Around-the-world trip inside a house

Around-the-world trip inside a house

A trip around-the-world has almost always been one of my dreams.

I grew up in a city in the west of France, ignoring all about other realities, people who live elsewhere… One of my oldest memories is in an amusement park with my family, when I was four or five years old. We were waiting in a line for an attraction, and I heard people talking together behind us. I didn’t understand a word of what they said, it was very strange. I looked at them: they seemed understand each other, and they were talking so fast… I was captivated: why could they speak like that, and why couldn’t I ? Was it a miracle? Who were they? Aliens? Yet, they looked totally normal… I listened, tried to understand what they said, but it was a wasted effort. I was looking at them with fascination, until my mother reprimanded me severely:

• Justine, stop looking at people like that, it’s impolite! It’s not because they speak English that you have to stare at them!
• They speak… what?
• English! It’s another language! We speak French because we are from France, and they speak English because they are from another country, probably England! Now, come!

For my mom, it sounded like a no-brainer. For me, a little girl, it was extraordinary. It was the first time that I saw people who speak a language other than French. It was like an incredible meeting with the unknown! I found it was incredible that people could talk and understand each other in another language.

Almost twenty years later, I am in a country of English speakers and I am trying to improve my second language. I have also understood that there are a lot of different languages, and English, which sounded strange to my little ears, is in fact the language which allows the most to understand each other in the world today. This is probably wonderful for a lot of children, who grew up in one country, with one culture, learned one language, to discover that not every human on Earth lives like that. Other children of the same age can live in countries in war, in countries with famine, in countries where it is not so simple to open a faucet to have water but where people have to walk a lot of miles to bring water for their families… Or simply countries with different laws, different schools, different rules… This is surprising to discover, but very abstract for a child.

Beyond the language, interests of travelling around the world are numerous. Beauty of landscape, being disconnected from our reality, discovering other cultures, other ways of life, experimenting new activities, testing other climates… Some people will also say that they like travelling because of meetings. Meet people from those other countries, who speak another language, those children who grew up with another culture, and who were also impressed by learning about all the different realities which exist in the world.

A lot of people might dream, as I do, to vagabond in the big world, discover other cultures, do a lot of various meetings… Since arriving a few months ago, I do a little trip around-the-world without moving from a house, called Friendship House. And I discover more than I expected: I meet people who are from everywhere in the world. Students, visiting scholars, members of family of MSU’s affiliates… They talk about their way of life. They talk about their culture. They talk about their traditions. And when they talk about all of this, they allow people to vicariously travel in their country. Together, we share about our cultures. Our differences. Our similarities. And with this meeting of unknown realities, we create an incredible power. It reminds simply that humans, even if they don’t speak the same language, even if they don’t grow up in the same country, with the same culture and the same habits, can smile, love, and share.

If one day, I meet a child like I was, so intrigued by people who come from elsewhere, I would tell him or her: “Meeting people is the best way to discover what we don’t know. Take care, but please, take time to meet people during your long life. I did, and I will never forget this beautiful revelation.”

By Justine Guillet

About the autor:

Justine is from France, and she is an active volunteer and French Teacher at Friendship House MSU. As a social psychologist, Justine has been supporting Internationals through educational meetings about how to overcome social distancing effects.