So... as for my recent observations, the first three are Marseille related, the rest are in general:
1. Marseille is kind of a dirty city. I'll admit. And it's often got a funny smell (kinda like McMinnville! haha). However, that doesn't really bother me. What bothers me is the amount of dog poop on the streets. If you're not looking where you're going, 6/10 times you'll step in something. I guess considering you're not really supposed to look at people (relatively speaking), it's motivation to follow that social norm because if you don't watch your step you'll have gross shoes!
2. In certain conversational contexts (like in a group of close friends), it's perfectly normal to interrupt people and almost start two different trains of thought going and not stopping. I experienced this a few times with my host mom's friends, in intense conversations (usually with wine involved I guess haaa), they do that a lot. But it's not considered disrespectful in this context, they appreciate it because it invigorates the conversation! This is part of what you may have heard of called "the art of conversation.." :)
3. French store workers are known for being reserved, rude or cold (to Americans that is), but unless they're actually rude people in general, they're not trying to be rude to you. If so, it's because you may have done something that's offensive or rude in French culture, even if by accident. Needless to say, I am familiar with French culture and politesse and sometimes it's hard even for me to not be super smiley and grateful to them, because in the States that's how it is. That being said, I have also had the best customer service in France, even better than in the U.S., and spoken with some extremely nice people in stores! That's when you know it's genuine, because they don't have to be super friendly with you to get paid! haha
4. In interreligious communication today we discussed "the rules of dialogue" and mediation, in regards to communication with people of different values/beliefs. Rule #1 is to listen to the person and show them that you are listening, rule #2 was to be honest, and rule #3 was to make sure each person a part of the dialogue is equal. That's to say, respect the person even if you don't respect their opinions. Recently, I received an e-mail from a really wonderful teacher I had in high school, who touched on this same subject. It got me thinking. And then this class got me thinking again about the same topic. I consider myself to be respectful but with certain values (ahem, right winged ones) I just have such a hard time separating a person from what they believe and seeing them as simply a human being that deserves just as much respect as the next. If everyone was treated as human beings should be treated, the world would be a better place. But this subject highlights why that's not so easy, and why a perfect world can't exist... Because when it comes down to it, respecting a person or a group of people aside from their beliefs can be really hard (for some more than others- ex: terrorists). Is a person defined by their beliefs and values? I think most would say yes.. Can you respect someone even if you don't agree with their beliefs and values? It's possible, but today we talked about how you can or cannot respect someone if they practice their beliefs that you don't agree with on a daily basis. Like, let's say I apply for a high status job but the boss doesn't hire me because said boss is a sexist and doesn't think women deserve high paying jobs. Can I respect someone like that? Technically that's what the theory suggests. But as with all theories, they're not always true. And practicing a theory like this one gets tricky when communicating with someone from a different set of values that clash loudly with your own.
On the same thread, we learned about relativism and nihilism. Nihilism is the theory that if everything is relevant, then nothing is relevant, it's kind of depressing and existentialist. True relativism is much nicer haha. It the exact opposite, and talks about how everything is relevant and we must be empathetic to that. Empathy, we learned today, is not just about understanding how someone feels when you've experienced the same thing they have. Empathy is learning to understand/accept/adopt a person or a culture's logic and thought/feeling/reaction process to certain events/ideas/cultural particularisms. In France, we are not just learning to speak better French and "live like the French," we are learning to think, and feel, and analyse and understand like the French. This is not easy to do and that's why I'm glad I'm here for a year, so I have double the chance to learn how to do so. It's the "frontière floue"- the fine line, between living in another culture, and living the other culture. For example, one of our teachers during orientation week told us her car was stolen and found in a bunch of burned up pieces and how unfortunate it was because she really liked her car. My immediate reaction was "OMG that must cost so much money, what a pain, I'd be pissed," and so on and so forth. But she just smiled and laughed and moved on from the subject. From a French standpoint, (for public transportation reasons) a car is not entirely necessary AND it's simply a material item. It can be replaced (technically speaking, although not everyone can afford that) and what matters more is that no person was involved or hurt. Voilà the French vs. American logical differences. And that's just a banal example. But this theory could be applied to politics, religion (wink wink) and social issues, etc. This in a nutshell is what study abroad is REALLY all about! :)
5. Social/national health care. The French just don't get why so many (but not all) Americans are making such a fuss about it. AND I TOTALLY AGREE. The French are collectivist society. On a scale of 1-50 or so, America was #1 as the most individualistic country in the world. France is #11, so not THE most collectivist but much more so (I found it interesting that the English speaking countries of the world were all at the top... hmm.... perf example of why globalization is scary!) than the US. This means that the US values the individual much more than the group. (Guatemala was at the end of the list, in fact, all of Central America was at the end, being the most collectivist. Really interesting). We learned that in the US in 1996, a law condemning the production of virtual images of child pornography was reviewed and ruled unconstitutional because it inhibited the right to freedom of expression and individual choice. My jaw dropped. Actually, it kind of rang a bell, I think I've heard about this law before. But sitting in that class room, I was disgusted to (re)learn this. That's how individualistic the US is- to such an extreme that something like questioning the boundaries of child pornography for the sake of "freedom of expression" happens in the "best country in the world" (<-- not my words). The French were as appalled in 1996 as I was a few days ago in my chair in the class room. Similar issue with the national health care. A population's right to be healthy is in question. What's there to question?! Obviously there's political/economical concerns. But for France, the moral question is the more important one. But in the US, (despite any complaints about the particularities of the ObamaCare bill) the moral fiber of the national health care bill is just not sticking the way it does in more collectivist countries. In France, the government is seen as a protector and a provider for the well-being of the group (the well-being of the individual is maintained through the group's well-being), in the US it's more of a threat and an encroachment on the individual (the well-being of the group is maintained through the well-being of each individual). As my dad would say.... "interesting...." :)
Anyways, that about wraps up what's been on my mind for the past week.. Any comments or questions? Really! I'd love to respond to any! :)
On to more daily things. Arabic. Yeah. I know I've said this already. But it's hard. However, I find my handy-dandy linguistic memory is strengthening. I don't know what it is about languages but they fascinate me and I have a knack for them. Even if I'm not the best at it or even if I struggle sometimes, I find myself starting to thrive in class because I just love learning a language that's so challenging. I find that forcing myself to smile or laugh at my own error when I want to complain or yell out of frustration, actually helps haha :)
My name is Katherine. I am a student. I am studying at university in France!
! أنا كاثرين .أنا طالب .درست في الجامعة في فرنسا
Woohoo! Voilà what I can say in Arabic. Progress is progress is progress I suppose! In fact I'm not sure if the spelling's accurate because it's through Google Translate but the meaning is the same haha. And I can read it. That's a pretty cool feeling considering before I started Arabic it looked like a bunch of drawings and scribbles to me haha.
Bises,
Katherine
