I started making notes in my iPod Touch (oh what a wonderful gift that has been...I won it in the summer...I have some multi-lingual dictionary apps, for example) over the last week, of things I observed that I found to be different, maybe bizarre, maybe annoying or maybe admirable. You can be the judge. Here is the list thus far (hopefully it is the end of keeping such a list as I think I need to just assimilate now and move on from comparing. Pointing out differences all the time, really does get old for whomever has to listen and doesn't really help with settling into a culture. Come on, Beth--you used to do workshops on this very topic!).
In no specific order, other than the order I noted them down...:
--Seeing two men do the cheek kiss greeting thing, particularly weird when one of them is quite punk-looking
--Empty city streets in the evenings and on Sundays! (This is definitely not the case in Paris, I believe.)
--The infiltration of English in strange ways (definitely different than the way English appears in Quebec...my Quebec Culture prof was right!).
"parking" is used all the time and is used as a noun, ie. "I'm looking for the parking."
"stop" is on all the stop signs (in Quebec it's "Arrêt") and "stop" is spoken a lot as well.
"planning"...I saw this as the title of the Church Nursery Schedule, so again, a noun meaning the schedule
"pressing" is on signs for places that iron your clothes.
Another sign somewhere said that their place was "le must" for automobiles.
And a makeover is called a "relooking". Again, a -ing word as a noun.
There are other words that are translated differently than what we see on things in Canada (the French side of items or French-Canadian television) or that are not translated at all. Cranberries are still "cranberries" and in fact, my French dictionary doesn't list "canneberges" at all! That must totally be a Canadian French word. Desperate Housewives are still Desperate Housewives, while on Quebec channels, it's translated to Beautés Désespérées. Things like this...I find myself very frequently shocked with the appearance of English in such different and frequent ways.
--Less cell phone usage. This surprised me! Certainly they're still used, but I would gauge it to be less than in Canada. Again, might be the city I live in, not sure.
--Cheese and yogurt for dessert.
--Chocolate for breakfast. (Not chocolate croissants, but chocolate cereal or Nutella. There is even a commercial praising the goodness of Nutella in a child's wholesome breakfast!)
--Omelettes for dinner.
--Taxi drivers are classier, well-dressed and have nice vehicles.
--Mail delivery bicycles! Very cool!
--Pizza delivery scooters. I've seen this in Brazil and Guatemala too.
--Businesses you wonder how they're making a go of it.
--A lot of closing down for long holidays.
--Places closed midday.
--Hair salons everywhere.
--Roller suitcases are common. Every day that I walk to school and cross the river, there is always someone crossing the bridge dragging a roller suitcase with them. I see these suitcases at the university too.
--Surprised to discover that sometimes people don't know something you expect them to. Ie. a bus driver not knowing the name of stops on her route, or a store owner not knowing the historical significance of a tunnel beside his store, etc.
--The first Wednesday of every month, sirens wail at noon. This month it happened while I was in an orientation class and the teacher explained that the "pompiers" test their sirens every month. Later, I learned that this was false (unless there is a translation for pompiers other than Firemen, that I don't know) and that it IS actually what it sounded like--a war siren and all over France they test out the war sirens on these dates.
--The lack of places to sit out and about. There are places to buy sandwiches on baguettes "to go" for lunch, for example, but there is no where to sit to eat them! (I've started hearing that it is common for people to just go home for lunch. I've started doing that this week when my school schedule allows.)
--The lack of places to sit on campus--there are no lounge areas. I ended up eating my lunch outside on a curb beside a garbage can!
--Campuses and campus libraries close at 6:30-7:00 p.m.! Jenelle and I almost got locked in the school one night!
--Televised news at 8:00 p.m.--dinner time, everyone watches.
--There are a lot of weekly publications (newspapers, magazines, etc.)
--People seem to have no qualms about following you quite closely while walking along (rather than "passing").
--Buildings start at Floor 0, rather than Floor 1.
--Places require ID photos all the time! We have to keep going and getting them taken a little booths. I need two to give to profs this week!
3 comments:
Interesting little differences. Although some of them are common here, you just haven't noticed them! Like the Nutella commercial, I see it all the time. Probably better than letting your kids eat Captain Crunch cereal, but not exactly "healthy." The roller "suitcases" are popular in Toronto and Ottawa, although they are smaller than an ordinary suitcase. More like a large roller briefcase kinda thing. Is that what you see, or are they actual suitcases? And roller backpacks are popular for kids, it's much easier on their backs!
The pay toilets are probably cleaner than public washrooms here, yes? I wish we had pay ones that self cleaned and sanitized between every person!
And cheese for desert....always wanted to order that at a restaurant but have been too cheap. I think it would be delicious!
I didn't know about the commercial being in Canada. But chocolate cereal is common too! Regarding dessert, at home after dinner, my housemate will ask, "And now for dessert. What would you like? Some cheese? A yogurt?"
There are some small suitcases, but most that I see are the proper, real big roller suitcases. Very weird. Especially seeing them be rolled across the bridge.
The problem with the bathrooms is that there are few and far between. And when you finally find somewhere to go, you have to pay. They're not especially nice either. :)
I was in Tours on an exchange program in '85 and '86. Some things ring true.
Things shutting down quite early in Tours.
The library closing early. I remember that you couldn't even browse the stacks to do a research paper. You had to use a sort of card catalog system, and order books two at a time, then come back the next day to pick up your books. If it wasn't what you wanted, you had to order two more books. It made doing any sort of research close to impossible. I would imagine with laptops, internet, etc... that this situation has improved and that, perhaps there are more online research tools available these days.
The lack of places to hang out at the university. At lunch, we Americans would take our little salads or sandwiches they sold at the little snack bar and eat them in room 110, which was the office our university back in the states (Rutgers) used/rented. There was a little conference room with a table where many of the exchange students from Rutgers would stop by, pick up mail, eat lunch and socialize. Also remember stores closing at noon. That was a surprise.
Other things look like an improvement, like those pay toilets. Don't remember those 25 years ago.
One thing I would add to your list. Beer at the student brasserie by the Sanitas dormitory.
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