Une soiree chinoise. I have a Chinese classmate that lives in my building and we had been talking about having dinner together for quite some time. One afternoon, her and another Chinese classmate came to my apartment to invite me to an evening with them (une soiree). I showed up only expecting to have dinner and to leave shortly thereafter, but much to my surprise and satisfaction, I had spent a large majority of my evening there. We were 6 total, two Chinese girls who spoke only french and chinese, and three Chinese guys who spoke only chinese and english. They were so happy to have me and we spent a nice evening talking and learning about each others history and about our individual cultures. We made chinese dumplings and they taught me a french card game. We discussed how are lives differ from the french and also each other.
I learned from one whom is from the northern part of China, near Russia, about his regions love of snow. He really misses the snow and the cold, its around 20 below Celsius there now! They have many outdoor activities during these times, from sporting events (skiing, cross country and alpine, ice-skating, etc) to creating art in the snow/ice. They create sculptures like we put up ornaments during Christmas time. He said they like to make animals or buildings (putting lights inside them so they glow at night!) and talked about a big competition with his school. He said the foreigners oftentimes win, something I found entertaining. He was talking about Bangladeshi-ans who are absolutely out of their element in the cold, but really love to make the art and dive into the culture there.
It was a great experience and one I know we will try to duplicate. I found myself smiling often and realizing how well we could all communicate in our own foreign tongues. My french really is becoming sufficient and although I am constantly upset because I want to improve, I can't help but tell myself (occasionally) that I have really found some success in it.
I haven't come to the realization more so than now that we are always caught up in our own lives. We are thinking about how we are going to get through our days, what we're going to eat later, or how we look and are being perceived by everyone else. I guess I can only assume what everyone else is going through, but I know I fall under these circumstances far too often. Since I have been taking classes here, I have met people from, seriously, everywhere. You get to know some more than others, but through the course of a semester you find little details about everyone. For example, there is a girl from Ukraine, she is very pretty with hair down to her waist. She has a pretty accent, but one that hasn't translated well into french, yet. I've noticed that she studies hard and does well, except when she speaks (the accent and the pressure of an entire class that's listening). Well I find out she's married and wants to live in France. She doesn't plan to work, but instead she writes poetry. She has even written some in french. I was so impressed.
Another classmate of mine is from Columbia. He moved here at the beginning of the year and has some distant family here, but basically decided to move away from his intermediate family and try the french life. He really speaks great and just started when he arrived! Between him and a girl from Argentina, they are so impressive in how quick they pick up everything and the maturity they show (they're 18-19 yrs old). Seeing them do so well, along with others, has been a huge motivation for me and gives me confidence that it can be done.
My semester is about over as I have finals next week that will show me how well I have actually progressed. They don't mean a ton, but if failed, I have to take another test to prove I should move to the next level in January. I'm pretty confident that I'll get more than the minimum necessary but I'm excited to prove to myself that I have, in fact, learned a lot.
Luckily for me, I'll have another semester here with many of the same classmates returning. People from Ghana, China, Korea, Japan, South America (sorry to lump them all together), New Zealand, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, etc. It really shows you that, yes, it is in fact a large world but still many of us came together unknowingly and for different reasons to learn a foreign language and a foreign culture together. I will continue to learn from them and provide them with a positive example of what Americans are like. I have put in a lot of work to find a home here and the past month or so, with my language improving, I have started to feel truly grateful for the opportunity that lies ahead of me.
