Random Thoughts about the Culture

We are living on one of the actual campuses in a spacious studio. When we first saw it, we were a little unsure since it was one big bedroom with a table, sink & frig. But after adding a few things to make cooking easier we are more comfortable. One of the best additions is a side chair so we aren’t either sitting on the bed or in the upright kitchen chairs. According to the book we read about the culture, this is a typical size place to live which is why the French like to sit at sidewalk cafés and watch the world go by.

The people are reserved in public, even the children and adolescents. Everyone seems to be taught at a very young age the proper behavior and rules. Consequently, there is almost no littering. An exception to this is on campus, Friday or Saturday night there is usually evidence of an outdoor party in the common area. But it’s completely cleaned up by early Monday morning. Along with this, the country has subtle trash and recycling cans all over. They seem to recycle without even thinking about it. The trash bins where we dump our own trash/recycling has 2 trash containers and 8 recycling containers.

Another consequence of this behavior is that on the buses and trams, people who might be blocking the electronic ticket reader will always take your ticket, use the reader for you and give your ticket back to you. If they are in your way, getting to a spot, most will move to let you squeeze by and then go back to their spot. If someone from the inside seat leaves, the person on the outside seat scoots over so someone else can easily sit down. This is not 100% but it is much more apparent here than in the States. Of course, during rush hour, everyone is just jammed to the gills.

And everywhere is quiet. We were at a lunch of about 25-30 people at long banquet tables, at the Synagogue and we could talk to people several chairs away. Restaurants, offices and all public places are like that.

But along with this reserve comes the reason that we in the States think they are cold or aloof. They don’t look at strangers when walking down the street. They don’t say hi or pardon when crossing paths, not only to us, but to other French either. They don’t stop to coo over a baby or dog. (Jan has stopped a couple of people with big black dogs (she couldn’t help herself) and the owners were visibly shocked. After they realized we were foreign and non-threatening, they let her pet the dog and talk to them.) In general, they don’t “hawk” their wares. Twice we saw someone ask a restaurant employee if they were open. The answer was “no”, not no but we will open in an hour or but please try us again.

On the other hand, when entering any kind of establishment, you always say bonjour madame or monsieur to the employee, as they do to you, even if they are waiting on someone else. If it’s someone you know, you shake their hand or give the double cheek kiss. If you are entering your office, you shake hands/kiss and say bonjour to everyone who is already there. There are frequently lines waiting to be served and people just stand quietly and wait their turns. There is no watch-checking or shifting from foot to foot in impatience.

We hope this gives you some insight into where we are spending our two months. We truly love each and everything about our time here. The offer is still open to anyone who can come. We’ll even pick you up in Paris (the 2 hour train ride from Paris to Caen is €34 until November 16.) You’ll love it here.