Hello family and friends,
Belated Merry Christmas/Hanukah and Happy New Year! For the holidays, I was fortunate enough to spend time with my sister, Sarah, in France and Germany. I hadn't left Africa since October 2010 so I was a bit blown back things in Europe. Biggest culture shocks or differences that I noticed:
-How fast things are. For example, Sarah and I traveled to Germany from Paris and were able to buy tickets ON THE SPOT for the six-hour voyage the following day. We didn't have to wait three days for a reservation or go through hoops to make transportation work our way. Definitely wasn't used to that one.
-How grumpy people are, especially in Paris. Even people we spoke to who live and work in Paris said that everyone is always like that and that Parisians have a reputation for being grumpy and pessimistic about whatever happens. People seemed to be in such a big rush - and upset the whole time about it. Sarah and I were standing in line for the Eiffel Tower on our last day in Paris, and we started counting how many times people said "pardon" or "excuse me" as we made a space in the long line for them to pass through to the other side. Our count was 1 "pardon" to 6 "________". We stopped counting after that because we were so hurt that people were that disrespectful and mean.
-How goooooooood the food is. So France and my region of the Adamawa in Cameroon generally have the same things - the land is fertile, they have the same seeds, pretty much the same growing season(actually a bit longer of a season here in c-roon) - but food is just soooo much better in France. Why is that? All the same materials but things are so different in the preparation. I was in heaven with all the cheese and vegetables and meat.
Here are photos from our travels around France and Germany:
France and Germany Part I
France Part II
Again, I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Happy 2012! Many more stories and thoughts about Cameroon and life soon to come.....
Belated Merry Christmas/Hanukah and Happy New Year! For the holidays, I was fortunate enough to spend time with my sister, Sarah, in France and Germany. I hadn't left Africa since October 2010 so I was a bit blown back things in Europe. Biggest culture shocks or differences that I noticed:
-How fast things are. For example, Sarah and I traveled to Germany from Paris and were able to buy tickets ON THE SPOT for the six-hour voyage the following day. We didn't have to wait three days for a reservation or go through hoops to make transportation work our way. Definitely wasn't used to that one.
-How grumpy people are, especially in Paris. Even people we spoke to who live and work in Paris said that everyone is always like that and that Parisians have a reputation for being grumpy and pessimistic about whatever happens. People seemed to be in such a big rush - and upset the whole time about it. Sarah and I were standing in line for the Eiffel Tower on our last day in Paris, and we started counting how many times people said "pardon" or "excuse me" as we made a space in the long line for them to pass through to the other side. Our count was 1 "pardon" to 6 "________". We stopped counting after that because we were so hurt that people were that disrespectful and mean.
-How goooooooood the food is. So France and my region of the Adamawa in Cameroon generally have the same things - the land is fertile, they have the same seeds, pretty much the same growing season(actually a bit longer of a season here in c-roon) - but food is just soooo much better in France. Why is that? All the same materials but things are so different in the preparation. I was in heaven with all the cheese and vegetables and meat.
Here are photos from our travels around France and Germany:
France and Germany Part I
France Part II
Again, I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Happy 2012! Many more stories and thoughts about Cameroon and life soon to come.....
