Experiencing the French Culture

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For my second cultural plunge, I decided to attend a family dinner with a close friend of mine who is from Arles, France. On May 17, 2014 at 4:00pm, my friend, Amy Dubois, invited me to attend dinner with her mother, father, and younger brother in Huntington Beach, California. Amy grew up in a small town in Arles with her family. She lived in Arles until she was 6, and then moved with her family to Huntington Beach, California. I met Amy in middle school and have been best friends with her ever since. Amy and I took French classes together at Huntington Beach High School for 3 years. I was fascinated by the French culture and wanted to learn more about it. I got in touch with Amy recently and asked if I could attend her weekly family tradition French dinner in order to learn more about the culture. She was very excited for me to attend and invited me over earlier to help prepare the food with her family. I decided to do my cultural plunge on a family dinner because of my experience with French culture in high school; I decided it would be a good reminder of the French culture and I wanted to learn more about it.
Stereotyping the French
Stereotypes are very common throughout the world and are very common among cultural and ethnic groups. I know of a few common stereotypes about the French that I have heard numerous times. One stereotype that I commonly hear is that the French are extremely rude. When I was at dinner with my friend’s family, I did not see this stereotype portrayed. Amy’s family was very thrilled for me to attend their traditional family French dinner. This stereotype is often blamed on the French because when tourists are visiting France, the French do not tolerate tourist’s minimal use of their language and may a...

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...ore about the culture. I got the opportunity to have a traditional French dinner with a good friend of mine. I was able to remember the common stereotypes that are addressed towards the French and I was able to notice if they supported or refuted these stereotypes. My cultural plunge showed many aspects of culture as a disability, cultural pluralism, and cultural difference I learned more about the French culture and this assignment made me realize that there is still so much about the world that I do not know about.

References
Convertino, C., Levinson, B. A., & González, N. (2013). Culture, teaching, and learning. In J. A. Banks & C. M. McGee Banks (Eds.). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives (pp. 25-41). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
McDermott, R., Varenne, H. (1995). Culture as Disability 26(3):324-348. American Anthropological Association.

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