One month in

Respect!

I know this sounds obvious, but I’ve realised this even more during my first month here. When you go to live in a foreign culture, it’s really important to respect the culture you’re surrounded by and keep as much of an open mind as possible. It’s surprisingly easy to make quick judgements on other people and their customs, so it’s good to be aware of how our own culture shapes us and why we might be shocked or pleased by something in a foreign culture. It can be humbling to realise that sometimes people in other nations do things better in some areas.

My awareness of this has been all the more heightened by Michele’s daughter Jannick, who is staying in England this year. She has been back to France twice while I’ve been here and by the end of this weekend just gone, I started to dread the words England or English coming up in the conversation as I was wondering what criticism was coming next. To be fair, Jannick is 36, so much more stuck in her French ways than a lot of French people who arrive in England at a younger age, but even so I don’t think she realises quite how many complaints about my country come out in front of me, and I think some of her problems could be overcome if she made more effort to be open and understand, or work round things. So I try to gently persuade her otherwise or advise her to go about things differently on some matters and on others I just have to swallow my pride. There is also my colleague Martin who will often complain about things in France, and regularly finishes sentences with ‘Oh France!’. I do agree with him on some things which are frustrating for Brits in France, or related to our job, but for some things I think ‘It’s not that big a deal, we’re not perfect’.

“Ma petite Chinoise” (My nickname for my Chinese friend, even though she is the same size as me)

I’m really enjoying spending time with my Chinese housemate Manqi and learning lots about China. I thought I already knew a lot from talking to Chinese friends at International Café, but it appears there’s so much more to learn! I’m especially happy to learn things about China as I have two friends who are going out there to be missionaries within the next year.

New arrival
On Sunday, Andrew arrived to live with us. He’s a Christian from Walthamstow and will be an English language assistant, like me in Lille. He’ll be teaching two very different age groups – primary school children and 15-18 year olds (who go to lycée). It’s the first time he’s lived away from home as he commutes from home into London for his university course. He seems rather nervous and is a quiet kind of guy, and doesn’t know how to cook. So I’ll get alongside him when I can, but it’s going to be a steep learning curve for him as well. It’s interesting to see someone go through what I went through two years ago, it’s bringing it all back.

Marché des Lices
I went to the Marché des Lices on Saturday for the first time (and no it doesn’t translate as flea market, though it looks as though it should!). It’s a very large market in the centre of Rennes and it was teeming with market stalls of all kinds, I think it’s the best market I’ve seen in France (apart from the fact I’m not keen on the sheer size of the crowd that’s there). I got a bargain at one stall – a baking potato for 5 centimes! At one point, I went to a bakery stall which attracted my eye and saw a nice-looking cake, of which there was only one left. I asked the lady on the stall for this cake but at exactly the same moment a Frenchman ordered it too (from the lady’s colleague)! I quickly realised what had happened and said that the frog could have it and proceeded to choose something different (which turned out to be very disappointing!). He seemed a nice man and pleased to have it. I’ll return to their stall some other Saturday when I’m there to taste the cake. I hope it’s worth it!

Work
I’m feeling more comfortable at work, things are settling into more of a rhythm. The students regularly look at me as if I’m from outer space rather than across The Channel, but I’m starting to get used to that! It’s for the sole reason that I’m speaking English apparently. Ho hum. More about that soon.

A bientôt,
Fiona x

P.S. A few photos of the university are here in a post of their own if you want to take a look!