Cultural Identity and Intercultural Communication in Angers (JL)

This is what I get for going to an
"American" themed restaurant. I would
like to point out that it was delicious!

Before arriving in France, I would tell people that Angers was a "small town" because relatively speaking, it is. At least in comparison to some of its fellow cities. But in reality, Angers is a city. A smaller city but a city nonetheless. I am able to find people around who don't really know much about the United States and were never interested, which baffled me. However, it dawned on me that there are many of those people all over the United States, too. Some people in the US are perfectly content with their lives, never needing to step across any border except for the all-inclusive English speaking vacation to huge foreign cities. I learned that French people can be the same way.

I had always imagined all French people (actually, all Europeans) were grand adventurers who traveled halfway around the world to a different exotic location every year. Before I arrived, my host parents thought the very same thing about Americans. They speak no English except for the phrase "Would you like more wine?" to which the answer is always yes please! 

When asked what they thought of America/Americans, the general vibe I got was that they didn't really know much about America. I was able to deduce this based on their limited knowledge of "somewhere there was New York City and somewhere else there was Texas, and also we have large kitchens." Their perceptions were based on a couple movies they have seen. My host parents are very content to just live in France and not worry about the happenings of the United States. This shattered my perceptions instantly. It was mutually shocking because they believed I had already traveled around the world as an American when, in fact, this is my first trip outside of the US! As it turns out, what I thought of French people is the same thing that they thought of Americans, and both were false stereotypes! Since then, I have begun to be their mold for what Americans are like.

The tram is my ride to school everyday
               unless I want to walk for 45 minutes

I feel more attached to the culture of Angers everyday, accomplishing little tasks that make me feel like I belong here. For example, I am slowly becoming a master at public transportation, which oddly makes me feel more like a native than anything else. Conversations over dinner with my host parents range from vacationing in the Alps to cultivating their summer garden. The whole "small town" gig I had been telling my friends and family was both true and false. It is true because there is the essence of a small town even in the heart of the city. While you can turn at every corner and eat at a different boulangerie for every day of the year, Angers still has its regularities to it. For example, I started seeing strangers two, three, four or more times all over Angers! It didn't matter if it were in the center of town, at a patisserie, or on public transportation. Furthermore, the talk of the town is not just small talk. I have witnessed my host parents continue talking with their neighbor as if there wasn't a week that separated them from their last conversation.  People are a closer knit community in Angers than I thought, and it is something I am very willing to accept during my stay here, 

I noticed how welcoming of a city Angers can be, even if some of its inhabitants are blunt on the outside, the city is warm at its heart. (Except for the lack of sun that makes it too cold for however many layers you wore that day.) With it's very limited English speaking capacity (reserved almost exclusively for some hotels, the Château d'Angers, and a few restaurants), it feels like a true immersion in a French city, and I am especially glad not to have everyone assume I am American and speak in English to me. It's nice to try learning something while I'm here for 4 months!

It is almost embarrassing to me that the few things people do know about the United States is the size of our "eating room" and the state and city that apparently represent us.  I often use New York as a starting point when I try to describe Pennsylvania to foreigners, usually without success because the name is more well known than a location on a map! I often forget too, that I am a foreigner here. I think I already feel more a part of Angers now than I did before I began typing this blog. I am falling in love with France, especially their bread and cheeses. Saturday mornings would begin to wonder about me if I didn't mosey down to the market for a baguette and a huge pile of cheese. 

On that very French note, I'll leave this blog until next week, after I have a healthy store of baguettes and cheese stored up for the rest of the month! 

Until next time! A bientôt!