Afton: An American Abroad

            When preparing to travel to another country and live in a different culture than my own, I always thought the best way was to learn anything and everything I could about where I was going. Basically, that’s the approach I have taken since taking my first French class in high school. I feel as though I know a considerate amount about French culture, history, and food. How does that help me exactly? Well, uhm, I guess I can have a conversation with a person from France and not be completely lost when it comes to cultural references. Wait, though, that doesn’t really help me so much as it helps the people I’ll be communicating with. Really, when it comes down to it, all the facts in the world won’t prepare me for what’s coming. I can’t transform those facts into pretending to be French somehow and have no differences in culture. I can’t translate their cultural values into some form of American sub-culture. Honestly, all the things I think I know will do absolutely no good unless I bridge the gap. What gap is that, you ask? I have to understand myself and my own culture.

            Here comes the hard part. I actually had to turn an inward eye to who I am and what makes me - me. Just a little secret I’m going to let you in on: I kind of suck at these types of activities. I really should know myself better than anyone else, but that just isn’t the case most of the time. Oh well, right? No. It’s extremely important that I understand where my starting point is and what baggage I have to overcome to be within another culture.

            Self-awareness is such an icky word. It’s long and complicated with its hyphen, and it means I actually have to think about myself. As I sat down to fill out the surveys we had to complete for class to help with our own self-awareness process, I dreaded the multiple pages in front of me. After the initial detesting, procrastinating, and whining, I started down the page. “Yeah, I guess I strongly agree with that? I’ll put down a 4. That definitely isn’t me, but do I strongly disagree? Ugh!” I seriously hate those things. If you gave me the same one twice, I can guarantee I wouldn’t put down the same answer on both. Point being, I finally started to appreciate what the surveys were trying to get me to realize after I quit fussing about the process. You’ll never get me to admit that I liked it or would do more, but I will say I didn’t hate my life by the end. What I learned is actually nice, and sometimes surprising.

            I learned that I’m surprisingly out-going, even though I think I’m like the shy, awkward freshman hiding in the corner. I’m not really afraid to leave the country and be on my own, and I’m not afraid to ask for help. So, I aced the Independence section. I’m quite open-minded and level-headed when it comes to dealing with people with different opinions or life-styles, too. Conversely, I didn’t do so well with the flexibility portion. I found out what types of things might upset me or pose a problem. For example, I’m just going to have to learn that things happen when they happen, and I can’t fret if my flight gets delayed or the train is running late. Also, I need to fill in the blanks and go forward even if I have vague information. Although I learned that my preferences match up fairly closely with that of France as a whole, I am inevitable going to run into differences. When that happens, I’ve learned I can deal with these situations with a combination of strategies I’m already aware of/using, and some new ones I learned from another survey. Not bad, survey, not bad.

            I think I typed “I” so many times in that paragraph that I’ve made myself uncomfortable. Did I mention I hated that? Oh, I guess I did. Whoops! Glad that’s over.

            I also assumed that I was going to be the only one learning about another culture. Wrong again, Afton. They are going to want to know about me and where I’m from too! After the painful process of identifying what aspects of American culture I consider a part of my personality, I think these French people are in for a big dose of feminism, individuality, time-obsession, and public service. I hold all these values true to American culture and my own life. Will they like it? I’m not sure. Ready or not, here I come France!