I can’t believe it, but it’s already been over a month since I’ve been in Europe. As I mentioned in my last post, I had to enter Europe through Poland due to current restrictions (and me having Polish citizenship), but other than that my journey was straightforward.
To start from the beginning, I checked into my flight out of Seattle on the 20th of September. Regarding my luggage, I had a backpack filled to the brim, large luggage (weighing 50 pounds), and small carry-on luggage a little bigger than the size restrictions I read about online for carry-ons. Contrary to my worries, I had no trouble whatsoever on any of my flights with my bags.
Now, regarding having a COVID test, even though my flight out of Seattle was to Newark (and thus domestic) I was still required to present a negative test because my destination was international. Because I had a negative PCR COVID test taken within 72hrs handy, I had no problems with this. But, I imagine I would not have been issued my boarding pass had I not had that test (so international travelers beware). I also had to present my COVID test when boarding my flight out of Newark and after landing in Lisbon (the EU city of my layover), thus, I can attest, having this test is crucial for international travel these days.
Anyway, the flights went well. They were long, and on my transatlantic one, the women sitting in front of me got drunk and spilled their wine on the floor (which was quite funny actually). I also almost missed my flight out of Lisbon to Warsaw because I stopped at the airport to eat the sandwich my mom packed for me, but other than those two events, my flights were rather quaint, and I arrived in Warsaw with no problems on the 21st.
There, I spent three nights at an Airbnb with my uncle. It was nice seeing him, and I had a tour guide of sorts in Warsaw, which I was wonderful (I was just not in the mood for going it solo in Warsaw). During my stay in the Polish capital, I also noticed that Warsaw was a very diverse and LGBTQ friendly city, which made me happy and gives me hope for Poland’s future (despite how horrendous the current regime is).
After my three nights in Poland were up, I had a 6 am flight to Montpellier via Amsterdam. There I had a 6-hour layover. By the time I reached Montpelier, it was late in the afternoon. Yet I still needed to take a bus and tram, hauling my heavy luggage to get to the train station, where I had a train to Alès (the city I’m working and living in). I then waited at the train station in Alès for an hour because my professeur référent was at an important meeting. It was a lot. I was exhausted, sweaty, smelly, and gross by the end of the night, but I made it!
Now, I’ve been doing well in Alès. It’s not the most sophisticated place to be, but it’s a short and cheap train ride from Nimes and Montpelier. I get to see a different (non touristy) side of France as well. My prof référent also turned out to be a very kind, warm, and welcoming man, and I’m glad he’s my supervisor. He even let me stay with him and his family for a few days when I arrived, as it was not possible to move into my school housing then. A few days later, I moved into my apartment, which turned out to be quite old and generally unequipped for life in the modern world (looks like it hasn’t been redone since the 50s). But it’s cheap at 180€ a month, there are no utility charges, and I have a 5-minute walk to my classes in the morning. So really, what’s there to complain about? I also have a great relationship with my Spanish roommate Natalia (also a language assistant but for (no surprise) Spanish), which is arguably one of the most important things about living somewhere.
This also brings me to my next point, which is that I am surrounded by nice and welcoming people, making France feel like home despite being thousands of kilometers (yeah, I just did that) away from my actual home. Most of the teachers I’m working with are very nice (offering me rides, lending me their bikes, inviting me to lunch), and so are the students (being very interested in me and asking me lots of questions). One teacher I work with at the school is even Polish, which is super nice because we have that cultural and linguistic connection (we speak to each other in Polish). I’ve also already had the chance to meet some other language assistants in Nîmes, and I feel very welcome and a part of that social circle. Additionally, I want to highlight how well my relationship with my roommate has been going, and how it’s given me so much exposure to Spanish culture (a culture I never really knew much about) and I’m really thankful for that. Natalia’s boyfriend from Barcelona also stayed with us the past week, and even he’s been nice, friendly, and welcoming as well. I’m surrounded by so many kind people and I’m just so happy about that because kind people can be difficult to find. Not fitting in was one of my biggest worries about doing this program, especially considering my turbulent social history at Western, but evidently, I had nothing to worry about.
However, even if I’ve been doing well, my time in France hasn’t been perfect. Notably, I had A LOT of difficulties with opening a bank account, something I needed to complete before October 9th to receive my salary by the end of the month. Turns out that the U.S. has laws against tax evasion, so opening a bank account abroad requires extra paperwork. Now, despite this, I am eligible to have a bank account in France, but French banks don’t want to bother with the extra paperwork because France. To make it worse, this issue depends on the specific branches of a bank and not the bank itself, so many times I visited banks with branches that would open accounts for Americans in other cities only to be told “pas possible” (“not possible” – which I’m learning is a favorite expression of the French) in the branch in my town. The first time a bank even told me it was possible to open an account (BNP Paribas), they told me it was only possible to do so if I simultaneously opened a savings account and wired 10,000 € into it. Yeah…that didn’t happen. Eventually, I was able to open an account with CIC, but even there their system blocked me, and the banker had to work through her lunch to remove the blockage. And then, after getting a bank account, I still had to wait a week to get my debit card, and then another week to get my PIN so I could actually use that card. This all helped enlighten me with the true meaning of the phrase I’ve already heard lamented many times by so many of the French “L’administration française”. All in all, opening a bank account was a headache, and I was pissed, but I made my deadline and it’s done and over with.
Another thing that’s bothered me is that I’ve been noticing a lot of disregard here for COVID. Restaurants and bars have been packed, people (including my students and some of my teachers) haven’t been wearing their masks properly if at all, and people have been mocking COVID guidelines. All quite disappointing considering the perception that many Americans have had about Europeans being better about COVID. They really aren’t from my observations (although my Spanish roommate says Spaniards do a better job at taking COVID seriously, so maybe it’s just a French thing). Either way, this has led to France having one of the highest per capita rates of COVID cases in the world (higher than the U.S.), and to, as some of you may already know, President Macron announcing a second month-long national lockdown.
This time, the lockdown isn’t as strict to make sure the economy still functions (only hospitality and entertainment venues like restaurants and theaters are closed). Schools are also still open (although I question the logic considering France wants to slow the spread of COVID by December) which means I still work. Other than that, though, the country is on lockdown and you cannot leave your home except for going to work, getting groceries, and short walks, all for which you need to fill out an attestation form. The fine for being out and about without a valid reason (or not having an attestation filled out) is 135€. Anyway, this sucks and I’m disappointed because if the French had done a better job at social distancing and mask-wearing, and maybe if restaurants remained takeout only, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now. But alas, people are only people. And ultimately, I don’t mind being locked down because it will give me more time to connect with myself (something I haven’t had time for lately), and focus on goals such as figuring out my future. I’m also glad to be locked down with a roommate I like. So, it’s not all bad.
Thirdly, I’m disappointed with the state of affairs here in France culturally. The recent terrorist attacks have been horrifying, and I will not deny that they make being in France scary right now. But I frankly don’t think France has been handling the overall cultural situation well either. The truth of the matter is that there are stark cultural and ideological differences between the French, and many of the recent North African/Central Asian immigrants, but that’s okay. That’s normal. The problem, however, is that instead of understanding the differences and approaching them with respect, I think many in French society have been trying to impose their cultural values on these people, and that’s been creating loads of tension. Extremists blow off the steam with terrorism, which is horrendous. But some French blow it off with racism and xenophobia which also isn’t pretty. For instance, after the recent attacks, I found out from one of my language assistant friends from Jordan that her friend, also a Jordanian language assistant but in the north of France, was recently harassed and beat up by two French people for merely speaking Arabic at a bus stop with his sister (apparently he wasn’t even Muslim but a Christian).
This kind of behavior is disgusting, and will also work to exacerbate the situation, continuing the cycle. Not all the French are like this, but I’ve noticed others still, becoming complacent in the matter saying things like “Europeans and Muslims are just too different to get along”. Needless to say, this thinking also will not help either. Now, I don’t know what else to say as this is such a complex subject, but to conclude it’s disappointing to see people touting their society as open to everyone, while simultaneously not attempting to be more culturally and ideologically inclusive.
Anyway, from making new friends and starting a new job to being in full lockdown, my time in France has been interesting. I have already broadened my horizons and grown in some ways, and I’m especially curious to see how much of an impact on my growth this new lockdown will have. That will be something I will surely post about on here, considering I now will have plenty of time to be blogging…