Children in France were more involved in society as they were out with their parents very often. For example, many children would accompany their parents when they went grocery shopping or just when they seemed to be walking around town. While this is not very different to many places in America, there are many children alone as well. There would be minors who looked as young as seven years old walking by themselves throughout the town. Moreover, kids would stay out with or without their family until late at night. Once, I saw a family with kids who looked as young as five eating out at 10pm. I asked my homestay about this and she had to explain that children are treated more like adults in France than in the US.
In my opinion, the United States is more open about its faults and imperfections. While that varies by situation and who is speaking about the country, in general, we discuss many aspects of American society (politics, food industry, religion, education, etc.) in class and many different perspectives are discussed. However, while I was in class in France, the teachers never really spoke about France’s mistakes or imperfections. While I can understand that we as Americans would not be able to offer deep views on French culture, I think it could’ve been interesting to see how we interpreted French culture instead of throwing lots of facts at us or how the US does something worse than France. The last part was especially prominent in chatting with French people at cafes, restaurants, bookstores, etc. and while I think Americans should be reminded of how other countries see us, I found it odd that I never really got to hear the French side of things and hear what they thought France could do better.
Moreover, some French people can center France in the middle of everything, especially the arts. Concerning art, I noticed there is much less of a focus on non-European contributions. On several occasions, only European artists were mentioned or only their works were considered relevant. In large institutions such as the Louvre which only had one wing for artifacts from several countries. There seemed to be a separation of European or even French contributions to art/culture and then other countries. This struck me as odd and frustrating considering that France (especially the south of France) has been historically connected to other relatively close Mediterranean and European countries.
A French person may view my experience as an American who didn’t understand the beauty of French culture because I wasn’t super impressed with the art discussions and I didn’t partake in various French cultural phenomena (I didn’t drink, spend enough time eating, smoke, bike, go to more museums, etc.). They may think that I was either stuck up ignorant of France’s contributions to the world or that I was too focused on passing my French classes. I should’ve spent more time doing the aforementioned activities to fully immerse myself in French culture.
After reflecting on this past semester in France, I have a better appreciation of solidarity within a culture. If I have a job or opportunity in which there is not enough representation of a certain culture or other identity, I now can see how that could affect people even more. I know it felt isolating when I couldn’t understand people or when stores didn’t seem to cater to people with my background. So, I can see why people enjoy being amongst people with whom they share cultural values or activities as they can feel more seen and appreciated. Going forward, I will do better at seeing how people’s various backgrounds can make them feel included or excluded depending on if they are “seen” in whichever space they occupy.