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Spending almost 1 month in France for clinical clerkship,
I also experienced the new culture and habits of French people.
So today I'd like to introduce the most impressive things I experienced in France.
First, “Coffee.”
If you open an elementary French phrasebook,
you will definitely find “Un café, s'il vous plaît,”
that means “a cup of coffee, please.”
The phrase, however, will surprisingly get you an espresso...
Yes, they call espresso “un café”.
You know, they have so much delicious food.
Le Café(a restaurant), la boulangerie(a bakery), le maison du bonbon(a sweet shop)…
Such temptation will perhaps perhaps make you chubby during your stay, like me.
They also love them and they can't stop eating them !
It's not an uncommon sight to see them walking the streets while eating.
It is especially common to see them eating goods from the bakery while walking.
You know, it is a bit unusual for Japanese people,
and perhaps we aren't willing to do that unless we are in a hurry.
But they don’t seem to care at all about that.
And sometimes French people are just out walking through the streets
with baguette in their hands, just like in this picture.
In addition, they are nibbling away at it !
I was nervous that they would eat it all on the way home.
They give each other "bise" when they meet.
A bise is a common greeting in France
in which people kiss each other on both cheek when they meet each other.
We Japanese people think kissing someone on the cheek is too intimate,
but they think it to be very important and never forget to do it when they meet.
You know as it’s not common for us,
sometimes I forgot or hesitated to do it,
and French people looked unsatisfied.
Whatever types of couples are kissing all the time.
On subway, in the street, at the restaurant…
They don’t seem to care about kissing and being cozy in public.
Seen by someone? No biggie for them.
Needless to say, I got jealous of them while I was staying there.
Not everyone does smoke in France, but walking around the city,
seemingly a good number of people on the street, or sitting at outdoor café tables,
either appear to be lighting their cigarettes up, or flicking their lighters out.
The smoking rate of France is about 30%
and the number of smokers is increasing there,
whereas Japan and other countries are seeing a decline.
Go to the movies and before the credits roll,
they have already put an unlit cigarette in their mouths with the lighters poised
so they can flame up the minute they step outside.
Ditto with the subway exits and outside the airport.
If you walk by any office, or school,
you’ll find the workers and students are lined up on the sidewalk, puffing away.
For them, it is not unusual to smoke walking and...
to throw their cigarette butts on the ground.
You look down the street and notice the residue of smokers which blights this beautiful city.
In Japan, such people will be fined and stigmatized.
It is well-known that there are many dog turds on the streets in France.
Yes, I saw many craps there.
To my surprise, some don’t have a poop bag.
I heard that annually 600 people step on it, slip,
and get transferred to the hospital.
Not joking. Seriously.
They like and enjoy working,
but sometimes get unsatisfied with compensation or working hours.
Then a strike happens
and the impact on us foreign people is intense.
We can’t use buses, trains or other modes of public transportation during the strike.
I suppose many of us have never experienced a strike and,
actually, I was one of them.
So it was the first time for me experiencing a strike, on the way to Mont Blanc.
They have a supermarket called “MONOPRIX” throughout France.
MONOPRIX is almost similar to Japanese supermarkets
where we choose goods and buy them.
Clerks are sitting on tall chairs,
they appear to be looking down on the shoppers.
And they are impatient.
When you dilly-dally at the cash desk,
especially in the evening, the rush hour,
they will freak out.
Your merchandise should be put on the conveyor belt before your turn to check out,
and a long bar should be put between the last customers' purchases and yours.
If you forget to put the bar, a clerk will put it forcefully.
Bam! Brrr...
Plus, they hate large bills.
You should give them small bill for groceries
or else they will ask you directly “Do you have smaller bills?”
The first thing most people said is
"Paris is beautiful, the most romantic city in the world...
...but people ... Ugh, people!"
Yes, they sometimes do not seem to welcome foreign tourists.
To my surprise, however, we have the magic word that makes them smile.
It is “Bounjour.”
“Bonjour!“ is a very important word for them.
You know, in Japan, we can shop at a convenience store, supermarket, or other shops
without greeting,
but in France, It’s impossible to shop without verbal communication.
From their viewpoint, our culture seems to be weird.
Japanese tourists who try to buy groceries at MONOPRIX without saying anything can be misunderstood to be rude.
We should know that Japanese common sense is not always common there.
On the other hand, the word “Bonjour” can be useful and necessary
to get intimate with French people.
Yes, they are incredibly warm and welcoming.
During my stay, they helped me many times.
In the station, they let me know that the platform number of departure had changed and took me the right one.
In the hospital, they (the hospital staff) were very welcoming to me and tried to talk with me in Japanese.
When I got sick, they gave me a cup of tea with honey and medicine.
At the bakery, they never gave up listening to my weird French.
At MONOPRIX, they smiled, and winked at me.
Now, you'd be well advised to bring along some functional French phrases to get you through the city
Many people can speak English,
but they definitely appreciate your attempt at speaking in French.
If you learn a little bit of French, then people don't care that you are foreign.
They appreciate that you at least tried to experience more
than you'd get from just flying in, checking into your hotel, eating at your hotel restaurant, getting on the bus,
seeing the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, then shooting some pictures and flying out.
The go-to phrase is, for example, "Je ne parle pas français."
It means I don't speak French.
I followed that phrase up with, "Parlez-vous anglais?"
= Do you speak English?
It was awesome and, more importantly, it was easy.
With less than 10 words,
you can shed the Rude Japanese or Stupid Tourist label immediately.
These are the 10 most unbelievable things I experienced in France.
Thank you very much for listening to this video. :)