What I've learned from my trip in Europe
Retrouvez la version française ici.
As a French who worked in Japan and in the U.S. for 6 years in total without getting back to Europe, a trip "back to the roots" was needed to take some distance and to learn more about the arts... I've discovered new facets of myself and of a very diverse and complex Europe while traveling from the West (France and Germany) to the East (Croatia) and to the South (Greece), for three months until last March.
Here is a small piece of what I've learned.
Europe: a Home-Exotic feeling
In Europe, looking at the old stones evoked the sensation of a very long history. I realized that I was missing this. Centuries-old buildings became to me like celebrities that you want to see and touch once in a while. The U.S. history is only four centuries old and the Japanese tradition of restoration is to rebuild with the ancestral techniques and new, fresh wood instead of conserving the old material.
In France, I surprised myself to feel like a tourist, rediscovering what had once become too familiar, even boring or annoying. I was excited again to see the richness of the history, to communicate so easily in French, to understand if a smile was simple politeness or genuine kindness. Although I love and feel comfortable with the Japanese and American politeness, I eventually missed straight-forwardness, and a non politically correct wit and humor that makes us more true to ourselves, and makes easier to know what the other thinks, although it can hurt sometimes if you don't know the person well enough...
The bad sides have not become less bad but more tolerable because more understandable. Indeed, it's more relaxing when we admit that we are mainly the product of our habits, reinforced by our interaction with people who have the same unconscious biases. But just for a while. Then it's recommended to find its like-(open)-minded, international community for one's mental health.
There are many reasons to like its home country. They are cultural and social, but maybe also biological and survival oriented: comfort food, familiar maps, same language, long term relationships to count on, no need for a visa... And, to compare its country to many other ones and to hear so many foreigners about it reminded me the luck to be French.
My Slovenian-Croatian friend Mia, who studied in France, told me: "I envy the French. I would love to say: 'Je suis française !' You can represent one whole country with such a long history… and everybody knows it! Nobody knows my countries. I always have to show them on the map, explain which language I speak, whether we have trains, that it's safe..."
Gebora, 65 years old, the hotel's host in Zagreb, told me: "France is so rich. You have a lot of jobs. Here many people leave for Germany, the U.S. or Australia to find a job." Everything is relative....
Relativity and Balance
A slower pace in Europe than in the U.S. can make one think about the importance of finding a certain balance between being and doing. Traveling across the world (more than 20 countries) also reminds the importance of the balance between globalization and local diversity, and between independence and interdependence of the countries and their people.
Traveling allows to experience and "feel" that everything is relative - defined by a comparison with the Other -, and that our Culture closes us into strong habits and beliefs. I believe that only opening to (even if not accepting) the difference and an intensive "self-awareness" (or self-consciousness, mindfulness, psychological analysis, or whatever one can call it) can decrease the influence of our conditioning and biases. Then, everything is a matter of Choice (or of an illusion of choice?).
During this partial tour of the Ancient continent, I chose to reconnect with the European progressive values, hoping that the U.E. countries will remain connected after the French presidential elections in May 2017...
Whether I liked the places or not, I was always excited to be surprised, to learn, and to change the cliches I had in spite of myself. Now I've gained a more accurate image of a diverse Europe and understand even more its critical importance for the U.E. members, and for many other countries who benefit from their help.
Global Citizen
I think that traveling nurtures compassion and global citizenship.
The adage says that "Travel broadens the mind", or in French: "Les voyages forment la jeunesse".
Indeed, the studies of two German psychologists tend to show that discovering and adapting to another cultural context influence the personality of young adults. The researchers say that those sojourners have become more adaptive to new situations, have developed a more pleasant and open-minded character, and have less risk to develop anxiety and depression.*
Passionate about cultural and artistic differences, and about how our culture, history and language shape our behaviors and communication style, I'm always thrilled to connect with people from different backgrounds. Every time I travel or live in a country (France, Japan, and California), I deepen research on its history and talk to people to understand why they live the way they do, and therefore how they think.
I think that our behaviors are biologically created and artificially developed during a long history that connects us beyond the frontiers: we're so similar and so different at the same time.
Thus, I sometimes identify with people from another culture, either because I find there personality traits (enthusiasm, motivation) and values (respect, loyalty, work...) that match with mines, either because I’ve experienced how they live, talked with them, shared strong collective emotions with them. For example I can understand and connect with the Japanese when talking about the 03/11 tsunami and the political changes under the rise of nationalism, since I lived there from 2010 to 2014. I can also feel the Americans, especially Californians' shock, sadness and despair, when mentioning Trump's election in December 2016, after following the whole presidential campaign from 2014. I'm also compassionate with the foreigners; who are either stimulated or frustrated by the home or living country that gives you many opportunities, but also shows a lot of absurdity.
I feel geographically and sentimentally closer when I hear news about the world, and I feel more distance toward my native country - putting it equally to the other ones. I feel pain about an attack and a war, as I feel the importance of a political election, conscious of the fragility of Democracy.
Like when I traveled in Israel and Jerusalem in 2007, I see myself as a global citizen, more concerned about the international relations and tensions. I also can develop a better critical thinking when hearing the very biased news.
Since my journey in Japan, I think that successful relationships and "happiness" are based on our understanding of our own identity as well as the other ones, and on honesty.
Although I believe in the theory that compassion creates a virtuous circle that engenders a fairer social world - at least at a local scale -, I am not convinced that any society can maintain "peace and love" for more than a few centuries, according to the past models. Unless more and more schools can systematically adopt a global education with a cross-cultural approach and with student and teacher exchanges (like the U.E. model of Erasmus+).
*Julia Zimmermann and Franz Neyer, « Do we become a different person when hitting the road ? Personality development of sojourners », Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. CV, n° 3, sept. 2013. Le résumé en français dans Sciences Humaines.
Find in this following article what I've learned about the Arts; culture and history across 4 countries of Europe: "Travels, Arts and Cultures in 7 European cities.
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