Since I have left you all last time quite a bit has
occurred!
We began
our first day of actual classes. This included our first morning, the 4th,
of a 3-hour long lecture on culture and how to address culture differences. The
professor teaching was absolutely fascinating/incredible/hilarious. She is
originally Iranian, married to a French man, has lived in France, Iran,
Venezuela, the United States and from what she made it sound like possibly more.
She has visited tons of countries around the world and can actually speak 6
languages and read/write one more. All of her children can at least speak 5
languages fluently (all a requirement of hers) and have incredible jobs all
throughout the world. She was just an interesting person to listen to describe
and engage us in conversations regarding our views of the world and cultures.
We continued this lecture on the 5th, where she brought in pieces
about French culture and do’s and don’ts.
·
Do
o
If at a formal dinner, continue to eat like a
formal American meal
o
Attempt to speak what little French you know so
as to try and put forth effort
o
When in school settings wear
clothes that are conservative and appropriate (not open toed shoes, no shorts,
nice shirts/button ups/polos)
·
Don’ts
o
Smile at people as you pass them in the street
(it is considered strange)
o
Hold eye contact with anyone too long unless you
want to give them the wrong message
o
Consider the right-of-way for pedestrians at
every crosswalk. It is not always the case
o
Be loud. You will be the typical American
She also talked you us about different cultural perceptions.
The cool thing about this is that we have students who lived all over the
world. Jorge is from Guatemala and she pointed things in his culture that are
considered stereotypes and some of the differences. She did the same with
students from Hong Kong, China, Korea, Mali and Lebanon.
We also had
our first run in with our French language teacher… #woof. It reminded me of
Spanish in college all over again. We had been split up into different levels
and since I have had not previous training with French I was in the beginner.
Which, lucky for me, included ¾ of our whole group. She immediately began
speaking in French as we are to try the full immersion method and at first my
partner and myself were not ever sure if she knew any English. I have started
to get a few survival type phrases in, such as “my name is…” “I would like…”
“you’re welcome”. And let me tell you, this language is rough. The biggest
issue I have, is that unlike Spanish, everything flows together and more often
than not, you just leave the end off of a word altogether. I can’t make out
syllables very often and overall rode the struggle bus the entire lesson.
Today, the
5th we went into the city center, La Capitole, and toured Toulouse
and found out some more history!
Fun facts about Toulouse cntd. It is called the “Pink City” due to the high
amount of clay and bricks used to construct most of the cities buildings. This
is due to the river, Garonne being right in the middle as well. It is also know for being the “city of violets”
so many souvenirs incorporate them in some way
·
The French Revolution has hindered some
preservation of important murals and history of Toulouse as some parts were
completely destroyed. Many additions or reconstructions of things were recently
done or are continuing to be done.
Here is the outside of La Capitole. A huge center square filled with a market was right behind me when I took this picture.
Here is the Garonne River. It runs straight through the city and people can walk directly to the waterside.
I also have officially eaten a
whole French baguette and a croissant! BOTH WERE INCREDIBLE!!! I have not
gotten the chance to post much in the way of pictures of food since most of the
time at the school cafeteria I just grab something because it looks good and
have no idea what it is. I do know that I have had some sort of julienned
carrot and squash salad, gazpacho, and Roquefort cheese.
Here is a picture of inside the bakery where I got my baguette and croissant. SO GOOD!!!
There is a
whole group of us who have normally been getting together and each of us bring
a different ingredient to cook with that night and have met a really cool
student named Pachi. Pachi is from Madrid and is studying to be a Formula One
race-car engineer with hopes of someday working for Ferrari. He is super cool
and gave us tips on what to look for on wine bottles to know if they are good
or not. (our first few bottles, not so hot) A new flavor combo that everyone
has loved so far is a toasted baguette piece, hummus and pesto which with a little
tomato sauce! We have been experimenting with the bread since there is just so
much of it everywhere. When you walk down the street, in all honesty it seems
like there is a bakery or pastry shop every 3 or 4 stores. AND IT IS ALL SO
CHEAP!!!
I also had
my first adventure with ordering food in French! 1. I was so proud of myself
for attempting. 2. I was doing so well until she asked me what size drink I
got. 3. Yes, I did order in the French/European version of McDonalds… Small
steps people, small steps. Luckily for me, she spoke English and was so helpful
when she realized I did not speak French but told me I was doing a good job so
far!
Well I hope
that all is going well and shout out to my OL and WWU leaders at Kansas State
as you all begin orientation and enrollment for the new members of our Wildcat
family. Also to Ben Brown, Leah Kimzey, Hope Faflick and Daniel Preston, make
sure to make those College of Ag kiddos feel extra special for being a part of
the best College at K-State! (sorry Hope)
My quote for today was a Tweet I had read somewhere and I
did not happen to get the name… Sorry!
“You cannot control the length of your life, but you can
control it’s width and depth.”- Tweet
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