Today the kids participated in the school 'Carnaval' celebration...
This is one of the few times per year that parents are allowed to get involved at school - we are called in for the back to school information night (just the facts - no fun), Christmas Market, Carnaval and the end of year spectacle. I try to volunteer for other things - like field trips - but it is rare that the teachers want us parents around... School is school and home is home - the two are not meant to mix. We made the mistake of trying to get involved in our 'very American way' and now I have been asked to spend an afternoon presenting 'America - its culture, people and traditions to the kids of the village. That will be another blog post. Our kids are the only English speakers in the school and for many of the people in the village - the first Americans they have ever met. So they are all very interested - sort of like we are the pandas at the zoo or something...I don't get it. Its hard to get them to admit it but the French really are enamored with our culture. They hate some of the things we do - but at the end of the day they really love us.
Back to Carnaval. Kids and adults both get to dress up and act like fools for a few days here. In Germany the celebrations have been going on for a few days. Back in Basel the excitement of Fasnacht (which I have posted about before) gets going next week. And it is serious tradition with groups that practice for months leading up to parades that last for days on end. Truly one of the highlights of Basel culture.
Here in the Alsace there is a mix of traditions - there have been a number of celebrations leading up to Fasnacht but given the proximity to Basel next week is the big scene. I'm not even sure what goes on in the rest of France but I can tell you that many of the kids had very Swiss/Basler costumes today during our parade through town. But there is also a mix of something else here - confetti. I have to say I was a bit turned off by the fact that some of the kids were throwing mixed colored confetti - they sell it that way in the stores - totally not cool in Basel. Mixed color confetti is not allowed because it may be reclaimed confetti from the street. Yesterday I winessed some kids picking up the confetti from an earlier parade and bagging it for future use. If I were Swiss those kids would have lost a hand. Totally banned in Basel. Probably the worst thing you could do during Fasnacht.
Of course the work at school has been leading up to this. Fiona has been reading about the 'Arlequin Prince de Carnaval' (I love to say 'har-le-qwin' and watch her get so upset and then insist that I say it with a French accent) The kids have both had to memorize Carnaval poems. We were asked to bring in Carnaval related snacks for the kids. I do enjoy that the school subject (for Fiona mostly) revolve around the season. We have been through Autumn, Christmas and now Carnaval.
Both Seth and Fiona decided to wear their new Colonial Williamsburg costumes (thanks Auntie Melissa) for the parade.
Seth as a pirate/revolutionary -
Fiona as a colonial girl... and a friend (the biggest boy in 1st grade) dressed as a pink pig.
One of the other mothers asked me if Fiona was a character from the 'little farm show in America'. ?? I asked if it was a new show (maybe a reality series I missed). No - she was talking about a show from her childhood - the 70's/80's... ?? What? I thought for a minute - looked at Fiona and then. A-ha. Little House on the Prairie! That was it. The kids had told everyone they were 'traditional Americans' - so I can see where the pioneer thoughts came from.
During the parade someone asked if we celebrated Carnaval in America. Fiona looked puzzled. She said she had lived here for her whole life and didn't know if we did anything for Carnaval in America. I explained that in New Orleans Mardi Gras was a big deal but not quite the cultural celebration that Carnaval is here.
Two things struck me during this conversation.
First - my kid has no idea of what goes on in her own culture. I am pretty sure she knows that we do Thanksgiving and that there is a hot day in the summer for fireworks (both France and Switzerland have those days too) but otherwise she really doesn't know exactly what goes on in America. I try to let her in on American things - I swear. But at the end of the day she is growing up in France watching BBC television. She does crave the tv show Arthur - so I guess that teaches her a thing or two about America but outside that it is up to us. Oh no! I am not 100 percent sure that she gets the whole idea of national identity.
Second - most of our American dress up fun is covered by Halloween... Kids here (and my kids) have memories of Carnaval dress up whereas in America my dress up memories are associated with Halloween. My kids do go out at Halloween and they have fun but it isn't shared in the local culture. So why don't we celebrate Carnaval in the US and why do we celebrate Halloween? Is Carnaval too religious for the US? I hear Halloween has run into some trouble lately in the US for being religious or inappropriate or something that might be bad for kids at school. Would Carnaval go over well? As long as the kids are having fun I can't argue with it...
After the parade the kids were allowed to run wild in the school yard while one of the mothers made crêpes. We all had confetti stuffed into the inner reaches of our costumes
and another school milestone was marked.
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