Spring is Springing

It's April already. I'm finding it hard to believe. Every day the sky turns pink a little bit earlier and every night the sun is still shining when we eat dinner at 8 PM. I love it. I was really excited about winter and snow back in November, but the snow melted away in January and then the short, cold, rainy, windy days got old fast. Now, the fields are covered in yellow daisies instead of snow. Daffodils and tulips are blooming everywhere and the trees are slowly getting their green leaves back. It isn't an explosion of pink like what happens every February in Berkeley, but more a gradual increase of yellow and white and green. Every week you notice a little bit more color on the trees and in the pastures. The sun is shining bright and it is bringing my smile back. I don't know why but I have found it so easy the past week or two to talk and laugh with people. Except for Tuesday which involved a pompous art teacher and a frustrating karate class, I've been good.

I learned a new French tradition the other day, called the "poisson d'avril," or "the fish of April." Every April first instead of just pranking people, which they do as well, French children (or teenagers. same difference.) cut little fishies out of paper, write things on them, and stick them on each other's backs. I didn't get any but I saw a whole lot of people walking around with "t'es moche" stuck to their sweaters.

The spring has also brought a new taste of culture shock. In fact, maybe the only time I have really felt "shocked." The smoke was overwhelming at first but even that was somewhat expected. I wasn't used to the food rhythm but I didn't find it weird or unexpected. I think the fact that I have had the opportunity to travel so much already has me less easily unsettled with new cultures and traditions. But now that the sun is coming out, my inner California girl is a little bit startled at how rare it is to go tight-less. In the United States in general (or at least the states I've been too), it is completely normal to see girls in short shorts and tank tops when the weather is nice. California especially. In beach towns, people will walk around the streets wearing their bikini top and shorts and that's it. Okay, I'll admit, my dresses can get to be a little bit too short (sorryyy, I have long legs), but Thursday my dress would have passed the Longfellow dress code (can't be shorter than where your fingers hit your thighs). The fact that I wasn't wearing transparent tights got some very strange looks from people. Even though you can barely tell the difference. I found it strange that in light of a sun hot enough to turn your skin red people still weren't showing their shoulders.

Now that I think about it, throughout the year I have noticed remarks here and there about the hem or neck line of someone's outfit. Potential dresses have been rejected on shopping trips because the French girl I am with considers it to be too short, whereas for me it looks completely reasonable. In this small town in Normandy they are much more traditional when it comes to showing skin and when someone does it is somewhat looked-down upon. It is just a different culture. I think it comes from the weather which is gray and rainy for most of the year, so showing too much skin isn't just provocative but also stupid. It is something I didn't at all anticipate; I assumed that in somewhere like France, said to be the fashion capital of the world and where there are nude beaches, young people would have pretty much the same ideas about what is appropriate and what isn't. It is interesting to learn how I am wrong, to see how the different cultures can really change the way you look at something.

After seven months here I am really starting to see all the ways in which this culture functions differently from mine. For example, people are very insistent with food, really pushing you to try something and finish off the serving dish, but at the same time, people don't accept right away. I wouldn't call it impolite to say yes immediately, but people are more likely to refuse and then accept with insistence. People are less open and extroverted at first, but they find it awfully hypocritical when someone is nice and talkative the first day but then doesn't turn out to be a true friend. It's like a puzzle, the different practices and beliefs all fit and work together to form the culture.

Last weekend I went on a road trip all day Saturday to see the landing beaches and memorials of World War too. It was fascinating. It is one thing to learn in your history class that the Americans invaded to fight off the Germans, but it is a whole different thing to see the remnants of the forts that were destroyed and the cliffs that the soldiers had to scale with German canons coming for them. There are people in my little town that still remember the war. It's incredible to think about. And it was also wonderful to drive through the tiny little coast towns. None of them had strip malls or fast food restaurants, they were all so idyllic and calm. The villages built of bricks and wood with flower gardens and little cafes overlooking the ocean. The fields of flowers in between each town. The stone walls that were almost, but not quite, knocked down in the war and are now overgrown with wild vines. We picnicked at one of the beaches for lunch with salmon and brioche sandwiches followed by baguette and chocolate for dessert. It all felt so stereotypically French. I even started listening to accordion music on my ipod.

 Park near my house

 Spring flowers!

 One little town on the beach

 The memorial at Omaha beach, which the US actually owns. It was weird to see all the signs suddenly have English as the first language and French in small text underneath.

 A little village we drove through

 Fields of yellow flowers

 Another little village

 And another one

 My front yard

Miss and love you all. So much. 

P.S. I have the best grade point average in my class =D