For five weeks now we’ve been back in Aix in France in a conference centre. We’re chipping in with all sorts of practical jobs to help polish our French. If we thought we knew France before, we were mistaken: only now we are getting to know it for real. For here we are totally immersed in French culture. Even with all the non-French people around, everything is French through and through – the way things are organized, the way we communicate, the way things are done. And everything’s so different from what we know!
Case in point: Anna is working mainly for the cook now, so she spends her time in the kitchen. Mike is responsible for the grounds and the swimming-pool. When no guests are there, the cook works on the grounds too, so he’s Mike’s main supervisor. Some small repair job on the pool has been due for some time, and today the work was done. Though Mike had accidentally heard yesterday that this job was due, he didn’t know who was to do it (they do a lot of stuff themselves around here). So today a professional came in to carry out the repairs, which of course meant that the pumps had to be turned off.
Everyone else seems to take for granted what for us is taking a lot of getting used to: if you don’t ask for information, you won’t get it. Even if you’re responsible for an area, you have to keep asking or nobody will tell you anything. This seems to be so normal around here that people are surprised we aren’t used to it.
If you don’t ask for information, you won’t get it.
Another case in point: we want to borrow the car that is available for everyone. First we ask the housekeeper who sends us on to the centre’s top boss as the car supposedly falls into his jurisdiction. He tells us there’s no problem as long as no-one else needs the car, particularly the secretary. So we go ask her. Her reply: No problem, as long as the house assistant, who’s the only other person with a driver’s licence, doesn’t want to go somewhere. So we end up asking everyone. Consequently, we ask…
We’re not always able to laugh about it, for asking about every little detail is quite exhausting work. But our most important learning objective is to ask questions even if we think we know the answer. For our answer is not always the right one…
