French people

Here are some things I’ve noticed my first week here about Montpellier and the French people in general that I have found interesting:

• ·      Black boots and a coat are staples of every wardrobe—male, female, young old, everyone wears them.

• ·      Smoking starts around age 14 here…and apparently they don’t take Health class in junior high and learn about the black lung, because everyone just keeps smoking. All day long.

• ·      Little toddlers and young children are dressed to the tee every day. They are so cute in their stylish little coats and scarves and tights…but I imagine it must be expensive to dress little kids so fashionably all the time!

• ·      The McDonald’s of Montpellier is like the In-n-Out of Santa Barbara—it’s open late, serves cheap food, is always super crowded and busy, and especially popular among the students.

• ·      The economy over here must not be as bad as in the US, because a few days ago the bi-yearly sales started in Montpellier, with all stores slashing prices 30-70%. I went to the mall and have never seen that many people shopping! Not even in LA at Christmastime. It was insane.

• ·      The French do not talk about religion. As my French 1 teacher, Frank, told the class: “Most people in France are not religious. We don’t like to talk about it.” He also said that Europe in general has experienced significant decline in their religious population.

• ·      People don’t pick up their dog poop. It’s all over the streets and sidewalks. There are stray dogs roaming everywhere as well, peeing at will of course.

• ·      I can see how Europeans have a stereotypical view of Americans as fat and driving big cars; the ultra-consumers of the world. First of all, everyone is skinny here because they smoke all the time. And second, their cars are tiny! I guess it’s because they don’t drive much—most people in the city walk or if they have to travel far, take the subway or train. No one drives places in the city with cars really—and the driving that does occur seems pretty reckless. I would swear that we are walking along on a sidewalk when I hear a horn and see a tiny European car barreling up the alley right behind me.

• ·      I feel super incompetent sometimes because most people speak at least two languages. A good number of French can get along in both French and English, with some knowing Italian, Spanish or German as well. Myself, I’ve barely mastered the English language, know very basic conversational Spanish, and—after a week of French class—can now say a handful of helpful phrases and conjugate exactly four verbs in the present tense.