regards our buildings in the case of hailstorms; reconstructing the roofs to prevent damages and refilling the walls to prevent cracks. As for the heat, one would have to keep being hydrated. Smokers were also warned to carefully put out lighted cigarettes to avoid the recurrence of fire outbreaks.
Another worthy example is the preparation for the Olympic games in 2024. Seeing that there would be an influx of people from all over the world to France, they constructed a whole new village, what is called “village de joueurs”. Over 14,000 participants are going to be housed there. It is also interesting to note that after the olympics games, the apartment would likely be leased out thereby solving the problem of accommodation in France.New railway tracks are being constructed to make room for more trains and prevent overcrowding thereby creating new jobs for its people.

In all, I would say that the French are a very conscious set of humans. They weigh the pros and cons carefully before taking a leap into making a decision which I must admit is quite different from the Americans who act based on sentiments without carefully weighing the pros and cons. They are not perfect, but they have set standards. I would also like to point out that Americans are somewhat extremists, most especially in the issue of freedom, forgetting that “the freedom of one ends where the freedom of another begins”. It can never be absolute. Everyone definitely has restrictions. The earlier we understand that, the better for all of us.

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Blog Numero Sei

It’s not everyday that you get a grant to travel overseas and immerse yourself completely in another culture. Although it is very hard to organize and honestly pretty stressful to execute, it has the possibility to be one of the most important things you do in your life. I found this out on my trip to Italy this summer. 

Living with a host family was probably the best decision I made beforehand. Every night I would be eating the freshest food and having amazing conversations all in Italian every single night. I probably looked forward to dinner more than anything else during the day which sounds weird but it was just that good. I learned so much about Italian culture from those conversations which is insane to me. Only five weeks!

Another thing that was amazing was being able to appreciate the ancient nature of Italy. As a kid, it’s hard to grasp how long one thousand years is but as a young adult it enhances the experience so much more. I wasn’t just looking at an old church. I was looking at an old church that had been built by Romans or one that had taken 500 years to build. Truly eye opening in that respect. 

My main takeaway about Italian culture is the feeling of togetherness that is so important for them. Dinner and lunch are always eaten as a family. Mom and dad come home from work and the kids sometimes even come home from school just to be together. You stay near where you live for university and huge family gatherings are commonplace and almost seen as necessary. There is an important idea of hospitality that dates back to the ancient Greeks that makes everyone welcoming. Italians are quick to crack a joke but then will work tirelessly to help you, completely going out of their way to do so. I really wish this feeling of unity could become commonplace in the United States as well. 

Overall, an amazing and eye opening experience. I cannot wait to go back. 

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Lost in Japan (5): The World

Shibuya Crossing, where approx. 2 million people walk through everyday. Imagine how many different regions, domestic and international, are represented in this picture.

The World. It’s home to everyone and everything. It hosts the Moon and the Sun and the stars. More importantly, it’s home to every Fool, you and I. If it weren’t for the World, how would each of us grow? We’d just be metaphysical blobs in a void without it. Moreso, I feel like we often forget how big the World truly is and, as a result, limit our ability to grow.

For me, prior to this trip, I have only been exposed to my world: the great state of South Carolina. American flags flying on the back of trucks; biscuits and gravy🤤; the occasional confederate flag😅; cheese and grits🤤; the seldom swastika😅; banana pudding🤤; high Covid-19 death tally😅; fried catfish🤤; abstinence sex education😅; chicken and dumplings🤤; teenage pregnancies😅; some the best-darndest peach cobbler🤤; high gun violence rates😅; Zaxby’s chicken🤤; high overdose rates😅; baked mac and cheese🤤; high infant-mortality rate😅; and vinegar-based barbeque🤤.

And I wouldn’t change a thing… 

I’m obviously kidding. There’s always room for improvement. In fact, I’d say that awareness of what our world consists of, both the good (the food🤤) and the bad (everything else😅), provides a good foundation for growth. One of the benefits of traveling is the exposure. Really, what it does is expand your world. You experience new arts, cuisines, values, practices, rituals, and customs. But hopefully you see it all. The problems and solutions that stem from and surround the culture itself. Only then can you definitively say that you have grown, that your world has grown and you see other places as more than an art exhibit for pleasure. It’s why traveling to Mexico to visit family demanded a greater emotional investment from me than just chatting over the phone. I discovered a new place and met important people in my life. Just as the world grew for me then, it grew once more during this trip. 

I’ve mentioned it before: empathy is the most valuable thing in the World. Having an active propensity to care proliferates our growth. If you want to grow, you must be able to understand people. 

With that being said- based on my experiences and conversations- I will now share my condensed view of Japanese society that honestly does not do it justice. After all, my exposure to this wonderful country is from the point of view of a student abroad. Basically, I was just a glorified tourist. So, what takeaways did I have? 

I’d like to address Japan broadly because the one defining overarching theme of conformity affects nearly every aspect of how the country operates. Everyone and every event is on time. Rush hour trains are crowded with salarymen wearing suits. There are no distractions on the streets: No demonstrations. No alcohol in the street (in the day). No street performers. No protests. The homeless are hidden. 

There is no polarizing 24/7 news cycle filled with political pundits. Even then (or maybe as a result), there is very little public criticism of the patriarchal society. And there aren’t any frivolous culture wars occuring. That is not to say that Japan does not face any issues surrounding “culture” similar to that in the West. It’s more that Japan is lagging behind on these matters of immigration, LGBTQ, and even work itself. It has issues with declining birth rates, unsupportive LGBTQ legislation and violence, and suicides from work-related issues as well as deaths caused from exhaustion (which is a case not too uncommon that it’s received its own word, Karōshi). But a lack of open dialogue keeps these problems hidden to the affected communities. 

Now, allow me to share the small, elating pleasures that accompany everyday life. You can walk at night without a worry. The food is tasty and nutritional. The streets are clean. Smoking is limited in public. The cities are filled with trees. Bikes don’t need to be locked in the parks. Overall, this conformity- which I don’t view as a bad thing- is how Japan’s culture remains strong. That is not to say that Japan is stubborn. Every generation has its quarrels with the one before and after. Eventually, time allows this shift in viewpoints to accommodate the new generation. So I acknowledge that my view of Japan is not only skewed by my American/Southern eyes, but also from the eyes of a cool, hip Zoomer.

So, empathy and this “propensity to care,” what’s the deal with that? Where does that lie in all of this? Well. I didn’t just spend time in Japan. I made new friends and spent time with my host family. I finally got to spend time with the little brother and sister that I’ve always wanted. My world has certainly grown. My family has grown. My interests have grown. My propensity to care has expanded. I now have new people thousands of miles away from the US that I care for. And while my interests are limited to just them, it’s a great start for building that connection and empathy that extends to a wider range of people. I care about climate change (Japan’s humidity exacerbates the heat to deadly levels). I care about Japan’s economy (taxes are rising throughout the country. No one likes those). I care about the intense work conditions (I think people exert themselves too much). Why do I care? Because it’s the place where my little brother and sister are growing up. I want them to live their best lives moving forward. Do you have someone abroad that you care for? How has that influenced your way of thinking?

Cheers,

ミランダ