Ma Vie in France

I'm now in the always dreary and often stressful process of renewing my residence card here in France. I have to renew it every year, as this is one of the policies for non-European residents. A familiar scene happened the other day when I began to search for some answers to questions about my particular case, which requires changing the status of my residence card. My first technique was to call directly the administrative office where I would submit my application (called the préfecture ). I got no answer, even after calling four different numbers, several times. The line answering machine, however, suggested a general number, which I called promptly.  First thing after calling, it was announced that I would pay 15 cents/minute for the call, and that my waiting time was under 2 minutes. When I finally got to talk to a person, I realized that this is a general number for all of France, and not specific to my region (where procedures can be a little different...

I’ve just returned from a quick trip to the US where I attended a family wedding. It’s difficult to explain, but I always find these trips unsettling. I really enjoy returning to the US and seeing family and friends. But often the comfort, the ease of communicating in English with people who know me reminds me of how hard I have to work to establish these things in France. And at the end of the day, French culture is not my culture, although I love learning about it and trying to integrate the best I can. My 'outsider' status in French culture has also made me aware of my 'insider' status in relation to American culture.  To give a concrete example: during my trip to the US I was on a road trip and a classic rock station was playing on the radio. About halfway through the trip, I realized that I had recognized every single song that had played, and could probably name most of them.  Before moving to France, I never would have stopped to question my rec...