What French Customs Might Seem Strange to Americans?
Answer by Kyle Murao, former exchange student in Paris:
Some French customs that I found wonderful but strange are:
Faire la bise. The double kiss on both
cheeks. I miss this more than anything, because in the year that I spent
in France, I kissed more beautiful women this way than I ever did
before or since. You kiss everyone you meet, and if you kiss someone as
if leaving but then still hang out at the party, it's very rude. These
days the double kiss is mostly done woman-to-woman or woman-to-man, but
older generations also practice it man-to-man, with no sexual meaning at
all.
Feeding children delicious adult food. None of this
disgusting baby food or plain, tasteless crap. French parents don't
destroy their kids' taste for good food before it's developed by feeding
them chicken fingers. They make them sit there and eat roquette salad
and cassoulet de Toulouse.
Not drinking everything (milk, juice, water) ice cold.
Rather, drinking it at room temperature. In fact, when you're brought
water at a café, you will sometimes get a puzzled look from the waiter
if you ask for ice.
Helping complete strangers out of a sense of social solidarity.
In America you avoid touching strangers for fear of legal liability if
they get hurt while you're helping them. In Paris, if you see a blind or
disabled person at a corner, it's considered completely normal to grab
his arm and walk him across the street. If you're out of spare change
for a metro ticket and you don't have a pass, it's also very common for
someone nearby to simply give you money to buy one. I had this happen
several times, both as recipient and giver.
Bagging your own groceries while shopping. I had to
get used to having someone else handle all my food at the store when I
came back from France. (Perhaps this is why you never see grocery carts
overflowing with unhealthy food.)
Going to a family-run pharmacy to buy medicine. You can't buy drugs at big stores, and there's no equivalent of Walgreens.
Being able to drive a car like an absolute maniac and having motorists not be considered second-class citizens versus jaywalkers (as they are here in the U.S.).
Tearing off the awesome crusty end of a baguette and eating it while you walk home.
Talking about politics at the dinner table. Here in
America, I at least was always taught that discussing politics at dinner
was rude. But the French love frank, intellectual debates, and I can't
recall any dinner parties where politics wasn't discussed.
More questions on Quora:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered