In the Fall of 2002, I was supposed to study abroad in Toulouse, France. To make a long story short, I had a miserable couple of days there and decided to come home. I had never wanted to study abroad in France much less major in French, but I allowed myself to be talked into both.
The Toulouse experience taught me many things the least of which is that sometimes disappointing others to make yourself happy is a necessary trade off. It also taught me to listen to my gut instinct which had told me all along that this was not the place for me.
My host father was a truly miserable human being. He criticized everything about my family, my upbringing, and the United States. He even sent my mother a nasty e-mail after I went home.
To this day, I hate the city of Toulouse and M. Etienne de Planchard.
As the new school year approaches, I have been reminiscing about that Fall and my Toulouse experience. I decided to write a tongue-and-cheek poem about it. I had so much fun with my Ode to the Red Line that I decided to try my hand at it again.
The words do rhyme, but you need to say the French words like the French to make it work. Please excuse the lack of accents as I could not figure out how to create them in the blog space. Also, the one stanza is in French but you should be able to get the gist of it. :)
La Misere de Toulouse
Along the banks of the Garonne
Lies a town I loathe more than any one.
But for me, you hold only woes.
I find your people angry and mean.
And this I should have foreseen.
Who were the fiercest of all invaders.
The gateway to the fortress of Carcasonne
And home to the cruelest people bar none.
By adding "a's" to the end of everything.
Oh, what a miserable place where people are rotten
And common decency is completely forgotten.
This ugly forgotten city,
Should evoke some pity.
Since these anti-Americans make me irate.
And the most insincere of all
Was an old man very small.
Monsieur Etienne de Planchard
Tu es vraiment un batard.
I leave you to your cheap booze.
All alone in the miserable city of Toulouse.
But, who do you think you are?!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't beleave what i've just read!
I know very well M. de Planchard and he's far from from what you say.
He has always been the best friend of the Americans ( at least the intelligent ones...) and is the nicest and open minded man i've ever met, wich doesn't seem to be your case. He knows more of your country that you will probably ever know , you ,who can't stand a different opinion , without insulting people! Shame on you!
As a former host student of the de Planchard family (also in 2002), I am completely appalled to read this. In all of France, a country I have spent a lot of time in, I know no kinder individuals than Etienne and Suzanne. They welcomed me into their lives and home from the very moment my feet hit French soil, and to imply that they are anti-American is simply outrageous. They have a poster with all of the Presidents of the United States framed in their home, for God's sake, and lived here happily for many years. In fact, Etienne spoke English to me -- about America -- until Suzanne had to tell him to stop, and that I wouldn't learn anything if he didn't converse with me in French.
ReplyDeleteSorry that you didn't enjoy your experience in Toulouse -- a city that I happen to love -- but I find it impossible to believe that Etienne was at fault. This post sounds like nothing more than a bitter rant from someone who, as you said, allowed herself to be "talked into" studying abroad in France. You are clearly a miserable person who is blaming your host father for a decision that YOU made (with hostility and bad poetry 7 years after the fact). As for me, my only regret about my semester in Toulouse is not spending an entire year there, a sentiment that I owe completely to the experience I had as the de Planchards' host student.
Well, I spent the best year of my life in Toulouse as host student chez Monsieur and Madame De Planchard. They are beautiful people, extremely cultured and kind.
ReplyDeleteMy only regret is that I was a little stupid at that time and I didn't say "thanks" enough to them or let them know that they made me feel very comfortable in their nice house.
Sorry that you had a bad experience. It happens sometimes that even good people don't go well with each other...