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Showing posts from 2017

Autumn blues (version française)

La rentrée a une place spéciale dans la société française. Cela représente la reprise, le renouvellement, des nouvelles activités... Cela ne cesse jamais de m'étonner que la rentrée se manifeste partout. C'est une sensation d'une reprise vraiment partagée, solidaire presque. Mais après la rentrée...qu'est-ce qui nous attend? Jusqu'à  Noël  il n'y a pas grandes choses à part les vacances Toussaint. Et Toussaint est clairement pour moi un jour de congé et non pas une fête qui unit le pays.   Mes décorations de l'automne Je vous explique ma perspective : aux Etats-Unis, l'automne est une véritable saison de fêtes, de couleurs et d'images. Je ne me rendais pas compte de la force des ces images, de cette 'mythologie' avant de venir en France. Mais elle est bel et bien là, dans l'inconscient de tous les américains. Avez-vous déjà remarqué les parfums au Starbucks en automne comme le 'pumpkin spice'? C'est un vrai phénomène

Autumn Blues (English version)

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I've been thinking a lot about the US lately, and what I miss. France in a lot of ways isn't that far culturally from the US (it's still a Western culture after all). But there's no Thanksgiving here. And not really Halloween. Also, no apple picking or apple orchards. And pumpkin flavored anything? Not a thing. French people actually tend to think pumpkin should only be restricted to salty foods and not sweet.   Some of my decorations to help keep the autumn spirit And all of this got me to thinking - fall is really a celebrated season in the US. It represents a lot, there are holidays that help make it festive and build up to it. I'm sure we all have mental images of what fall brings up. The changing color of the leaves, apple cider, apple picking, choosing a Halloween pumpkin, bonfires, hayrides, etc. Sure a lot of it is idealized (I don't know if I've actually ever gone apple p

France’s Number One Pastime

image by Nick Youngson, see photo credits at bottom of page I’ve recently rediscovered a fluffy French reality show called ‘Les reines du shopping’ (The Queens of Shopping). The premise is simple: 5 women are given a theme, a budget, and have to find an outfit in 3 hours that fits the theme. They then have to model their ensemble in front of the show’s other contestants and receive a grade. One thought struck me while watching the other day. ‘Why is it,’ I thought to myself, ‘that these women are so opinionated on the clothing of one another?' Of course part of this is the premise of the show. But for one single outfit you can hear everything from ‘Wow, that looks stunning on her. I love it!’ or ‘No, Chantal, that doesn’t fit you at all.’ I noticed this because it echoed with things I have heard in real life. A clothing store clerk, for example, once said to me when suggesting a dress to try "Now, this dress is more ‘flashy’ than what you normally wear, but it w

The Aftermath of the American Election

I'll admit, I wanted to post sooner but I have been avoiding the elephant in the room: politics and the American election. We talked a lot about the election in my lessons with my students, starting with the primaries last winter. We looked at the general election procedure, talked about the big issues, studied the electoral college, watched debate excerpts etc. There is no doubt that this election was particularly rich for discussion. And it also caused great disappointment. I was surprised actually after the election how much solidarity French people expressed with Americans and the election results. And I quickly realized that their solidarity wasn't just because they were sympathetic. It was because they were scared the same thing is going to happen in France...and it could. The win of Donald Trump reflects back their own fears about the rise of the French right-wing populist and nationalist party, a party that has been gaining in momentum and popularity since