1. Transportation: When I got here and walked outside of the train station, there were absolutely no cars in sight. I quickly realized that in the old part of Montpellier, which is the center of the city, cars are only allowed on the streets for a few hours a day, and that is only in order to restock the hundreds of the shops and restaurants scattered throughout the small, stone-paved alleys of the oldest section of the city. All of the roads around this area are led underground when they reach the city center, where there are parking lots beneath the street - pretty genius idea, if you ask me. People here walk EVERYWHERE or take the trams and busses that run throughout the day. They are actually in the process of building a new tram line that will hopefully be open before we leave, and I have seen them working on the new tram tracks and stations. But back to the walking: I thought I walked a lot at college, but this is a whole different level of walking. To get to my university, it takes about 30-35 minutes, walking some and taking the tram as well. Totally not a big deal, to be in transit for that long. It's so nice to get everywhere I need to go without ever stepping into a car. Well, except at night, when it's really frustrating to figure out the logistics of getting home, even though it's a ten minute walk.
2. Bread: Not really a difficult adjustment, but people here buy it everyday. It's just not good after that. Seriously, I don't know why anyone would ever keep bread for more than a day. My roommate and I stop on our way home every day for a baguette, which costs about 80 centimes and usually finish off the whole thing by bed time. Looooove the bread. I tell Jalynn every day. It's starting to get excessive, I think, but it's just so yummy!
3. Personal space: French people do their own thing, and they don't worry about what everyone is doing around them. This means they really have no problem walking into you, because they really don't care enough to move out of your way. They do not think it is rude or even out of the ordinary to stand very close to you on the tram or waiting in line for something, which can be shocking for an American who is used to everyone taking the utmost care not to even brush by other people.
4. Mealtimes: Somehow I eased into this without too much of a problem I think it started with just being really busy and not getting around to dinner until 8 or 9 at night, and it stuck. It's still a weird concept to me to eat that late, but it just sort of happens every night. Now we fit right in with our friends in home stays whose families do not serve dinner until much later than we do back home. Restaurants here do not even start serving until 7pm at the earliest! We went out to dinner at 10pm last night and stayed at the restaurant until 11:45. At home we probably would have been kicked out long before that.
5. University: This could really be a post in itself, but I'll simplify. No one really lives on campus, so there is barely any campus life associated with my French college. Students here come to campus to go to class, and then they leave. The only time anyone hangs around is when they are in between classes. There are no buildings resembling a student center or activities building, and although there is a library, I do not think it is nearly as well-used as college libraries in the States. Also, everyone talks during class, which is really frustrating, when I'm trying as hard as I can just to understand what the professor is saying. French high school is very stressful and intense, as French kids have to decide on their future profession around age 16, so when they get to college, have chosen a subject and have their whole course schedule laid out for them, they do not take it as seriously as most American students I know.
6. Cigarettes: They're everywhere. Even the high school kids smoke. I cannot really understand why no one is doing anything to stop it, and why the Europeans do not fully grasp the dangers of smoking. They seem so much more forward than us in so many other ways. Second hand smoke is just really unpleasant, but has become a part of my daily life here. Gross.
7. Appliances: Who knew they would be so complicated? We have a microwave, washing machine, dish washer and oven which are definitely not the same as what you'd see in an American kitchen. The microwave, I've figured out how to cook things, but only by trial and error and pressing random buttons. The dish washer, Jalynn, my wonderful roommate, figured out by asking Jeeves and finding a youtube video that instructed her on how to run a European dish washer. The oven I mostly figured out by thoroughly reading the manual, but then of course the temperature is in celsius, so we always have to figure out what the conversion is. It has many more settings than just "bake" and "broil" which are the two that I am used to, so I am never entirely sure which of a few choices will be the most useful for baking. And last but not least: the washing machine. It had been two and a half weeks, so we decided it was about time to tackle it, since I was down to about two pairs of socks. Unfortunately, all of the words are in Spanish, and some of the buttons don't even have words, just really nondescript pictures. So we looked for the manual. Also in Spanish. And Portuguese. Super helpful. Even google translate wasn't going to cut it. We tried running it on we thought was a normal 60 minute, cold water wash. Turns out the number 60 meant 60 degrees, and it ran for two hours and didn't stop. So all of our clothes were dripping because we couldn't figure out how to spin them dry, and my cashmere sweater was reduced to something felted that my seven-year-old self could have worn. Oops! We emailed our landlady, so she came to help us. Turns out you turn the nob to "frio" (cold) and press start. Pretty simple. We felt sort of silly, although I still say it seems incredibly complicated and I blame the Spanish. Also, we bought fabric softener instead of soap... And apparently you're supposed to put vinegar into the wash. Weird, but we did it and our wash smells great and it keeps the washer from getting stinky and mildewy! Also, no one in France has driers. We currently have wet things draped across every inch of our apartment.
Needless to say, our landlady is wonderful. She is the host Mom we never had. In fact, she invited us to dinner with two other girls from our program who are also her tenants. She's great. And we're really excited to get a real, French, home-cooked meal.
So I'm sure there are many more cultural differences that I'm forgetting right now, or that I haven't even encountered yet, but these are the most pressing in my mind right now.
À bientôt!
grt
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