Cultural Differences: Part I

A post or series we’ve been thinking about for a while but keep forgetting to do is just sharing about the little cultural differences we encounter here in France everyday. When you work overseas in pretty much any context, and certainly in the Christian worker community, a phrase you hear people say over and over is “It’s not wrong, it’s just different.” Because when you begin living in a new culture, the tendency is to compare everything new with what you’re familiar with in your home culture. At first it is so exciting and cool that everything is different. It is invigorating. Then, as the weeks go on, something shifts, and those same things that were amusing and cool before, start to rub you the wrong way (if you let them). Like the police or ambulance sirens, at first I loved that they were different, but now each time I hear them (especially at night) it is kind of a subtle reminder that I am not at home. 

There are many stages in the cultural transition process and each one is unique with it’s pros and cons, but we are determined to love this place and these people. So we feel it is important in this stage, when the temptation grows to get discouraged and irritated by all these little differences, to rather embrace the all so popular mantra “it’s not wrong, it’s just different.” There are and will be easier and harder days of course, but God’s grace is sufficient for the small and large challenges we will face. 

Also, a tip we’ve employed is not feeling bad when we need a taste of home, whether it be an American movie, a coffee shop, or what have you and taking a small France time out. So stay tuned, later this week we’ll post a list of some specific cultural differences.

One of my favorites, cars parking on the sidewalk