I recently returned from France where I spent the first
semester of this school year. My time there was the greatest
experience of my still very young life. In the short span of four
months I learned more than I had ever imagined there was to learn from a
cultural immersion.
When I left the United States in August I had been
confident of my preparation to integrate myself into French lifestyle; I
knew that I would return a much-changed person with added maturity and
fluent French under my belt. However, only now, as I reflect on my stay in
France, do I truly understand how much I grew while I was there.
Upon arrival there I was relatively independent and open-minded, but no
prior experience had ever forced me to step entirely outside the frame of
American custom. Thus, I returned to the US with a very different
state of mind comprised of enhanced perception, added values, and new
attitudes toward life.
One of the most important lessons I learned overseas
was that in a world with such immense diversity (a diversity that I could
directly relate to as a foreigner abroad), I must be able to respect and
enjoy everyone's individuality while at the same time be able to relate to
others fraternally. All of us should cherish what makes us individual from
one another, but no matter what separates us, we are all bound by human
qualities that unite us.
The ability to accept and treasure the infinite
different ways of life in the world can be difficult unless one is willing
to try to adapt to new lifestyles. I met several other American
exchange students who were overly attached to US culture. Rather
than be able to compare and contrast France and America, these students
wrongly mistook American society for the framework society of the world.
They were unable to comprehend that simply because French culture was
different from their own, it was no worse nor better than that of the
United States. Unfortunately this narrow-mindedness and resistance
to immersion kept many students from gleaning all of the lessons they
could have from the exchange.
Due to the fact that from day one I had been willing to
assimilate myself into the French way of life, I found it easy to make
friends. As a newcomer, I did have to take the initiative of
breaking the ice with most of the people I befriended; however, my
enthusiasm to meet new people gave me all of the confidence I needed to do
that and within the first month I had countless friends.
Being in the lives of my French friends and peers gave
them the opportunity to taste the culture I brought with me as well.
For many of them, America was a dream, a faraway paradise that they longed
to visit; however, nearly every French person I met had a stereotype or
controversial question to ask me. As a representative of the US I
became their model American, and all the French stereotypes of Americans
were compared to me.
After having lived amongst the French for a
couple of months, several of my friends told me that they were happy to
have met an American like me, someone with an open-mind who saw all people
equally no matter what their origins were. I believe that this was
because I let France absorb me. For example, at soccer matches I
would chant along with the fans, singing that I was proud to be from
Rennes and Brittany. They were encouraged that I was an American who
did not fit their stereotypes that Americans believe that they are the
bosses of the world and that they are part of a super culture.
To succeed in any type of societal immersion one is
obligated to let go of one's traditions and absorb everything that one can
from the new customs they encounter. Throughout my stay in France I
removed my American "glasses" and gained entirely new
perspectives on the world and especially my country's place in it. I
grew to be much more perceptive than I had ever been, I learned a lot
about myself, and I grasped a better understanding of the ways in which
humans interact.
