French Around the World and German Club Collaborate for Meeting

French Around the World Club held a joint meeting with the German Club on March 2. French Around the World Club President junior Alexander Yee (he/him) and German Club president Sam Herzig (she/her) facilitated the meeting held in C14.

To start off the meeting, Yee passed out French biscuits called ‘Petite Écoliers,’ with the motive of “enjoying ourselves through food and through the social interactions. We’re also here to learn about each other and to learn a bit more about France and Germany,” Yee said.

With these foods, Yee, Herzig, and the other club members had discussions of issues that pertain to both countries, namely a casual discussion about France and Germany’s roles in wars throughout history, tudor-style architecture, and the historical region of Alsace-Lorraine that lies in between the 2 countries.

It was noted that historically, Alsace-Lorraine was part of the German Empire after France’s defeat in the Franco-German War of 1870. After World War I, the region was returned to France in 1919. This was followed by another German annexation of Alssace-Lorraine in World War II in 1940. However, the region was finally given back to France in 1945 and remains under their control to the present day.

According to Yee, those in that region speak a mix of German and French today, as a result of their fickle past.

Herzig said she “learned a lot about the current affairs of France and historical Franco-German relations” through the discussions, and both she and Yee hope to host joint club meetings again in the future.

“I think it’s just really fun to get people who speak different languages to come together,” Yee said. “People have a lot of preconceived notions about us, specifically stereotypes about French people or German people…but I think it’s good for people to kind of break away from those [stereotypes] to learn a bit more about each other through social activities like this.”

French Around the World Club meets on the 1st Wednesday of every month in C14, and the German Club meetings are scheduled through their mailing list.