Sometimes I think I hate parisian people, but sometimes I love them too. While I don't think that they are unpardonably rude here, they are very reserved. People have been very welcoming to me...when i've been properly introduced by a trusted person. In other words, everyone i've been introduced to by my family has been very receptive.
People on the street not so much. I think that French people would rather save their smiles and their chatter for family and friends, and as such don't use them on the street. Yes, there are the random men from a different age who will still compliment (in what I have decided is an innocent manner, they arn't looking for anything) a woman on the street, and some of the people in my neighborhood that I pass by daily will say bonjour, but small talk amongst strangers is a rare occurance here. Not saying that it's a terrible thing, and not that I talk to strangers all the time back home, but there's times where a smile from a complete stranger can just brighten a gloomy day, or a hello can be the difference.
That being said, I chit-chatted with a complete stranger today for about 5 minutes. Marielle, Kate, and I had bought salads and were sitting in front of what we thought was an elementary school eating them. It turns out that we were next to the school, sitting on someone's porch. The guy who owned/leased the porch came to his window, and just started chatting with us for a couple minutes. About how hard it is to meet french people here no less. 5 minutes may not seem like much, but that random act of kindness compeletly brightened my day.
Another thing that has brightened my week is that Marielle and I scheduled train tickets to REIMS for this weekend! We leave early on saturday morning, and we get back to Paris sunday afternoon. We're not sure what all we'll be doing there, but we scheduled a guided tour of a champagne vinyard, and we're planning on doing some hiking in the forets/vinyards that surround the city. Here's to my first European train experience, and my first hostel visit!
bisous!
PS - Kate, since you read this all the time leave some comments, why don't ya? Let me know if you're liking it!!
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3 comments:
Nothing wisdomous to say.
Except you no longer can claim to speak french like a vache espagnole, because random stranger clearly thinks otherwise.
There. Now I've commented.
oooo, i demand stories of Reim and the vinyard. Yay new camera and meeting random people. Also, I have stories. stories that confuse me muchly. thats all I've really got today, much love, miss you,
see? i told you! it's 8:30 am and instead of writing my paper that's due in two hours, i'm checking to see if you've updated anything since last night.
it's sad, isn't it. :-)
p.s. guess who
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