The Space and Time Continuum

One thing that I have been thinking about a lot lately is how my concept of physical space fits in with my surroundings.  Everyone talks about the super-sizing fetish of Americans and the obsession with large homes, large cars, etc.  In France, and by extension in Europe, that just is not really possible.  Cities, especially older ones, are much more likely to have narrow streets, with small store-fronts.  The aisles are narrow in order to fit more in, and the choices of any given item are limited to increase the variety of products offered.  The cereal aisle is not an aisle, for example, but one small fraction of all the goods offered in the aisle. 

When we went to Disney our friends reported that the public spaces and walkways were smaller than in Disney World Florida and that everything just felt really crowded.  Add to that a closer sense of personal space and one can start to feel claustrophobic.  The crowds were always civilized but we were definitely cheek and jowl with one another.  It is the same thing in stores, with lots of “pardon” as one squeezes by a stranger blocking the way to the yogurts and cheeses.  As I have mentioned before there is also a heightened sense of peripheral awareness.  People walk along extremely narrow sidewalks and make calculated judgments as they pass by someone to the left, the right, off the curb to make room for the elderly gentleman with the cane.  And when there is a mis-step there is a sheepish “pardon” to make up for the trespass. 

There is also personal space in terms of noise levels.  When we traveled to and from Paris on the train, there was hardly any noise emanating from the other passengers.  People whispered to their copains, or texted loved ones from afar.  It is the same thing on all modes of transport, buses, trains, even the ferry boat rides! And I have written about the noise levels in our apartment building in another blog as well, but it has really been something that we have all worked on all year long.  The challenge rises anew as we finally open all the windows all the time. 

I am not quite sure how this fits in, but the other thing that I have been mulling over is my identity as a fully-functioning member of society.  I have been working more in the school, helping them put their library on-line and helping the students with their library books each week.  And the students all seem to be fine with the fact that I only sort-of say what most other adults would be telling them.  “Carry the book into your sack and make the line please.”  Clear enough, right?  But it gets just that much worse when the school directeur is asking me, as a member of the end-of-the-year committee, how to properly explain the basket raffle to the French parents who have never heard of such a thing.  Or when I am trying to set up a thank-you dinner for our landlords but there are many many events in all of our lives that require working around.  “Wednesday, yes, not so good.  The kids have school and must to bed.”  It has been a true exercise in humility to try to participate as fully as I can, but not feel badly about my struggling French.  I know that I have made significant progress over the year, and I really can fumble through most anything (with lots of queries, of course).  But I look forward to feeling more comfortable in my own physical space, and being able to speak anytime, anywhere, on almost any subject to anyone who comes my way.