Submitted by Liana Flikier on the 2013 fall semester program in Paris, France…
Before coming to Paris I did some research online, I wanted to know what people wore, what the weather would be like, what trips I could go on and basically anything else I could think to Google search. No matter how many times I read certain things and heard people’s first hand accounts, there were still many things that I was not prepared for. Here is a list of things I have noticed over the past month:
- Eating is an event (not something done on the metro, in class or while doing errands)
- Snacking is not an event (it just doesn’t happen)
- Contrary to what people say, the French don’t hate Americans (except a few here and there)
- Nobody talks on the metro
- Middle- schoolers smoke cigarettes
- Everything is expensive
- Obesity does not exist (except for tourists)
- Sweatpants/ sweatshirts/ sneakers are not worn outside the house (or even inside the house from what I can see)
- There is a lot more to do than go up the Eiffel Tower (which I still haven’t done)