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Pre-Departure Expectations (Avant Le Voyage)

Avant Le Voyage




It’s been quite a journey preparing for my trip to France and now that it’s just a few days away, I think I am partially nervous and excited; nervous because it’s going to be my first time in France and excited because it promises to be a wonderful experience.
I have mostly read books about the historic nature of France and had a glimpse of that in pictures and videos as well as its tourist attractions (which has also attracted me).

Having studied the language for 5 years now, it is pertinent to visit and actually feel what it is like to be there- speaking the language with the native speakers, living the culture (most especially learning to eat their food). My goal has always been to have full immersion in the French language to the extent that I speak like the native speakers as that will anchor my career as a diplomat or professor of French, either way the French language is sacrosanct to me.My only encounter with “native” french speakers was during an excursion in the Republic of Benin during my Undergraduate program and it is quite easy to tell that there is a huge difference between a French native speaker and a colonized one because of the accents. I sincerely hope to meet some of the French writers who have awed scholars with their plume. On a lighter note, I would also like to meet some chefs too. I have always been a big fan of pastries and I believe it will be easy for me to adapt to the food quite easily. It would also be an awesome experience to attend a church where only French is spoken. Although I’ve witnessed masses being said in French here in the United States, I believe that it will hit differently when offered by French priests (native speakers).

For this trip, I have high expectations. I will be studying at Cavilam Alliance Francaise in Vichy, which is one of the historical sites. I hope to learn as much as I can about the people and the culture (most especially the language), and be as open minded as I can be about certain practices that may not be found in my own culture. I would love to explore the historical sites as that would give me a natural feel of what I have heard and help me realize what I have studied.
It’s a count down from here onwards!

*ISE

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Post #1: Pre-Departure Expectations

With my trip to Costa Rica only a week away, I am excited to experience a new culture and improve my Spanish capabilities. I do not feel nervous or anxious right now, although I suspect I will while traveling. Still, I am sure any nerves will disappear once I am settled in with my host family. This study abroad will be my first time in a non-English-speaking environment. I look forward to the revelation of my Spanish capabilities that conversations with native speakers in Costa Rica will bring.

I also look forward to the cultural immersion I will experience. I love to cook, so hopefully, I can acquire new expertise in the kitchen and learn many new dishes to recreate at home or in the Old College kitchen. The abundance of fresh fruit in Costa Rica is a great privilege, and I hope to try those fruits not readily available at home. The role of Catholicism in Costa Rican culture interests me as well, as I would like to see how it compares to the role of Catholicism and religion as a whole in the United States’s culture. When prudent, I will ask my host family about this and any other curiosities I may develop surrounding Costa Rican culture. I am interested to see how Costa Ricans practice Catholicism. By (hopefully) attending Mass daily, I will gain insight into religious practice in the country and experience it firsthand. I have heard stereotypes about Catholic culture in Latin America as rather old-school and hierarchical, so I am genuinely curious to see how Costa Rica compares.

Having lived in the suburbs in Upstate New York most of my life, the radical change of scenery and environment that awaits me is a bit daunting, although not necessarily foreign. I made a similarly radical (not when it comes to climate, but in almost all other aspects) transition when moving into Old College and starting my freshman year at Notre Dame, so I will apply many of the lessons I learned this year to my time in Costa Rica. I believe the results and output from this trip depend on how much effort I put into embracing the Costa Rican culture and engaging with the local community, my host family, and my peers. With this in mind, I plan to enter with flexibility and openness to discomfort, adversity, change, and anything unexpected that comes my way. Such experiences are often the most formative and the best to learn from, so I will not flee from them and likely cherish them after the fact.

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Pre-Departure Expectations and Reflections

Hi everyone! I’m a first year history PhD student about to set off to Grenoble, France for my summer language abroad experience. I am currently with my fiancé’s family in Oklahoma City and am gearing up for many changes in the next couple of weeks––moving to a new continent, studying a new language, and immersing myself in a new culture. The conversations I have had with my SLA cohort have already helped me reflect on some of the challenges I might face during this experience. For one, I have had the opportunity to reflect on my own values––namely, how my Catholic faith, academic background, and socioeconomic status each shape my interactions with other people and places. I have noticed that this has been a central topic of conversation in our discussion posts. How can we simultaneously be confident in our own religious and cultural identities while being inclusive of different ones? I hope to practice walking this line in France––growing as a Catholic while learning more about other systems of belief.

In addition to developing my own beliefs and understanding of others’, I am just really looking forward to getting to know a new place, culture, and language. Living in the mountains outside of Grenoble, I am eager to take advantage of the chance to build relationships with hikers, paragliders, and hut keepers. And in my classes in the city, I am ready to work hard to grow as a French speaker and writer. I am already so thankful for the chance to embark on this journey and look forward to keeping everyone updated on my travels!

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Second Post

As expected…there is so much to learn, so much I hadn’t anticipated, and so much I have been fortunate to experience already. I have to admit that I thought picking up a language I had studied for four years already would be a lot easier. Among other incidents, one night at the dinner table, I embarrassed myself with a comment that showed I had totally missed the gist of the conversation. It also shocked me when I was met with a blank stare after delivering what I thought was a clear request. But the most humbling experience occurred with the 4 year-old grandson, Gaby, of my host family. Children require practically perfect pronunciation because they don’t know words any other way. I asked him a simple question, merely 4 words, at the breakfast table one morning, and he didn’t understand what I was saying until my fifth try…

The situation is really more comical than distressing though. It’s hard to feel bad when a little boy, with nutella smeared over his face, sincerely asks what on earth you’re saying. I think the most important thing is to embrace the moments of discomfort and not let them make you discouraged. While I never thought it could be so stressful to simply order a menu item at a restaurant, these small incidents help me to appreciate just how much culture contains. Despite all the bumps in the road along the way, so far the high points have far outweighed the lows, and I know the gap between them will continue to widen.