I spent the last couple days in France with the Cambridge group. Specifically, we went to Normandy, where we did all the usual stuff (Bayeux tapestry, American cemetary, Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc, WWII museum at Caen, etc.). Of course, as expected, that was all amazing. I’d love to write a very eloquent, insightful blog post about it, but I’m afraid I can’t. More importantly, neither I nor you really want to hear my failed attempts. So I’ll skip it, and talk about the things that I know I can do some justice, like the language.

I was privileged enough going into this trip to have taken French in high school and at Carleton. For a long time, I was utterly convinced that I would never use it. At the time, I had never been to Europe. After about two years of no practice, I still had pretty decent reading ability and reasonably good grammar, but my vocabulary was pretty week. So, along with my group, I got off the ferry hoping that I wouldn’t have too much difficulty getting around.

Our professor, Nathan, had no French-speaking ability whatsoever. Moreover, he was convinced that since this was a relatively touristy area, we’d have no difficulty getting by with English. So, of course, as our bus pulls up, Nathan starts talking to the guy in English just as naturally as he would to an American bus driver. To say he failed to communicate would be an understatement. So, flash, it was translator Lee to the rescue. Here I was to save the day, and even I didn’t know what I was doing.

Suffice it to say that I earned my brownie points in France. Between me and another French-speaker on my trip, Elise, we managed not to get the group lost, cursed at, or otherwise shunned. I consider this a personal victory. Also, I learned that sometimes it pays to remember just a little bit of that foreign language whose class you slept through in high school. Even if you can get by with English, they like it if you try. Finally, be adventurous whenever you can; sometimes that ethos comes in handy. Like in France.

Posted on June 30th, 2004 by Lee
Filed under: Uncategorized