Ma Vie in France

Returning from summer vacation in France is a national rite. People slowly trickle back into cities after returning from vacation, stores and businesses jump back to life, and things start humming again after the lazy days of summer. A French ritual during this back-to-school period is something called the forum or foire des associations , that is, a fair where all local organizations in any kind of activity can present themselves to interested parties.   Basically, it's usually a street lined with different tents and you can browse the different activities presented. I attended one of these in my neighborhood, and the range of some of these activities included sports, drumming, a writing workshop, volunteering to visit sick people in the hospital, and produce clubs. I was particularly impressed with the amount of associations dedicated to helping people, that is, where they were soliciting volunteers to accompany people who needed help in some way: sick people

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

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