Traveling means different things to different people. Some people travel as part of a job and subsequently grow to dislike it. Others travel for leisure and the fun of experiencing something different. There are also some who don't travel at all--who are content with their current surroundings enough to rest relatively immobile. I consider myself to be a leisure traveler. Even though traveling can be a very stressful and hectic activity from time to time, it has a certain calming aspect to me that is unlike anything else I've experienced. Traveling is a great portal into the lives of others. In some instances, those lives are lived in relatively the same manner as my own. In other instances, they are completely different. No matter what the degree of the difference seems to be, there is something about seeing life from a different perspective that has always interested me.
Growing up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula made traveling a challenge at times. Even at the nearest decently sized airport (still more than two hours by car) airfare was considerably more expensive than other "hub" airports (the closest one being 6 hours by car). Any traveling by car was fairly limited due to the expansiveness of the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. Despite these challenges, my family was fairly travel oriented. Almost every year until I was 12, my family would take nearly a 26-hour road trip to Florida, staying with my grandmother who spent the winter months there. Our trip usually lasted about two weeks, which typically coincided with an academic spring break. In addition to our Florida trips, my family would try to take at least one vacation each summer. These vacations brought me to places like Chicago, Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH, and the very-well-known, oh-so-populated city of Puducah, Kentucky (sarcasm intended...though we really did visit Puducah, Kentucky). And as a graduation celebration for my older sister, nearly the entire family made the trip to Cancun, Mexico in 2000. I guess one could say that traveling has been in my blood since my formative years...and still is to say the least.
This trip marked my third to Europe and second to France. I visited France in 2005 as part of a tour through my high school French program. In 2006, I spent two weeks in Germany. Even though I've had prior experience going abroad, this particular trip was completely different from the last two. This trip, more than any other I've taken, involved a great degree of cultural immersion. This isn't to say that I wasn't culturally immersed when I visited France in 2005, however the two-week time frame of that visit limited what could have been experienced. This month-long trip that I just completed allowed me to experience the finer cultural side of France that I think I missed in 2005.
I started by visiting Paris on May 27. Paris has grown to become one of my favorite cities for a number of reasons. The Paris metropolitan area has about 12 million inhabitants, or approximately 18% of the entire French population. This figure is incredible considering the New York City metro area only contains about 6% of the U.S. population. Paris is also an amazing city from the standpoint of its cultural/political influence in France. In the United States, we have several "hubs" that serve as focal points for various cultural/political activities. For example, Hollywood produces our movies, Washington, D.C. is our nation's governmental capital, New York City is our nation's largest city and our financial capital, our technology sector is centered around Silicon Valley in the San Francisco area, the list goes on. In France, Paris fits the bill for almost all of the facets listed above. It's the national governmental capital, financial capital, fashion capital, entertainment capital, language capital, etc. Very few other countries have just one focal city with so much influence. This is why I have grown to love Paris.
In France, or any country for that matter, the danger of having one lone prominent city is that the rest of the country is often forgotten. Imagine if foreign tourists only visited New York City on their visit to the United States. Surely we can all agree that New York City, though quite interesting by itself, does not provide an accurate cross-section of the entire county. The same concept applies to France. While Paris is definitely my favorite place to visit, there is much more to be seen in France. The "much more" is the part for which I have discovered a new appreciation.
The Paris experience ended by taking the TGV (France's high-speed train) to Annecy to begin my host family stay. The ride was about four hours, but it felt like much less than that. I usually get a little antsy on longer car rides/plane rides, but there was something different about the TGV that made time fly by. Near the end of route, we entered the Alps mountain range. Our train then bordered le Lac Bourget (photo below--from the TGV), which is the largest lake in France. With the incredible views, the ride put me surprisingly in a calm state. Without getting too profound, I'm not sure that I've ever felt that calm before, nor have I ever been that deep in thought. It was, as the French would say,
zen.
My trip continued with a host-family stay in Annecy. This family stay was also an experience completely unique unto itself. A family stay allows for the best possible window into the everyday lives of the French. This particular family stay was definitely the best scenario I could have asked for. I had my own room with its own bathroom. My family (pictured below) let me borrow one of their bikes, not to mention the Alps sightseeing adventures that they took me on. Their cooking was phenomenal and their understanding of my language difficulties put me surprisingly at-ease to engage in conversation with them. And converse we did. We hit nearly every subject imaginable, from Presidents Obama and Sarkozy to culinary differences between France and the United States...not to mention everything in between. We even had an hour-long conversation about the use of double negatives in French. I will be trying to maintain communication with this family in the future. Hopefully, I can convince them to make a visit to the pleasant peninsulas we call Michigan.
For me, this family stay was all about cultural immersion--experiencing a culture first hand, while living it at the same time. I am a firm believer that a given culture is best understood through the lens of that culture and no other. So many generalizations and stereotypes are formed based on misinterpreted and misread information by those who have truly never experienced the culture they are analyzing. This misinformation can open the door for discrimination and marginalization. Understanding another culture within the context of that culture is paramount. Only after this concept is realized can we work together for any type of social betterment.
On the 8-hour airplane ride back to Detroit, I sat next to two German girls who were headed to Los Angeles to visit some family. When it came time to complete the U.S. Customs declaration form, I happened to glance over enough to notice that they had checked "Yes" for all of those crazy questions such as "I am bringing disease agents, cell cultures, or snails." Judging by the looks of these two girls, I had some serious doubts that they were, in fact, carrying any of the above. I politely interjected telling them that I might be able to help with their forms. After some serious rewording, paraphrasing, and defining, she realized that none of these things were making the trip with her to the United States...fortunately. Looking back on this event, I smile a bit. Where one cultural experience was coming to an end, another was just beginning.
I am at home now in Mount Pleasant, back to the routine. After a month away, it is nice to come back to familiar places and familiar people. I am happy here, with every aspect. I enjoy my job, my family, my friends, and my wonderful girlfriend of almost two-and-a-half years. I am also happy with my recent experience in France and a little sad to see that it has come to an end. I find myself trying to hold on to any vestige of French culture that I can find here in the United States. I'm sure that will wear down just in time for the next trip to France.
For as long as I am able, I will continue to travel and seek new experiences. Hopefully one day, I will be able to call upon these travel experiences to make some sort of difference in the world...big or small.
Margaret Mead once said: "If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place." This is why I travel. This is why I write.
I started by visiting Paris on May 27. Paris has grown to become one of my favorite cities for a number of reasons. The Paris metropolitan area has about 12 million inhabitants, or approximately 18% of the entire French population. This figure is incredible considering the New York City metro area only contains about 6% of the U.S. population. Paris is also an amazing city from the standpoint of its cultural/political influence in France. In the United States, we have several "hubs" that serve as focal points for various cultural/political activities. For example, Hollywood produces our movies, Washington, D.C. is our nation's governmental capital, New York City is our nation's largest city and our financial capital, our technology sector is centered around Silicon Valley in the San Francisco area, the list goes on. In France, Paris fits the bill for almost all of the facets listed above. It's the national governmental capital, financial capital, fashion capital, entertainment capital, language capital, etc. Very few other countries have just one focal city with so much influence. This is why I have grown to love Paris.
