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| Intercultural
differences (5) |
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Irksome France....
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For many foreign visitors, the
most unpleasant aspects of France and French life are often related
to some form of lack of civic sense. Among them :
- Selfishness ? Taking people hostage with constant strikes
in public transport
or in museums or blocking the roads to force the State to intervene
in a labor dispute instead of negotiating (in 2003 : after several
weeks of strike, teachers threatening to cancel the high-school
final exam or actors and musicians causing the cancelation of
most Summer festivals)
- Dirtiness ? Dog poop
all over the sidewalks (in Paris : 16 tons/day, 650 injured/year)
and dogs in shops, restaurants,... graffiti on the walls.
Body odors and Turkish
toilets
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- Lack of civic
sense ? Growing
"incivility"
: people smoking everywhere, even in non-smoking areas
(but comparative figures
show that most European countries are worse !), people incapable
of queueing, etc...
- Illusions ? Many ridiculous aspects of the national political life, as if
France was the center of the world.
- Extremism ? Olivier Besancenot
and all these absurd trotskyist
organizations
- Conservatism ? The inability to change
anything without making a big drama out of it
- See a few quotes
about the French by vatious writers....
- More to come (much more...)
!
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First : understand, then : criticize....
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I have seen many situations where
Americans are upset, just because they dont KNOW why something
happened. If you understand why people act a certain way, then
you are of course free to disagree but if you don't understand,
you may be very wrong when you express an opinion ! Here are
a few examples :
- Many Americans say : "The
French don't like children : we were in a restaurant and
they kept glaring at our kids, etc...". You have to know
that :
- American children generally
make much more noise than French children
- In France, you don't go to a
restaurant because you're hungry, but because you want to enjoy
a meal and talk with your friends
- If they are noisy or agitated,
your children are ruining the other diners' pleasure
- CONCLUSION : if you want to
enjoy a real French meal, don't take your children with you and
if you're just hungry, go to the next McDonalds, a children-friendly
place
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- Many Americans have stories
like "In a café ordered a Screwdriver and
they refused to serve me and they looked at me with hate.
Same thing with a wodka with cranberry juice" (this is a
true story)
- Screwdrivers and cranberry are
totally unknown in France
- The order was in English : in
France people understand French better than English and smile
is less natural, especially when you're in trouble
- If you want to see what it's
like (seen by the Frenc), go to a bar in Kansas City and order
(in French) "Donnez moi un Perroquet ou sinon un Picon
grenadine" and tell me what happened...
- CONCLUSION : why not try what
people drink in this country? It could be a nice experience.
- More anecdotes : see a few DOs and DONTs,
see a few questions
about the French, visit the page on French
attitudes and read French Toast
!
- More to come...
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More intercultural , intercultural management
and anti-americanism
To more intercultural
To table
of contents
Back to home
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For more on intercultural
differences, order Harriet Welty Rochefort's
books :
- "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates
The Maddening Mysteries of the French",
St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American
in Paris", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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