Any Star Trek fans reading this will instantly recognize the phrase “resistance is futile” as something uttered by the Borg, a society that goes from planet to planet forcibly incorporating those helpless inhabitants into the all-controlling world of the Borg. Although you could use the word “assimilation” for this process, we plan that our journey into French culture and society will be much more pleasant and certainly not forced. My hope, in fact, is that once we have been resident there long enough to be eligible for citizenship we will take that opportunity especially since we would remain US citizens as well. One of the requirements for that new citizenship is to show that you have become assimilated into the community where you live. We have visited many villages, towns, and cities around France where immigrants have gathered themselves into segregated communities speaking their original language, observing their own rituals, and otherwise behaving as if had moved their own country into France. We have seen this with residents from former French colonies and also with English-speaking immigrants. Continue reading “Assimilation or resistance is futile”