A little more conversation

Peur du jour- 6 Fevrier 2012: Discussion group at a café

 Okay, so lately I've been feeling dishonest about my "peurs" because they haven't really been things that scare me like I was scared in the beginning. I'm realizing that this is probably because I am settling into my comfort zone (and it's not that I'm not putting myself out there, it just doesn't terrify me to speak to people in French anymore). I think this is good on all fronts.

But today I went to a conversation hour at a bookshop/café here to speak French! It was a great way to practice and meet some new people. In fact, I actually met someone from Morocco who made me feel like I should really seize the opportunity to travel there this semester. I now have confirmation that I can get around speaking French in Morocco (because, honestly, I wasn't sure if it was a "second language" that was really just the language of the government) because it's the language everyone speaks in school. He also confirmed that the political climate there is much calmer than that of the rest of the "Arab Spring" nations. It's always good to know that your life dreams are accessible.

It was also a great lesson in cultural diversity/similarity. It was interesting to talk with a native Frenchman about politics in France and politics in America. It was interesting to hear the Moroccan say that he also thought French people were more reserved and private than Moroccans and Americans(he's actually been to the US- Marshalltown, Iowa of all places, Katie!). It was interesting to try to explain the Greek system and my shallow involvement in it, the different levels of college sports, and just how much more expensive American colleges are than most other colleges in the world.

But we also noted how similar we all actually are. We think it's dommage that the media and society in general do a pretty good job of convincing us that we're all so different from each other. Surely, there are differences, but when it comes down to it, we can all find enough similarities among strangers to talk nonstop for two hours.