Live it to feel it

France - how is it? I do not want to give you a lecture on the stereotypes: a long maan (romantic in Cantonese) country, wine, cheese, all the luxury brands, the arrogant, impolite and lazy French … Go verify all these clichés yourselves. As for me, I am going to tell you the shocks I had during my exchange year in Sciences Po Paris (Institut d’études politiques)

Shock after shock

I am supposed to know more about France since I studied French politics and I already spoke some French. Even so, it was still my first time in France and in Europe. The shocks came one after another starting from my arrival. At OFII (Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration), I had some administrative shocks. What is a ménage ? What is a foyer ? What does it mean “ressources”? Why all these forms to be filled in? Why didn’t my professors give us courses on the French administrative procedures?

On campus, I only had nothing but more shocks. To start with, the grande école (of which Sciences Po is a part) is a unique institution which can only be found in France. It simply means a system that is unknown to a guy from Hong Kong. The methodology brings me to another unexplored world. In France, we stick quite a lot with the modality starting from our student life. Although we do not care much the methodology of the thesis and of the presentation in Hong Kong, the méthodo holds an essential role in the French academic world. “Thèse, antithèse, synthèse”, this is the catchy slogan. Not to mention that fact that all my French classmates (and certain professors) speak like all the young generation: HYPER-FAST.

And so?

You might have a feeling that I am trying to scare you and give you a French-bashing. No. Please allow me to ask you this question: “Why would you care to stay somewhere else if we are always expecting the same experience?” The issues, the ways people work and the ideology in Hong Kong are as a whole a mixture of the cultures of the Southern China and the British colonial heritages. In many ways, France is just very different. You will surely encounter various shocks, but it means on the other hand that you will explore another way of looking at the world. This is what we call diversity and it is all that matters in the world where a lot of people are ruthless when it comes to “differences”. Before passing your judgement (eg. no, people have to work on Sunday!), for those who are going to France, try to leave your comfort zone and learn to embrace and live with the diversity, and come back as a different person!