I’m very close to my mom’s side of the family but I never really got along with my dad’s side of the family. It’s… cultural, I guess. For a start, my grand-father was a gendarme and his authoritarian personality clashes with my parents’ relaxed attitude, not to mention that my dad is an artist and didn’t exactly embrace what his father would have called a “proper career”. Things could have changed over the years, as we grew older, but we didn’t. Now that my grand-parents (and extended family on my dad’s side) fully embrace far-right-wing ideologies and other conservative behaviours, there isn’t much to talk about when we meet.
So we rarely meet, even though they live close to Nantes. C’est la vie.
Yet, we have to see each other at least once when we are in France. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. We aren’t at this stage yet.
My mom bailed out at the last minute (“not enough room in the car”, she claimed), so my brother, Feng, my dad, Mark and I drove to their sleepy little town, just outside Nantes. It’s another world over there. It’s rural, in the middle of the wine country. This is another reason why we don’t get along—I’m not a drinker and I don’t care much for wine but they sure like it.
It’s pretty though, a mix of forests, vegetable patches here and there and vineyards.
Would I live there? Hell, no.
I am not surprised to hear that they are right-wing and live in the rural area of the country. It definitely correlates, no? I guess, the less exposure you have with other cultures, like in cities, the less likely you’ll embrace liberal politics.
Yes it does… It’s sad though. They are still close to a big city, I wish they were more open minded.
I do not know why, but I find it very hard to relate to people from the far right … maybe because their ideas are based in the hate of others.
I like the way you phrased it… I feel the same.