Apr
9
Observations from Paris.
Some observations from Paris. I have another part that I meant to post before this one, but I apparently forgot:
- It’s really weird to be able to know words and terms in French, but not know their English equivalent. This is especially common for me when it comes to foodstuff.
- The sidewalk is essentially a giant game of chicken. Oncoming traffic rarely moves, and once you get used to it, the game is kind of fun. Fortunately, I’ve been graced with the gene of stubbornness (I won’t say which parent gave it to me), so I’ve welcomed the challenges right from the start. Also, I’ve quickly learned that when there’s a person approaching, it’s necessary to brace yourself to hit shoulders, because otherwise you’ll be knocked off balance. French people also love to suddenly stop in the middle of a crowed sideway and to NOT walk in a straight line. This annoys me to no end.
- French people really do walk around eating baguettes. This will never cease to amuse me. Also, my family goes through about four or five baguettes a day. It’s incredible.
- The Euro (€) really annoys me, for two reasons: 1. Of course, the Euro is stronger than the dollar right now. This doesn’t bode well for my bank account. Also, Paris is a ridiculously expensive city. A small cup of coffee with cream at a café costs about four euros, which makes Starbucks back home seem like mere pennies, and an average dinner eating out would probably be at least fifteen euros. (While I rarely ever eat out, I’ve learned to justify the costs by reminding myself that taxes and tips are included in the cost. Happy Hour is also a definite winner.) 2. The Euro bills are really big. They have coins for one and two euros, but bills for five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, and five hundred. A twenty bill sticks out of my wallet, which is really annoying, and a fifty is just ridiculous, so I have to fold them up into crazy shapes. I cannot stand this, especially because back home my bills are all arranged perfectly.
- French people make hilarious sounds. For example, it’s not uncommon to hear someone say “Oh la la!” They also say “Oplà!” This can either mean something kind of like “Oops!” or “There we go!” My host mom often says it when she serves herself something from a dish onto her plate. Also, French people don’t say “Oui oui!” but they do say “Oui oui oui oui…” Except, the pronunciation is different, in that it sounds more like “Ew-aye, ew-aye, ew-aye, ew-aye…” except really slurred together. Also, instead of saying “Um,” they will pause in their sentences on simple words like of or who or that and just repeat it over and over, and it sounds hilarious until you get used to it.
- People are very, very generous with their compliments. All the time I hear people saying things are “incredible” or “magnificent” or “delicious.” Marie-Ange once called Andrew a god for making good cookies. The French are just a very complimentary species, I guess.
- Bars love diversity. A lot of bars and clubs have “foreigner night,” when the entrance fee is waived. This is awesome because entrance fees generally start at 15 € and go up from there, sometimes to 30 €. (Note: I’ve never paid more than 15€, if that). Also, one night I was with some French guys and they wouldn’t let us in because we were four guys and had no girls with us. We went to the next bar and I suggested that I go up and say in a big, proud American accent, “Hi! Can we come in?!” The doorman said yes without any hesitation.
- It is my belief that speaking French requires a lot of spit. This is from personal experience and from observing others. It’s really hard to roll my R’s properly without a nice, spit-filled mouth. Also, I’ve seen spit fly from the mouths of multiple French people when they talk.
