On the 15th we arrived in Colmar! For the first day in France, I visited many local towns with my host family for the day. Colmar and Munster (where my host lives) and in the middle of the country and mountains, which somewhat reminds me of suburban Massachusetts. However, the architecture and culture are amazingly different. The buildings are beautiful and look identical to the best pictures on Google.
A funny experience of mine occurred at lunch. We all went to lunch at a small French restaurant in one of the small towns we visited. I was already nervous being in France for the first time, but now I had to decipher the French menu and try to find something that my picky taste pallet would like. After a while of just sitting and staring, understanding little but not enough to fully make an educated choice, my host parents told the waitress I was American. Seemingly out of thin air, she brought over a menu in English. I wanted to challenge myself by using only the menu in French, but I greatly appreciated the effort to help me (and all other English speakers) understand and feel comfortable. That event helped me understand better how much the French support the effort of trying to speak their language, but also want to help us comprehend and succeed while visiting their country. (No worries, I ended up ordering a dish I highly enjoyed!)
After being nervous about speaking and conversing in French, I have begun to adjust to the language change, and I now catch myself sometimes thinking in French rather than English (like right now while writing this!). I am excited to see how much my French will improve during the remainder of the trip and what else I learn and experience while here.
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