FRENCH Culture
 

A few days from now, I will be off to France as an exchange student for one month. I will be staying in Crehange, a small town just outside of Metz, in the east part of France. I would like to know if anyone knows the normal daily activities and customs in that particular region of France, and if I should be aware of any. thank you! <BR> <BR>

Keya, <BR>One of the discoveries that may truly surprise you is, not the FRENCH culture, but the GERMAN! Lorraine, the province of Nancy and Metz, which has been occupied by Germany three times in the last 130 years has a strong Germanic influence. I think you'll find beer more popular than wine, for example. The German language is an option in the school system for another example. You'll find "joie d'vivre" mixed with "gemutlichkeit" and should have a wonderful stay. Bon voyage! Don't forget to study!

While you are near Metz, make sure you visit the gigantic American military cemetery (Gen. Patton is buried there among thousands of other U.S. soldiers). It will explain to you why the French behave the way they do -- nothing is quite so heavy as the burden of gratitude. Twice in this century, America has rescued France, a debt which they choose to ignore.

This is true that Lorraine and Alsace had a hectic history due to French/German struggles, but do not expect them to be happy about the so-called "German influence"... People in the east of France definitely not like it. Just watch the everyday life for a few days... They have created a culture of their own (maybe more true in Alsace, than in Lorraine).

I'm sorry, but why on earth should the French or any other nation for that matter be thankful to the Yanks for any reason! The US joined in the war for economic reasons and profited from it while Europe lay in ruins. American arrogance can be extremely insulting.

Tell that to the men at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

arizona's responds is typical response for a 'ugly american'man the war's been over for 50+ years! deal with it. why is it the gratitiude thing always comes up when an american discusses europe? if you think that europeans owe us gratitude and when you don't receive it you get all pissed off, than stay home.

Perhaps Arizona could have chosen a better word than gratuitude. Perhaps respect and remembrance would be better choices. I do not expect gratitude for my country assisting the French or any others survive a most difficult situation. I am also not so niave as to believe that our purposes have been comletely alturistic.I would however, like for someone to remember the value of the lives of my father's generation...these men and the freedom fighters of the affected countries won the war and gave all of us an opportunity to live free, whether in France or the United States. During my travels in Europe, when in a country such as France , the thought of a dependence on the United States never entered my mind. However one cannot understate the sacrifice given. Recently in USA today, Helmut Kohl authored a thank you letter to the United States for the Berlin airlift. A nice thought, and one from the heart. If others choose to defer, I can accept that, and it does not affect my wonderful opinons of the Europe I have traveled one bit. So enough with the ugly Americans, there are enough ugly tourists of all nationalities to go around, and we certainly don't hold the monopoly!.

Perhaps Americans are arrogant at times. But we do come in handy in a fight now don't we?

Ok, so Americans can be arrogant and Europeans can be arrogant. Even people in Swaziland can be arrogant - it's a human trait. The point I was trying to make is that the human race and especially the West cannot base its civilisation on gratitude for events which happened over 50 years ago. The past is the past. Should the French be thankful to the Prussians and English for having saved them from Napoleon? Should all European still be grateful to the Franks under Charles Marten for having saved them from the Moors at Poitiers? Should the Germans be thankful to Arminius for having saved them from the Romans at the Varus battle? Should the US be grateful to the UK for permission to use British bases to launch atrocious attacks on innocent Libyan civilians in 1986? Or should Chile be grateful for US conivance in overthrowing a fairly elected progressive president and in installing a brutal dictatorship? Or Grenada be grateful for the heartfelt intervention there? I provoke, and deliberately so, in order to show the hollowness of Arizona's arguments. <BR>Yes, Europeans are in favour of American involvement here and are glad of it - better that than Soviet dominance - but to judge a country, and moreover, a holiday experience on whether a nation still shows gratitude to the US is a wee bit exaggerated. Travel is supposed to be about broadening horizons and understanding perhaps why in this case the French are less than enthusiastic about all things American. The answer lies probably not in WW2 but in cultural hegemony. And why not? After reading the other pages it would seem as if some tourists (FROM ALL NATIONS!!) only want to see things familiar from home around them abroad. If I came from a country with such a rich history, heritage, way of life and cuisine as France, I too would despair at tourists complaining that the village had no MacD.'s. <BR>

I think someone asked a perfectly reasonable question about what to expect in Alsace-Lorraine. Now it's turned into political bickering about a war 50 years ago---hardly the kind of topic appropriate for a travel forum. Cut it out, guys. We are visiting Alsace next October at the suggestion of French frends. We have traveled a lot and they suggested it because of its unique culture. A similar place is the Alto Adige area of Italy where it meets the Austrian/German culture. Both areas have changed hands and yes there are some who don't love the other side, but I don't think they get as worked up about it as some of these people on this post. The food in Alsace is particularly unique also. Enjoy your stay and then you can tell us what you found! <BR>