It’s good to feel like you’re a part of something. I think sometimes being American, we’re taught that being the strongest and fending for oneself – rugged individualism, if you will – is the best way to be. And I get it. You can’t live a life entirely devoted to and dependant upon other people. The journey, by nature, is solitary. You have to be able to help yourself. But I think because of this (rather than in spite of it), human beings have evolved to be social beings. We clump together to improve our situation; we need each other to thrive, rather than just exist.
Yesterday we went to Nancy for our orientation stage. It was our first opportunity to officially meet the other people who will be working as assistants in our region. While many of us have been communicating online, this is the first time we were able to meet face to face. It went well. Most of the day was taken up with us sitting in presentations put on by the organization that runs the TAPIF program. But during breaks and lunch, we got to connect, particularly with people who spoke our languages. After, a few of us went out for drinks in Nancy.
I met people from all over, but particularly Americans, Brits and Germans tended to gravitate towards each other. Maybe it’s a shared Anglo-Germanic heritage, or the fact the Brits and Americans want to speak English, and the Germans don’t mind how loud Americans get (they, of course, speak English, too).
Nancy, apparently, is pretty large so we took a walk to the main town center to see Place Stanislaus. Place means central square. It’s beautiful and clean and very shiny in its aesthetic. Think gold. Think ornate. Think broken pieces of mirrored glass in the landscaping where pebbles might be. Lovely.
It’s good to be a part of a group now. It’s nice to know that there are others going through the same things. It’s nice to hear them commiserate on their own difficulties and see that some people have it better in some ways, but worse in others. It’s all imperfect. Perfectly imperfect. And we’re all in it together.
Yesterday we went to Nancy for our orientation stage. It was our first opportunity to officially meet the other people who will be working as assistants in our region. While many of us have been communicating online, this is the first time we were able to meet face to face. It went well. Most of the day was taken up with us sitting in presentations put on by the organization that runs the TAPIF program. But during breaks and lunch, we got to connect, particularly with people who spoke our languages. After, a few of us went out for drinks in Nancy.
I met people from all over, but particularly Americans, Brits and Germans tended to gravitate towards each other. Maybe it’s a shared Anglo-Germanic heritage, or the fact the Brits and Americans want to speak English, and the Germans don’t mind how loud Americans get (they, of course, speak English, too).
Nancy, apparently, is pretty large so we took a walk to the main town center to see Place Stanislaus. Place means central square. It’s beautiful and clean and very shiny in its aesthetic. Think gold. Think ornate. Think broken pieces of mirrored glass in the landscaping where pebbles might be. Lovely.
It’s good to be a part of a group now. It’s nice to know that there are others going through the same things. It’s nice to hear them commiserate on their own difficulties and see that some people have it better in some ways, but worse in others. It’s all imperfect. Perfectly imperfect. And we’re all in it together.
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