Audrey Cheng, Public Health in Europe, 2013
A few nights ago, I went to a Bible study for the first time. Walking in late, I found a group of French students, who were sitting on various couches and chairs encircling a table of food and drink, scooting their chairs backwards so I could squeeze one more chair in. Although I’m not Christian, I jumped on this opportunity after I was invited by a friend, because I thought this would be a great way to immerse myself in French culture. Ever since I arrived in Paris, I had wanted to find ways to listen to conversational French without going so far as to buy a cup of coffee in order to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation at a cafe.
And the experience proved to be challenging. With a four year background in high school French (which isn’t saying much in my case), I could understand only 30% of what was said. But as the college-aged French discussed and repeated phrases in the passages they read, I was surprised when I began to recognize words through context. Through this, I learned that cultural immersion isn’t necessarily something that happens to every study abroad student, but rather it is something they create for themselves.
The experience was a bit surreal especially since I was able to observe the French students conversing naturally with various expressions I wasn’t familiar with. Obviously, many of the words they said were unclear to me, but the way they interacted with one another also fascinated me. Although many of their mannerisms were similar to what I see in American youth, it was interesting to note how peaceful and vulnerable they seemed to be with each other. Questions were asked about their personal lives and it seemed like overall, the Bible study attendees were willing to share.
But my experience at the Bible study did not end there. After our discussion, people hung around to chat, so I practiced my French with the group leader. After we conversed for a bit, my friend and I decided we were going to leave so we said our goodbyes. But instead of a simple goodbye and easy exit as I anticipated, the term ‘culture clash’ became as harsh a reality as I’d ever experienced it. As I went in for a hug with the group leader, he went in for a ‘cheek kiss’ (or faire la bise as the French call it) and what ended up occurring was an floundering hug, which recoiled into a harsh kiss on the other cheek. The moment was very awkward to say the least, but all I could do afterwards was laugh since what had happened was so obviously the simplest of many misunderstandings that happen when culture is exchanged.
But overall, looking back at the experience, it was great seeing one of my favorite quotes come into practice:
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
To be honest, going to Bible study scared me, since the idea of being with an intimate group talking about a religion I’m not familiar with in combination with the discussion being in a language I am barely conversational in wasn’t the most comforting thought. But in this instance, I learned how important it is for us to step out of our comfort zones every day. There are so many treasures in life and without pushing ourselves to find and seek these gems and creating it for ourselves, how will life continue to inspire and excite us? And experiences like this one, where the idea of the universality of human experiences is reinforced only makes my heart grow to love and appreciate human beings so much more. We work our whole lives to find love and happiness, and funny thing is, it’s around us every day as long as we stop and open our eyes.