IAS 380R CAJAF!!!

This summer I had the opportunity to go to the Conférence Annuelle des Jeunes Adultes Francophones in Bordeaux. Not only was it was a wonderful experience culturally and spiritually, but I know my French improved so much over those short five days.
     Culturally, it was one of the few and precious moments when I was among virtually all French speakers (There were 3 Americans there, out of around 360 JA, or Young Adults.) and didn't feel like an observor or English teacher or tourist. I was one of them, and was treated as such. I think it's hard for people to make solid friendships with someone they know is leaving soon, and I think there are a lot of Americans who pass in and out of France, spend maybe a semester and then leave, so they are never really integrated into the ward or stake like someone who would premanently live there. That's how I felt at first; I was in a lot of ways the outsider. I required a lot of patience to carry on a conversation, usually didn't understand slang or any form of humor. However it's been a year since I joined the JA in the stake of Angers, and I think the barriers are finally gone. One night, the 4 other girls in my tent sat on my bed and we stayed up until 3am, talking and joking, and I realized, even exhausted in the middle of the night, that I understood about 80% of the conversation. Occationally they would stop and explain something, a reference to a film or tv add that I wouldn't understand, but I could follow and actually contribute to the conversation like one of them. They weren't watering it down; they certainly weren't speaking slowly and articulation. It was one of those few milestones I've had where I could see how far I've come.
     I feel that I have a much better understanding of the way the church functions throughout France and Europe. For the last night, the spiritual night, two of the three talks given were about marriage. I had noticed a huge emphasis on marriage throughout the whole week, which is normal for a young single adult conference. However what wasn't normal was that a very small percent of the guys had served missions. And yet there wasn't much emphasis placed on the imprtance of going on a mission, from what I could tell. I talked to a friend about this, Estelle from Lyon, and she explained to me that missions in France are much more difficult to organize than missions in the US. A student usually can't take a break in his studies for two years and then expect to get back into school and continue. So consequently, the boys finish school and serve missions at maybe 22 or 23 years old, rather than the more traditional age of 19. So if the boys aren't serving missions until they're older, and the girls want to marry a returned missionaries, then obviously the girls aren't getting married either. At least not until they are much older than the average LDS marriage in the US. Therefor, people are single much longer and are attending YSA conference many more times, and the average age is much older. At almost 22 years old, I would be considered one of the older people at a YSA conference in the states. However at this francophone conference, I had people often tell me that I am young, and I met lots of people aged 25 to 30.
     I will never really know for sure why so much emphasis was placed on marriage rather that serving a full time mission. However if I had to guess, I would say the Church is choosing its battles here. Although a mission is a wonderful thing for all young men in the church, nothing is more important than a temple marriage. The church is young in France and although the members are strong, they are scattered across large distances and are relatively few in number. Those who serve missions will have added blessings and strength and knowledge that will fortify their families, but the most important thing is that the family is founded on a solid, gospel foundation of Jesus Christ.
     The CAJAF was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. The lessons, games, activities, sandy beach between a lake and the ocean near Bordeaux, windsurfing, tents, and the friendships I made and strengthened at CAJAF have given me memoreies that are surely among my most precious of all that I have experienced here in France.

FR 311 La pureté de la langue française

I often ask the French what they think about the Academie Française and have yet failed to get a very passionate response. After pressing my friend Adèlie about the subject, I finally got the response, in a sing song, almost joking manner, "Grâce à l'Academie Française, nous avons une jolie langue." However when I ask more specific questions, like, "What do you think about English words that are used on a day to day basis in French, like 'parking' or 'tee-shirt' or 'email,' compared to the proper French words like 'un stationnement?" I get a more satisfying response (more than just a shrug of the shoulders and a blank stare). Of the people polled, they prefer the English words. These are English things or ideas, so it's just as well to use the English words. No one expressed any fear that the French language is being currupted by foreign infulences. Maybe they never considered it, maybe the people I asked are too young to see how much French has changed in the last fifty years. They all seemed to hint at the idea that if everyone uses the English words, it's just one less thing they have to learn how to translate, one thing that is a little bit simpler and universal. However the teachers Italked to said that they are required to know and teach the more "correct" words to their students, even if they use the English word normally.
     On a different note, I was always taught that in Québec the people are quite strict about preserving the purity of their French, and insist on using the "correct" French words. This made sense to me, seeing as geographically they're not at an advantage to maintaining the language's purity, and if they don't work hard to keep it, they'll surely lose it. With liscense plates that read, "Je me souvienne," or, "I remember" (my French heritage) it seemed to me that they were a bit obsessed with maintaining this purity. However, recently I attended a Jeunes Adulte Conference for all the single people in French speaking Europe, and a Québécois had wandered his way over across the ocean to join us. I noticed him using English words in an otherwise completely French sentence, like, "Si seulement j'avais mes running shoes...." I assumed this was just for my benefit becuase he is bilingual aswell. I asked about it, however, and he said that no, that's really what they call them. Running shoes. Even in French. I was baffled, and asked about their purity of langue. He says he always prefers to speak French, and that was one of his goals in coming to this activity was to speak only French. He speaks French with his family, English at work, but it's common to walk down the streets in Montreal and hear two men talking, one in French and the other in English. And they just carry on like that as if it's perfectly normal. I guess they're losing their battle. Ils se souviennent pas. I am of course on the hunt for another Québécois to confirm that I need to reevaluate all that I learned from my textbooks about those in Québec being more strict than the French about speaking "proper, and correct" French.