Reflections/Growth

I'm sitting outside at this nice café (that has wifi!) and I've realized that this is the first time I've had time to sit and reflect on, well, I suppose life in general. This morning I stumbled upon some saved conversations (that I didn't know were saved on the computer) with some people during my freshman year at college. Needless to say, these weren't exactly conversations (nor people for that matter) that I particularly wanted to be reminded of. But unfortunately, that's how life works. So I stumbled upon them and against my better judgment began reading them. It brought back a lot of pain and hurtful memories for me. Even though I really thought I had worked through a lot of the problems I had in my freshman year, it just reminded me how close these cuts are beneath the surface. What it also did however, was to remind me how far I've made it since then. I've made a great life for myself in Madison. I've met lots of amazing people. And with the support of everyone, I've finally made it all the way to my life dream in France! How incredible my day turned around since reading those conversations this morning...

Things here are going well. We have one more week of intensive courses with the program and then on the 20th, our classes at the university start. I am a little bit nervous about starting classes, especially since they will be all in French with French students. It's a little bit overwhelming but I definitely think I'm ready for it. My attitude since I've been here has been very much "BRING IT ON!" I can take whatever gets thrown at me!

It's funny how little things here make you so proud of yourself! Yesterday I went with some friends to the IKEA in Vitrolles, which is a suburb of Marseille about 30 minutes south of here. We managed to find out which bus to take to Vitrolles from the main bus station, and then the guy at the station told us we'd just have to take another bus once we got to downtown Vitrolles. As soon as we got to the Vitrolles bus station, I went inside with a friend and asked which bus to take to IKEA. I was so proud of us! I just wanted to shout to the world "I TOOK A BUS IN FRANCE AND FIGURED OUT MY WAY AROUND!" But then I realized how silly it sounded...

Sometimes it's funny here the little cultural differences there are. Such as the bise. For those who don't know what the bise is, the bise is the way way French people greet each other by kissing on the cheek. The operation is a lot more complex than it seems though. The number of times you kiss on the cheek depends on the region and often the age of the person you are with. If you are in the south, where I am, it is usually 3 times and you start on the right cheek. But with people of my age, it's only two. With old people it's sometimes 3 or 4. In northern regions, it's often only two and you start on the left. It's just confusing. I've had a few awkward moments with people where I go to shake their hand but then it turns into a half awkward handshake/kissing on the cheek at the same time thing. I'll get the hang of it eventually...

I also love the mindset of people here. People seem to be much more open-minded about things. Or at least, I should say, they have more of a "let-live" attitude. People in general don't care if you're gay. Even if they don't like it or it makes them uncomfortable, they still believe that gay people are allowed to live their lives as they want to. Everyone has the right to their own personal life and make their own personal choices, regardless of whether or not you are against it. As long as it's not hurting anyone, who cares? I wish America was more like this. Instead, I feel like America is stuck behind an un-progressive, religious, puritanical view point. I hate that religion controls so much of our politics. Religion should have nothing to do with it. In fact, I think that the constitution should read instead of "freedom of religion", it should read "freedom of and FROM religion". You can practice whatever religion you want, I really don't care. As long as you're not hurting anyone or suppressing the rights of groups of people such as women or homosexuals, it shouldn't matter. But just because you picked that life for yourself doesn't mean you have the right to force your points on other people. These are some of the political viewpoints that I am starting to understand about France and to be honest, I think it's a much better attitude than most people have in the US. The right to live your own life, that's all I want.

Well ok, now that I've sort of ranted a bit, I think it's time for me to go on. I have moved from having café to a "pression" of beer. Mmm. :) I've been at this café all afternoon, I love it.

à la prochain, (until next time)
Doog