13 Septembre, 2008
French vignettes
As I had anticipated before coming, living in France has provided me with ample opportunity for cross-cultural frustrations and amusement. Today I share a few of those with you:
Bilingual conversation: I have found that group conversations in two languages can be quite amusing, especially when several of the people involved don’t fully know both languages. For example, this past Wednesday we had lunch with a few French guys who Claire and Laura had known from the previous year. One of them, Eli, spoke very good English, but the rest not as much. Katie and I were the two who spoke French the least, so following the French was very frustrating at first, until the conversation switched more to English than French. As we tried to communicate with each other, it suddenly dawned on me how much funnier things were when there was a language barrier. The conversation took longer as things were explained in each language, and as we tried to say things in the language we were unfamiliar with, several amusing results came out. We also had a very funny conversation spawned by Eli asking what the proper definition of a “geek” was. Apparently they once had heard someone use the phrase “faire le geek” and so they picked it up, not really knowing what it meant. Literally that would me “to do/to play the geek.” They used it in reference to when they would stay up until 3am playing video games. They also turned it into a French verb so they could say “je geeke.”
The grocery store: Yesterday I went to the grocery store to start stocking my kitchen. As I went through, I starting compiling a mental list of “you know you are in France when.” Here are a few of the better entries that I can remember:
- the first visit to the grocery store you buy 2 liters of water and drink half of it before you leave because you are so dehydrated, and the second visit you pass right by the water and go buy some wine for the same price
- you realize that not only can you not understand the label on a cut of meat, but you’re not sure what it is by looking at it either
- you’ve never been so excited to see Caesar dressing, after being told that it didn’t exist in France
- you’re able to justify congratulating yourself on a successful visit to the grocery store by buying yourself a chocolate chip cookie afterwards (which also are impossible to find in France, since they don’t have chocolate chips here – these were totally gone the next day)
- you find it hilarious to be humming along to Earth, Wind and Fire singing “September” as you stand in the checkout line
- the cheese aisle is two aisles long
The tram: The city of Montpellier boasts two tramlines (sorry Minneapolis, they’re ahead of us here), which we use to get just about everywhere in the city. Riding it is very often an experience all in and of itself. In busy hours, the tram is often very full, and so everyone just crams on. Usually the little old ladies command the seats, at least those that are not taken up by punk high school kids (it’s always amusing to watch the high schoolers and the old ladies try to sit together – they try so desperately to ignore each other). The aisles and open spaces are then crammed with people. It is a trick to try to hang on to the tram poles while also trying to not put yourself in a position to be awkwardly pressed against some unidentified body part belonging to your neighbor. It’s important to hang on, because some of the tram drivers don’t slow down enough while going around corners. It also seems that often you get right behind someone on the tram or in line somewhere and you are bluntly reminded that French people do not hold the same cultural value on showering often as Americans do.
You often get to experience mixed cultures on the tram and so far we have seen everything from groups of Brits to one big group of Argentinean tourists who I got to watch get apprehended by the tram patrol for not all swiping their tram passes. You also get to see people take all sorts of exciting things with them on the tram. Lots of people jump on the tram with their bikes or strollers laden with children, and then have to usually push through people to get off, since everyone crowds the doors trying to get on quickly when the tram stops. We have been responsible for hauling a bed frame onto the tram, and just two days ago rode from IKEA with a giant box with a loveseat convertible in it, along with two plants, a desk, and three giant (full) IKEA bags. A loveseat convertible is a couch that folds out into a little twin bed. Like I said, it’s always an adventure…especially because we ran off with (aka borrowed without permission) an IKEA cart to get the convertible to the tram stop…
18 Septembre, 2008
Dominos and the Association Fair
It amuses me to no end how our wonderful country is slowly but surely infecting so many corners of the world. In Montpellier there are at least two McDonald’s (MacDo), at least two Subways, a KFC and two Dominos pizza. Welcome to taste of America night. We broke down and ordered Dominos for our team family night last night. It was super fun – I hosted the Skurs and the ladies at my place. It was my first of hopefully many parties. J It was fun to have everyone over. I was sufficiently trounced at Settlers by Colson Skur, the rest of us tying for second place (“the rest of us” included Gabe, who is 6! Who knows how to play Settlers as a 6-year old?!?). This was ok, since I resoundingly beat all the Skur gentlemen the week previous at Settlers. After the delightful clamor that is the Skur children died down, the five of us STINTers played a few rounds of our favorite new game, Blokus. It’s quite fun, and comes highly recommended. It is best played with competitive people. ;-)
Our family night last night came after a fantastic day on campus yesterday. We were able to connect with one of Katie’s friends from last summer, who introduced to four of his other friends. We also ran into two guys and later another girl who Laura and Claire knew from last year. These kinds of meetings are important for us early on as we seek beginning to build relationships while we are here in order to be able to more naturally share the gospel throughout the year. We also were able to meet two students in the cafette on campus, and had a fantastic conversation with them over a spiritual interest survey called Soularium. It is a fairly open-ended survey involving using pictures to describe your life and your views of God and religion. It is very well received by the French, who in general have a more keen taste for the classical arts than Americans do. We are praying that we’ll be able to meet up again with them both and continue to be able to share with them.
This week in language class we got several very interesting insights into the French culture. Last Sunday there was an Association Fair held right outside my apartment building and all through Antigone (the part of Montpellier where I live). Several thousand people attended to walk through the 1200 stands that were set up to advertise for everything from martial arts and sports teams to clubs dedicated to specific countries, from social causes to dance, art and music. It was basically a fair to get people involved in the various clubs available in Montpellier. Our whole team went, as did many of the people in my language class. As we were talking to our professor about it the next day, she was explaining that all over France every year these huge Association Fairs take place to get people involved and help them connect socially. In France associations are very huge and are subsidized by the government to encourage people to participate. Our professor explained that associations have become so popular because the church has become so much less important in France than it once was, and people don’t have the church anymore as a place to gather socially, nor do they have a place to unite over a common interest or cause. See, in 1905 the church was officially separated from the state, as a reaction against the power struggles that have marred the history of the church in this part of the world. Since then, the church and the state are strictly separated. This past week the Pope visited France, and people were very upset that some government officials even went to the mass held at Lourdes. Politics and religion must be strictly distinct and not mix. In the last year there was a significant debate over not allowing Muslim girls to wear the headdresses required by their religion because it is too much of a public display of religion. Likewise Jewish boys are not to wear their proper caps in public. There is a size limit on any cross worn as a form of jewelry here. This is also why we cannot advertise on campus, since the University is a state-run school and we are a religious organization.
Our professor explained that the French hold this concept called laicité. It is a concept that religious beliefs are to be kept extremely private. Publically one should be neutral, and not display one’s religious beliefs. Because they are very personal, that boundary should be respected. According to our professor, the French are not against beliefs, they simply hold them at arm’s length or farther publically. This mindset has not only contributed to the palette of beliefs (or lack thereof) in France, it causes our work here to be very much outside of the normal French mindset. People have usually been surprised when we ask them what they believe about God. It simply isn’t something that is discussed here.
If that doesn’t point significantly to the need for prayer here, I’m not sure what more will…
Here is the one-year STINT portion of my team, at our training in Colorado in August (the rest of our team is the Skur family, who was already here in Montpellier at the time). Left to right is Katie Smith, Claire McKelvey, Erin Rippl, me, and Laura Hennings.
09 Septembre, 2008
Living the dream
Last Sunday, Greg and I walked through a part of town called Antigone, which is a part of Montpellier close to la Comedie and the center of the city. It’s very new and clean (something of note in this city), very close to the river and full of restaurants, shopping and open spaces (another commodity to note in a European city). Greg had called to look at an apartment there and we were supposed to look at it this Thursday (two days from now), but he was pretty nervous about getting it. Since it would be a popular apartment, trying to rent it to two college-age guys, one of whom is un americain may be not as likely as some of the other people who we knew would be looking.
Fortunately, the Lord had other plans in motion. Greg got a call today from the landlord, saying that someone had cancelled for tonight and if we were free, we could come see the apartment instead. We jumped at the opportunity, and met this extraordinarily well-dressed pair of women outside the apartment building. The building itself was beautiful, a huge semi-circle front facing the river, and when we stepped into the apartment, we were even more impressed. It was completely furnished, and furnished very nicely at that. Both Greg and I were sold instantly on the place. Greg let them know, and a flurry of French later we were sitting down and talking through the paperwork. Before I knew it, we had set up a time to meet tomorrow to sign all the papers and we’d receive the keys.
Let me pause to explain how significant this is. This was an apartment that Greg found without an agency, which is a rental place that literally you can find in almost every single neighborhood in the city. Agencies will help you find just the right flat or apartment, but will charge you upwards of 800 € (these days equivalent to almost $1200) for the convenience. As you can imagine, this is something we were very interested in avoiding. Also, the French have a certain system in place to insure that renters always pay their rent, requiring every renter to have what is called a guarant. This is someone who must be a French citizen and have a regular monthly income equivalent to two or three times the rent of the apartment. Usually this is accomplished with a parent or close relative. Not having any relatives who are French citizens, nor knowing anyone in France other than the other Americans in Montpellier, this presented a considerable issue for me.
The landlord for this apartment asked about my guarant and I told Greg that I didn’t know who was going to be my guarant yet. He asked me if I could know today or tomorrow. I said that I would try, but I didn’t know. It’s sort of a big issue, because if something were to happen that I would not be able to pay my rent, my guarant would be legally bound to pay my rent for me in that situation. The landlord asked Greg how much money I make monthly, and we discovered that since (before benefits, taxes, insurance and other things) I make enough money each month, I can be my own guarant. This was news to us, and very good news to me! I would be required simply to bring documentation of my monthly income (which I have from applying for my visa anyway) and my French bank account information and voila! I will be in business.
We left the apartment rather exuberant, and to celebrate went out to eat at a pizzeria in town. It was very good, and afterwards suddenly the 20 minute walk to the Skurs’ place didn’t seem quite so long and sketchy. Praise the Lord for his provision of a place to live! I also got my first package from the US today – all of my books, music and a surprise package of chocolate chips! (thanks, mom!)
Ce soir, tout est beau.
08 Septembre, 2008
First day of language school, first day on campus
Today was our first day of language school, and also marked the first day we spent initiating on campus. It is incredible (c’est incroyable) that only seven days ago we were sitting in the Paris airport, still just on our way here. It has been a full and busy week with several visits to apartments for Greg and myself, lots of sitting on la Comedie, lots of time spent in staff meetings talking through team norms and covenant, mapping out the year, praying and dreaming together of what we are hoping to ask the Lord for this year and beyond. We’ve had a surprisingly successful visit to the Prefecture to apply for our carte de sejours (our long-stay residency cards), an unsuccessful but informative visit to try to get cell phones, a lengthy appointment at the bank to get bank accounts, our first experience at church in France (and a highly enjoyable one at that, though the French was hard to follow), and two visits to IKEA/a little taste of America-Sweden.
This morning we went to the Alliance Francaise, which is the language school we are attending for the next four weeks. We were greeted by an over-exuberant French woman who initially shuffled me into a room full of complete strangers, all trying to suffer through a placement exam designed to determine exactly how little French we all knew. After some time Erin was able to explain to her that I was with them and was a friend of Laura’s (our teammate who took the language class last year). Once this was sorted out I was whisked from the dour-looking test takers and placed in the woman’s office with Erin and Katie for proper interrogation. After discovering that my hair was “très jolie!” and finding my Black Hills gold ring to be perhaps the most interessant jewelry she had ever seen, she promptly confiscated the unfortunate attempt I had made on my placement test with grand exclamations of “Oh! Très bien!” She later returned to tell me that while I was not a beginner, I was very close to it. Katie and I were placed in the “almost beginners” class, and Erin was in the intermediate.
Our class began with virtually no introduction, just strict rules that we were not to speak in English or Spanish (the two common languages of the students who were in the class), only in French (which, of course, we were all there to learn, making initial communication quite rudimentary). We ended up with a very young and stiff teacher who fully employed what is apparently a very French way of teaching, that which is best exemplified by what we would call a “weeding out” class. No practicing or “repeat after the teacher” was suggested, we just started speaking French. By the end of the class we knew basically where everyone was from, what year they were born, and what their profession was. We also discovered that there is not really a word in French for missionary, so we settled for aumonier protestant, or protestant chaplain. Close enough, right?
From there, after praying as a team for a while, we headed to campus for the first time, ready to begin what we really came here to do – share with students. We found the students pleasantly easy to engage with, and the two pairs of guys that Darrin and I talked to were quite conversational. They were all freshman, so they were starting their very first day of school as well. They were quick to share the realities that we had expected, that very few French students would say they are religious whatsoever. They have passed the church by, not seeing any need for it anymore. They said that most French people do not ever talk about God or religion, so it’s sort of a strange topic to bring up to people, one they do not often think about. We are praying for hearts more ready to hear…
Tonight, we mark one week of ministry in Montpellier. May the Lord continue to work abundantly!
Here is a sweet picture of la Comedie. I didn't take it, but it's a sweet picture anyway. :-)
04 Septembre, 2008
La Comedie et l’orage
My evenings in Montpellier thus far have been marked by long conversations on la Comedie. La Comedie is a central square in Montpellier, and is an open place with restaurants, a grocery store, a mall on one corner and an opera house on the other. The square is adorned with a fountain boasting les trois Graces, or the three Graces. My first night in Montpellier (not counting the night that we arrived) I met my roommate-to-be, Greg at la Comedie. We went out for crepes and I enjoyed my first real tastes of France while people watching and enjoying getting to know Greg, who will be a fantastic, though rather unpunctual roommate (characteristically French, bien sûr). The next two days we spent searching for apartments and tonight found us once again sitting on la Comedie, this time enjoying the view for several hours out in front of McDonalds, which, in Greg’s opinion, is the only place to get a “real hamburger” in Montpellier. I assured him that McDonalds does not serve a real hamburger, which he could not believe, and that when he comes to the United States I will take him out for a real burger.
Tonight we talked for several hours, covering everything from the Roman Catholic Church to the English words for lightning, thunder, and thunderstorm. It was a relatively sobering conversation as we talked about the barriers that many French students have towards Christianity. There are significant hurdles to our work in sharing the gospel with French students, and some things that Greg pointed out were things that we hadn’t yet really thought of. The first night we met he said to me, “I am so sad…your job is very hard here…but I know Jesus can do it.”
Tonight we had been talking for a while, and our conversation comfortably died down as we watched a man breathing fire throughout la Comedie, listened to the gypsy musicians (two accordion players and a very good violinist) play down the place and watched a few groups of people greet each other and biscous on the cheeks (the appropriate French greeting with a kiss). After a few minutes of silence Greg turned to me and said, “Now, now you are being French.” I asked him what he meant, and he explained that just sitting, not necessarily talking, just sitting and enjoying and watching was making me more French. Inwardly I was amused at the stark dichotomy it was from the life I normally live in the States.
Ministry thus far has been great. Our second full day in Montpellier found us on the Arts and Letters campus of the University of Montpellier, where we had lunch, and then spent time praying in anticipation of students arriving within the next few weeks. Erin and Claire got to talk with some students as well, and Laura met a friend of the team from last year, which was a wonderful connection to make. We will step into more full swing ministry next week as we also start language classes on Monday.
In the meantime, life is enjoyable here in Montpellier. I’m getting used to the time zone change and the very different climate (though I am sweating a lot). I’ve successfully ordered food in French now over half a dozen times and have only had to spend 1 euro to go to the bathroom thus far. Tonight I experienced my first thunderstorm (l’orage) in Montpellier, and much to my dismay discovered that the streets are not really meant to handle intense downpour, and the small rain that I was enjoying at the beginning of my walk home to the Skur’s quickly turned into just that. C’est la vie, non?
Bon soir, mes amis.
06 Septembre, 2008
Further adventures on La Comedie
The adventure to find an apartment with Greg continues. Yesterday I was waiting for him at La Comedie on the way to look at an apartment just south of town and I got to witness what appeared to be an initiation ceremony for two freshman med students. When I arrived at la Comedie, a few groups of students were also arriving, several sporting white lab coats. After a few minutes they gathered around the two men getting initiated and started to adorn them with makeup. There was lipstick, rouge, whatever that eye stuff is that colors above your eyes and some other touch up work that I couldn’t see because of the crowd around them. After they were beautified, they crowded around them and I couldn’t see for a few moments. By the time the crowd split, the two men had taken off all of their clothes except their (black) underwear and their hips were being wrapped in several layers of seran wrap in the style of a really tight miniskirt. Once sufficiently wrapped, one of the girls stepped in front of the two guys, announced something significant in French, counted down, and the two men frantically raced around the giant fountain in the middle of la Comedie. This race was quite interesting, since both men were forced to frantically try to waddle in their miniskirts while not slipping on the stones upon which they were running, one in bare feet and the other in his ankle socks.
Once they completed two rounds around the fountain, they returned to their female partners, to be quickly dressed in very ugly and skimpy dresses, headbands and given purses to match. They then had to run around the fountain again twice and return and tag their female partners, who then had to run around the fountain twice themselves. Unfortunately, the fast man was paired with the slow woman, and so the slow man ended up winning on the last lap of his partner.
Once congratulations were given to the winning team, both men had the outside of their left ankle covered in shaving cream and a portion of a few inches (or several centimeters since I am in Europe) was shaved off. Once the shaving was done, the two men washed off their ankles in the fountain, and the crowd dispersed, the initiation complete.
Then Greg met me, and we left to go look at an apartment, which we really liked. He said that med student initiation is really normal, and didn’t seem fazed whatsoever by my epic description of the event… oh well. He asked me if such things happen in the United States. I tried to explain the Greek system to him, to questionable success.
