Colleen:"My integration into French life defined a large part of who I am today"
International alumni share their French experience with us.
Discover Colleen’s story!
Tell us a bit about yourself (where you’re from, what you do, what you have studied in France, and where)!
Salut everyone, my name is Colleen, and I’m a French-American citizen originally from the Chicago metropolitan area now living in London. As part of my Bachelor’s degree studying French in the States, I studied abroad in Rennes at Université Rennes 2 during the 2004-2005 academic year (my goodness, what a long time ago now!), where I followed a diverse curriculum including language, literature, culture, politics and art history. Once I graduated, I returned to Rennes to live and work for what ended up being a decade, followed by deciding that I wanted to start a new adventure by moving to London! I now work at Queen Mary University of London as Global Programmes Coordinator, where I help our students to take advantage of global opportunities through studying abroad on our exchange programmes.
Why did you choose France?
After studying French in school since the age of 12, I was always going to go for France, 100%! My older brother had also studied French, and after we had hosted an exchange student from northern France in our family for a couple weeks during high school, they invited us to spend a summer holiday with their family in France when I was 16. I also ended up developing personal connections with family friends in Normandy, where I spent multiple summers and holidays during my later high school and college years. When my college French professor said that they had a connection to a study abroad programme hosting American students at Rennes 2, I couldn’t wait to discover La Bretagne (Brittany) for an entire year.
How did your stay in France change who you are and impact your career?
Discovering the northwestern regions of France in my youth had a significant impact on my personal development and outlook in life early on. Learning about the French way of life and its social customs shaped my identity in those transformative years of early adulthood, as I carried on to live out those customs in my own way during my 20s lived entirely in France. My time studying in, then working in France helped me to embrace the internal chaos of being multicultural and later compelled me to apply to become a French citizen. I have always worked to support students to have a life-changing experience studying abroad in a foreign country (as I did myself in Rennes all those years ago), and this continues to be a fulfilling vocation for me. I was also incredibly lucky to have collaborated with an amazing mentor and friend during those years in Rennes working at a grande école (specialized graduate school), where I also coordinated with Campus France to help encourage foreign students to come study in France. This mentor played a significant role in helping me to navigate the higher education sector and even to reach the role that I now have today at Queen Mary.
Your favourite word in French?
There are so many…while “pamplemousse” was my favourite when at school, slang words seem to stick in my brain now! The good friends I made in France between 2006 and 2015 taught me endless slang words and expressions. I suppose some memorable ones include “pfffff” (showing disbelief), “bah…” (well…), “râler” (wonderful verb to express general ennui with the world), se casser (verb for to say “to get out of (t)here,” always coupled by the hand gesture of knocking your wrists together to make an “X,” of course), and “cassé!” (adjective to use when you are impressed with another person’s insult). Also, “tu exagères” for when you wish to politely disagree, or when someone is pushing their luck (more or less). I especially enjoy the moments when French words come to mind when I am trying to say something in English and there is just no equivalent word or expression with the same nuanced meaning. The verb “valider” often comes to mind and creeps into my ‘Franglais’ ;).
We hope you enjoyed your French culture shock! Any memorable cultural fact, experience?
Enjoyed would not be a suitable word! French culture shock and integration into the local life defined a large part of who I am today. Learning how to play pétanque (which I continue to try to do today, despite a severe lack of pétanque pitches in London). Making a classic, simple vinaigrette just how a French mother taught me. The joy of selecting a good wine to pair with a good meal. Hiking along the magnificent Brittany coastline. Cycling down cobblestone streets to the Saturday morning Marché des Lices, then having springtime picnics in Rennes’ sumptuous Jardin du Thabor with all of my market spoils. Spending long weekends in Paris, notably during a perfect summer solstice with friends along Canal Saint-Martin for the Fête de la musique. Learning all musical-related vocabulary to play within an orchestra or band (which is a permanent fixture in my life wherever I live). Playing the flute and piccolo within two musical ensembles during my decade living in Rennes significantly facilitated my integration into and joy of French life. Thanks to this, I was able to converse with dear French friends also in the universal language of music.
What is your favorite French meal?
That’s easy: bœuf bourguignon, with a magnificently dry red wine, followed by some 24-month comté. Also, any dessert under the sun with coulis de fruits rouges. It is also terribly difficult to find bread to the French standard here in the UK, so I have begun to make my own (results are very satisfying so far…).
Have you brought back a French souvenir with you?
(How about my French nationality acquired in 2013 – does that count?). I would always love picking up postcards and prints from museum gift shops and art exhibits, putting them up in my kitchen and home to remember the experience as well as the friend who would have joined me. While in France, I also developed a lifelong appreciation for Ernest Hemingway and obsession with the American expatriate artistic community living in Paris in the 1920s. Last but not least, a hand-signed, dedicated copy of a book by Francophile David Sedaris, following a reading he gave at the Franco-American Institute in Rennes – this is one of my favourite keepsakes.
Any French habit you have kept?
Honestly, it is now a bit of a mystery for me to be able to distinguish between those parts of me that are French-influenced and those that aren’t, as I’ve spent significant time mixing American, British and French cultural habits since I was 16. Certainly, many French habits persistently remain. For example, when I am using my fingers on one hand to count, I always start with my thumb (can’t shake the habit and wouldn’t want to!). Blowing a raspberry with a French shrug is also the perfect response when you just don’t know what else to say. Also, firmly prioritising a healthy work-life balance (as much as possible) so that I might “work to live, not live to work,” as the French tend to say. My family always claims I now have a permanent appreciation for those existential, ennui-filled French films where everyone is always sighing and pining for each other.
Share your motto with us!
My mantra for life, a quotation by Confucius: “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”
