A world traveler explains the importance of culture, curiosity, and care

Interviewer: If you had all the time in the world, what is one thing you would like to learn more about?

Jean Paul: I like to travel. I like to meet people and learn about other cultures. So, I would like to continue that. I love meeting people from other cultures. You know, I was able to do that because I worked hard and became very independent. 

Interviewer: What's the most notable memory you have from your travels?

Jean Paul: It’s not about the specific memories, you know? It's time you accumulate new appreciation for different people. We appreciate our differences and how we are all uniquely beautiful. 

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite place you've traveled to? 

Jean Paul: We went to the Southwest every summer, and we loved it.  I discovered my own country, France, once I was here [in America] because I could go back to travel there freely. I did not know my country before then. I discovered France from the US. 

I also discovered Europe, which is a continent with so many different people, countries, and provinces. Asia was also a discovery because that was such a totally different world for us. We did not know the language, we could not figure it out. That’s the importance of communication with other people. 

I also went to South America. But, the culture that I'm most unfamiliar with was Africa. Although I went to North Africa, in Morocco, and it's a wonderful country, there is still so much to learn. Knowledge is never limited.

Interviewer: Do you feel that after coming to the US, your view on France changed? 

Jean Paul: No, it did not change that much. It was my culture. I was born in that culture, I studied in that culture. You grow up and learn from the culture around you when you are young? What you learn at school and what you learn from your family. Those are the things that ultimately shape you.

But, I did not know the country [France]. I did not know its geography since the French people, at that time, did not travel. So, I knew my area and Paris and that was about it. 

I never even saw a mountain before and France has beautiful mountains. I had never been to the place where my grandparents were from. 

Interviewer: You seem like you've experienced a lot around the world and different cultures. Do you feel that you have any regrets? Anything you wish that you participated in or anything that you wish you didn’t do?

Jean Paul: No. I've had a wonderful life, a wonderful wife, and wonderful children. I’ve had a full life. I came to this country at a time when it was victorious. A sort of happier time for most people. Less fighting, more unity. 

Interviewer: How do you feel like your time being in the US has changed from when you first arrived?

Jean Paul: Well, right now the country is very divided which was not the case when I was first here. It may have been the case, I mean, there is no perfect situation but there was a sense of unity and common goal. Economically, there was much more equality. This, of course, was not true for everybody. 

However, you understand this country now better than I do. 

Interviewer: Between the younger generation and the older, what do you feel is one misconception people have about your generation?

Jean Paul: I think that young people have absolutely no interest in our generation, and no interest in what we have to say. No interest in what we have lived through. No interest in our culture or our past. 

I think we are totally ignored. 

I mean, in other cultures, old people symbolize wisdom, the wisdom of the last experience, but here, there is no communication. I mean, I have one child and we have a very good relationship, but they basically have no interest in our lives and what we have experienced