An American Passed the French Exam

Well, I have officially passed the French exam proving that I have at least a level B2 in French. I got my results yesterday, and I was fortunate enough to have passed. So enough studying for a few weeks. My class ends tomorrow, and now I can finally relax and enjoy my 3 weeks of true summer vacation before classes start September 20.

I have a few trips planned coming up. In the making for next week, Ana and I are looking into a quick trip to Venice. Her grandparents live outside the city, and we may stay with them for a couple nights and go into the city during the day. Next, I just booked airfare to Berlin. I will be going there to pick up my student visa, and I've invited a few friends to go, so hopefully at least one of them will be able to go along for the trip. Otherwise, I'll just have to rely on making friends at the party hostels there.

I was recently told that I dress too American. That is to say, I am not European enough with my clothes. If being less American in my appearance involves dressing like some of these European guys, then I am not interested. For example, it is commonplace for men over here to wear capri pants. Plus, most of the guys wear jean shorts, or jorts, instead of khaki shorts or athletic shorts. And when they wear jeans, a lot of them wear jeans with zippers all over the place. What is with all the zippers? Another look that is popular is the Euro mohawk, more commonly known as the fohawk. This haircut is accompanied by large amounts of hair gel.

Also, when I had my French oral exam, the professors administering the exam asked me, "Why didn't you study French in America?" I thought to myself, "I never said I was American. Is it really that obvious?"

Speaking of this oral exam, I had a few difficult moments. At one point, the lady asked me what the word savon (soap) means. I could not remember, so I tried to ramble on and BS my way through the answer. She would have none of it. She said, "That's great, but what does savon mean? What is there a lot of in Marseille?" I responded that there is a lot of water in Marseille. She was not amused. Then I remembered, and told her that it was soap. Apparently the soaps in Marseille are well-known. Am I the only one in the world who does not know this?

I had always been proud to be American, but it was never an overwhelming sense of pride. However, now that I have lived in Spain for 5 months and Switzerland for 3 months, I must say that I feel more proud than ever to be an American. I am not sure why it happened this way for me, but it is how I feel. Perhaps because I see all of the great things we have in America. Maybe because the people are in general more warm and fun. Or it could be the professional and college sports. Something causes this strong sense of patriotism once I am abroad, I just have yet to put my finger on the exact source. I'll keep looking.