Why am I here?

    

Luckily, I have not had many uncomfortable situations during my time here in France. The culture is relatively easy to get used to and the people that I have met here are very nice. However, like Talya Zemach-Bersin said in her article American Students Abroad Can't be 'Global Citizens', “once I arrived overseas, I quickly realized that studying abroad as an American student is far more complicated than simply learning how others speak and eat (1). There are a few trivial things that I have experienced and that have made me a bit uneasy and unsure of my actions. Mostly all of these “productive discomforts” have to do with the clothes that I decide to wear and with the people that I do not necessarily personally know.

I arrived in Angers during the winter, knowing that it snows once or twice a year. I left Meadville, where there were a couple feet of snow at the time, and when I arrived here I actually had the chance to see Anger’s only snowfall of the year. During that day, I was wearing a winter jacket, but no scarf, hat, or gloves because I did not bring any. Because I am from Pittsburgh originally and currently live in Meadville, I am quite used to cold weather and lots of snow. Therefore, I was not cold this day despite my lack of warm clothing. However as I crossed people on the street, they looked at me with concerned faces and must have thought that I was very cold. I also was the only person not using an umbrella for the snow (this is something I have never seen before in my life).

Now that is thankfully springtime, the weather in Angers is beginning to become a lot warmer and sunnier. The other day, the temperature rose to 24 degrees Celsius, which is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Being as excited as I was, I happily wore a light dress with a scarf in case it rained, seeing that the rain in France is almost always unpredictable. I saw the other American and Canadian students in my program wearing tank tops, shorts, or dresses as well. We all wanted to enjoy the feeling of the sun on our skin and we decided to go to the local park in order to lie down in the sun. When we do things like this, we almost always get strange looks from people that we pass or see at the park. Even though it was warm enough to wear clothes such as shorts, skirts, and dresses, most people from France dress according to season. Dressing “appropriately” for spring would be wearing long pants with a light shirt and jacket, and sometimes even a scarf. Because of this little aspect of the fashion culture in France, myself as well as the rest of the American students and also the Canadian students sometimes stand out from the rest of the community. This has taught me that I could study the culture of France for years, just like I have, and still not know a subtle aspect like fashion expectations. I now realize that it would take years of living in France to fully understand the culture and way of life, not just a few months.

Me and some American friends wearing dresses on a hot spring day

Zemach-Bersin, Talya. "American Students Abroad Can't Be 'Global Citizens'" The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.