My first days in Montpellier

By Janelle Olmer

Here's Montpellier! I have been here for a week and I already feel like home. France has picked up many American habits and I believe that that has helped me to get used to living here. Wherever I look, there is American advertising, American restaurants, American stores, American tourists and students, even American paninis. I find American paninis not only funny but also indicative of the international perception of the United States. Between the two slices of bread, one can find fries, steak, mayonnaise and sometimes more ingredients. It's the McDonalds menu, which you find here as well, condensed into a single sandwich. Just the thought of eating it makes me feel sick. I think that the French are interested in us, rather than admire us.

The first day, my host mother introduced me to her family as the student from the United States. This remark made for a heated discussion, entirely in French. Even if I wasn't afraid to talk, I wasn't able to get a word in edgeways. Her brothers talked about our presidential elections, our war, our economy and our politics with such an ease like one couldn't find in many Americans. International news are really international: Back home we pay attention to the countries which count the most for the United States, something that has as a result incomplete news hidden in wooden language. It seems to me that in Europe, knowledge is happiness. In the USA, ignorance is preferred.