Toto, I'm pretty sure we're still not in Kansas.

   For all of you that were around for the first round of this year full of adventures, you may remember a post entitled "We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto..." It was just a few observations about differences between Argentina and Mexico.  Basically, it was my way of telling you all about the greeting-with-a-kiss in Argentina.
   This post is a little different. I almost entitled it "We're Not in Latin America Anymore, Toto,"  but one of the Grace students here is from Kansas, so I thought it was appropriate.
   Enough intro: Most of my life has been spent in Latin America.  I view that as an advantage in my life, and I think that it gives me a unique perspective.  However, I find that in my mind there are two regions of the world: The US and non-US.  One reason that I think I do this is that I like to spend time with MKs.  We share our experiences from around the world and realize that we have a ton in common.  We joke about bribing government officials and terrible roads and other things about the third world.
  One thing that I am realizing, is that I haven't had a lot of interaction with people from Europe.  Obviously, France is not the third world, but it is non-US. So, I wasn't worried about this trip very much because it's Round 2 of study abroad, the only difference is that I have to learn French.  Obviously, that is oversimplified.
  The cultural differences are sometimes hard for me to notice.  There are the obvious ones: clean streets, posted bus schedules, and little clocks at the bus stops to tell you when your bus will arrive.  But sometimes, you have to dig a little deeper, think a little harder.  For example in church today, the pastor began with a defense of God and why he didn't create evil.  I didn't think to much of it, it was a decent argument with solid illustrations.  But the cultural implications are much higher: In France, being able to debate and argue your point is very, very important.  The idea of just "talking" about something is somewhat unheard of.  Lots of discussions are more than just the interchanging of words.
   Another difference is the age of things here.  Dijon is an old town, I have been in catholic churches that were begun in the 11th or 12th century.  Honestly, it's mind-blowing.  It's strange for me to be in a place where the history from basically a thousand years ago is known and documented.  It makes me realize that that must be a factor in a culture's profile.  I haven't done the research, but I'm aching to learn about it.