Salut au Monde!

To many people reading this blog, "Salut au Monde" probably doesn't mean anything. Allow me to unpack the various meanings of this compact phrase.

French people say "Salut" as we say "hi" and "bye." It's a bit less formal than "Bonjour." "Au Monde" means "to the world," so the translation of my blog title is basically "Hello World" or "Hello to the World."

However, "salut" also means "salute" -- a bit more formal or official than a mere "hi." A salute connotes a recognition of another in a sense that a "hi" cannot. While I hope this blog does serve as a casual "hello," as a periodic reminder for you of my life in France, I also want it to act as a sort of salute to my friends and family in the states (or elsewhere). In writing this blog, I acknowledge your importance in my life as well as my desire to stay connected while I am abroad.

Incredibly, a third meaning of "salut" is salvation. (What a word, eh?) "Salut au Monde" thus simultaneously means "Hello to the World" and "Salvation for the World!" An important aspect of this trip I'm taking to France is how my faith will play out in a new environment, an environment removed in multiple ways from the safeness, familiarity, and encouragement of Whitworth. In Montpellier as well as in this blog, I hope to be a testament to the salvation of Christ, however that testament manifests.

Finally -- and I'm sure all you American Literature buffs have been chewing your nails as you waited for me to cite my sources -- "Salut au Monde" is a poem by Walt Whitman. I won't say it fits me or my situation exactly, but it certainly concerns connectedness, and it is also very celebratory and observational -- all themes which relate to my experience abroad. Don't feel obliged to read the poem, but it is a worthwhile piece.

With that, I welcome you to my blog, and I thank you for reading my Salut au Monde.