I went to a pizza party (well, a French version anyway) tonight with a group of American students from Cincinnati here in Toulouse for two weeks taking classes at the private Business school. The dinner was organized with France États-Unis, and since there were going to be college students I thought they'd be interested in talking with me (a little self-important, no?).
Luckily I was able to sit with my friend Candice and next to another lovely American woman who does an English radio show once a week (link to be posted when I have it). It was nice to chat, and I even recorded a comment about Martin Luther King day for her show, so I might be on the radio!
I ask snob though because chatting with two 22 year old guys I felt immensely worldly. Okay, yeah, they're guys, they're only 22. But they seemed really naive about other countries, people, and the world in general. One of the guys was talking about going to Jamaica last spring, which was the first time he left the States. He was really surprised to hear how people spoke English in Jamaica and kept thinking "Wait, this is English!?" Hate to break it to him, but it's called an accent. Just like all us Americans have an American accent.
The same guy said that being in Europe for the first time he realized that there was diversity and regional differences. Before he thought "France was France, and Germany was Germany." It seems evident to me now, but I guess the fact that the world is complex something to be discovered.
So was I sitting across from some bumpkins seeing the world for the first time? Or are they representative of average people, and living/traveling often in a foreign country just makes you much more aware of the world?
P.S. I taught them to order a pichet (pitcher) of wine instead of a bottle. They were very happy with my advice!
2 comments:
there you go! you teach them bumpkins to get the pitchet...that's worldly advice if I ever heard any! It's strange to meet people who haven't travelled much seeing as how I've crammed a lot of travelling and life experience into 4 years myself. Still, the naiveté doesn't last long, and once you get over the "I'm in France! So cool!" stage, the reality sets in that France is, indeed, quite different from the States, or Jamaica, or England...
Glad to hear things are working out for you and you seem to be taking full advantage of social opportunities!
(and thanks for the "referrer award" on my blog...I think we all share many of the same readers!)
You're not a snob, they sound like idiots. 22 is way too old to be reacting like a 10 year old on vacation for the first time. Or maybe people are just much more sheltered than I ever thought...
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