Culture Shock!
19 Observations from Living in France
This is the first of three articles covering some of the differences I’ve noticed after three years living in France. What I’ve listed below are some of the most obvious differences though they are far from the most significant.
Skip ahead to the second Culture Shock post.
1.) Euros are taller than dollar bills (50s in particular.) Meaning American wallets need to be taller or risk leaving bills sticking out.
2.) Most doors are locked by leaving keys in the door. Sometimes this means it is hard to gain entrance if someone else has locked the door from the inside; your pair just won’t insert enough. The advantage: it’s really hard to forget where your keys are.
3.) French keyboards are different from the typical American QWERTY setup. At first, I didn’t like it but now I can’t wait to get one. The improvement is in the special characters. I still don’t know how to find them on my American laptop.
4.) French people will go bat-shit crazy if you leave the bread laying ‘upside down’ or if you put it in the fridge. Apparently, it brings bad luck.
5.) Portion sizes in meals are much smaller in France, perfectly adequate though.
6.) Cheese plates and salads are offered at most meals (if no one wants them they aren’t brought out.) Whereas in America all of the portions of the meal are set on the table at the beginning and people can serve themselves with everything at the same time.
7.) Aperitifs are common, but quantities of alcohol drunk are smaller (this may just be the people I associate with though.)
8.) Public toilets often come without a toilet seat, sometimes without toilet paper either.
9.) Peeing in public is more common in France; side of streets/basic public toilets without full enclosure of pee-er; particularly for men. While in America it is literally possible to be branded a sex offender for exposing yourself in public, even if no one sees. [I don’t know how often this happens to real people.]
10.) Taking an hour or more for lunch is common in many workplaces in France. Perhaps, as a result, working later into the day (finishing at 8 pm vs 5 pm in the States) is common as well.
11.) Marchés (Farmers’ Markets) are frequent and popular, and not just the stomping ground of the upper-middle class. They sell local vegetables and fruits for prices lower than nearby super-marchés.
12.) There are many tabacs and pharmacies. Whereas in the States a gas station or a big-box store fulfills these needs.
13.) Most French people have a good working knowledge of the geography of their country – cities, regions, rivers. They also know each department both by name and number. Americans, unless they travel often, are unlikely to know the geography of their country well.
14.) Walking on the street in France is a very solitary activity. Others will ignore you and avoid making eye contact.
When greeted with “bonjour” though, their faces transform to be warm and welcoming and the ‘bubble’ of solitude is broken. A follow-up bonjour is almost obligatory.* In contrast, in America, most people will meet your eye and give a polite head-nod or smile.
[*If you want to know more about this read The Bonjour Effect by Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoit Nadeau.]
15.) In France, if you aren’t there to sign for your package when it’s delivered, it won’t be left in front of your apartment or in the lobby. So you’ll have to find time to go down to the post office to pick it up.
16.) People don’t pick up their dog’s poop in France.
17.) Drivers in France are bad** (poor signalling, no signalling), motorcycles pass in slow or stopped traffic, speeds are irregular, leaving headlights off is common. However, the roads are well maintained if narrow by American standards. Cars are also smaller and gas prices are higher.
[**Because manuals are so much more common?]
18.) Most winter clothes aren’t warm (cotton instead of wool) – perhaps because France doesn’t get very cold in the winter. Scarves are worn by men and women (more by women in the States.)
19.) In France the standard outlet (prise) gives 220V of electricity whereas in America the standard outlet is just 110V unless it’s to be used for a hungry appliance like a washer machine.
In daily life, it hardly matters unless all your appliances (phone, computer, beard trimmer) come with the plug for the other country’s outlet. If that’s the case you can get a handy adapter.
I’ve heard that using an adapter all the time will diminish battery life over time but can’t speak to this personally.
See here for my second post on the Culture Shock of living in Frace.
I’m sure my observations aren’t comprehensive so what did I miss? Please leave a comment below.