A list of 12 idiosyncrasies of life in France that have contributed to a sense of slight disorientation since I arrived:
So, I guess I’ll take a second to talk about a few of these things. There are the obvious ones that stood out to me almost immediately upon my arrival. There’s the issue of environmental awareness. All the toilets here have two flush buttons to conserve water. There’s the one that you press for solid waste and the other for urine. Food purchased often has its origins in France. When needing to purchase a slab of beef for the week, we visit the butcher specializing in that. When needing bread, a stop would be made at the boulangerie. Because the vendor also is the producer and the food comes from nearby, it also is notable cheaper. Supermarkets always will have their place never fear, but at least in the city of Rennes, they have formidable competition in the form of local vendors.
- transportation, small cars, a lot of buses, ppl walk
- a gap up to 9 hours between meals
- easy accessibility to the town center from all parts of town
- can’t smile at French people
- energy consumption
- insistence that you finish food
- dining together is a big deal
- acknowledge everyone you encounter, in the store and on the street
- le baisou (kiss instead of a hug)
- the school day, shorter and longer
- easy access to food locally grown
- seeing America from a different point of view
So, I guess I’ll take a second to talk about a few of these things. There are the obvious ones that stood out to me almost immediately upon my arrival. There’s the issue of environmental awareness. All the toilets here have two flush buttons to conserve water. There’s the one that you press for solid waste and the other for urine. Food purchased often has its origins in France. When needing to purchase a slab of beef for the week, we visit the butcher specializing in that. When needing bread, a stop would be made at the boulangerie. Because the vendor also is the producer and the food comes from nearby, it also is notable cheaper. Supermarkets always will have their place never fear, but at least in the city of Rennes, they have formidable competition in the form of local vendors.
Greetings: smiling is a “no”. Upon our arrival at school, one of the first things our English professor, guru of all things relating to cultural expectations, forewarned against was our tendency as Americans to “share”. Here you should not engage the middle aged woman at the bus stop to tell that you are visiting from America and really find the city of Rennes to be beautiful. Smiling at strangers is considered an expression of sexual interest. Some things just are a no.
The culture surrounding dining is different here. Aside from the expected difference in the type of food itself, portions outweigh what I am accustomed to at home. There is the implied expectation against snacking between meals. When asked about her perceptions of Americans, one of the comments my host mom made was that we eat "N'importe de quoi, n'importe de quand". I only served to reinforce this inherently bizzare concept when confiding that yes, if in a hurry back home, I might eat a meal in the car.
I’ve found there to be fewer obstructions when it comes to getting around town. One can more easily find their way around. The buses come regularly, so when I have failed to descend the bus at the proper stop, I am still am able to recover.
I’ve found there to be fewer obstructions when it comes to getting around town. One can more easily find their way around. The buses come regularly, so when I have failed to descend the bus at the proper stop, I am still am able to recover.
The aspect of being in this country that has managed to take me most by surprise is a heightened awareness of the perspective of the American. In a sense we are an island. An American cannot drive 2 hours and find themselves in a completely different country with differing social expectations and language even. One can drive for 25 hours and still not have left the country. So, our society lacks both the dynamic nature of a place having its norms always challenged by places neighboring cultures that are completely different. This also allows more easily for a certain level of egocentricism. Upon arriving here I realized that my knowledge of the world is largely confined to what intersects with the history or interests of the United States. I did not know any of the major celebrities of countries across the ocean or their social concerns. I knew almost nothing of the genocides transpiring in other nations or political tumult, and while I felt this was normal, to have a great ignorance of the world far away, my host family could easily converse with me a great deal about all America’s social movements as well as our stars on the rise. They over the dinner table discuss with my 4 year old nephew how America had had its first black president and also teach him how to say Happy Birthday and “my name is”. When I attempt to buy from a local store a scarf but speak in French too broken to salvage the meaning, vendors effortlessly respond to me in English, having a knowledge of my accent and origin and even my language that surpasses my own of them in their own country. Meanwhile, attending a pro-immigration protest and hearing “The Americans are hypocrites” or being on the receiving end of derisive sneers and giggles all communicate very clearly that to a lot of the world perhaps we Americans are not the belle of the ball.
However, I feel as though there is a spectrum for the stereotyped expectation of American behavior, and with each of my actions I firmly place myself on one end or the other. Am I the glamorous American? The one that can recite perfectly the lyrics of the songs that flood the media here, on the buses and on the radio. Am I the American with the cool accent, who comes from the place where the bizarre children do not smoke? Or am I the loud American who will always be in the way of someone seeking to walk by on the street? Will I say “Oh My God” every other sentence and squeal incessantly? Will I be inconsiderate and self absorbed, expecting everyone else to pander to me as I have now arrived in this country but at the same time being unwillingly to accommodate others were the circumstances in reverse.