Lost In Paris

I arrived in Paris on the 20th of October 09. I left France in March 1995 and I had never been back since. And, oh my gosh, what a change of scenery… and lifestyle… and everything!

I had completely lost touch with France because my parents and I barely talk and I had lost touch with most of my friends. We used to mail each other but letters would take weeks to arrive, weeks to come back and sometimes letters would get lost…

“You know Prisqua, Australia is at the other side of the world…” I am often reminded…

Only one friend I kept in touch with all these years because she had access to the Internet through work so we would catch up with Instant messaging. I also had a cousin who would occasionally email me even though I could only imagine her as the little kid I knew over 15 years ago that I still have to meet again…

I barely know my family on my father’s side and I am the oldest of my cousins on my mother’s side. So when I left France they were all children and infants who are now all grown-ups and it was interesting to see them as such when they all befriended me on Facebook and some of them I had the pleasure to see.  And now that they all have Internet, I guess it will be easier to stay in touch.

My son also came all the way from Australia to get to know his French origins and learn French… I found myself being asked- or told- in a somewhat shocked manner: “What?! Your son does not speak French?!” and “He is not French?!”

No, he is not French since he is born in Australia. Yes eventually we will organise his dual citizenship but in the meantime, what is wrong with being Australian? Do they mean to say that French are better than Australian?

No, my son does not speak French. He can understand words as we used to play, my kids and I, “translate words from English to French” and he was doing pretty good but he would not be able of understanding a full conversation in French.

My daughter spoke French before speaking English because we used to spend most of our spare time in my ex-husband’s family who is French and she was the only baby in the family at the time so she got more attention than she needed. Her school also introduced French lessons so she got to study French from grade 2 to 6 and she also went to France for 3 weeks with her step-sister.  My son who was in a different school, got to study German.

Since I could no longer afford private school on a single mother income, they both went to a public school and are now studying Japanese which seems to be the most common language to learn at school in Australia.

When my ex and I separated for the first time, our son was about 2 and my in-laws decided they would have nothing to do with all of us. My ex did not really want to see his family either and all my friends were of English spoking. I also relied heavily on my friends for support so speaking French just became obsolete.  My daughter and I only spoke French if we were in a shop and did not want to be understood, which was kind of absurd since there are quite a few French on the Coast or people who simply understood French or sometimes we would speak French as a joke with our friends. Not trying to find an excuse but that’s just the way it is and he is now learning and has made an excellent progress so far.

I have been spending most of my spare time at my parent’s house so that I could be with Antony. My parents do not have Internet.  And I find it quite amusing and annoying at the same time that usually when I use my laptop it would pick up 100s of Internet connections around… At my parents’ house, only one very distant connection appears late at night for about 20mn… Yes, I like to call my hometown the “ghost town”… They do have a place where you can use the Internet and, when open, it is quite packed. It is not exactly an Internet cafe and their opening hours are not very practical at all plus you have to keep quiet so forget about using Skype….

In between meeting old school friends and re-acquainting with my family, I had to find a job and a job I found.  So now, my life can be resumed in 3 little words: sleep, work & trains!  Actually maybe I should add food to the list… Not that I get to eat that often with my running around…

So far, my time on the Internet has been greatly reduced since I have been in France which I hope I will be able to change once I have settled… and if I can handle living in France.

But for now, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

xo

Pris

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