I've been thinking a lot lately about the best and worst parts about living in France. There are many things that I love about living here, and there are many things that really make me homesick for the States!
Why don't we start with the worst first?
-Why's everything have to be so complicated? The French love to make everything more difficult that it needs to be. The worst ever: paperwork. Anytime you have to fill out paperwork, first if you don't fill it out specifically the way you are asked to, it won't be accepted. Then, once you turn something in, they will then respond to you, and ask you for more documents at a time (some that you already sent, others that weren't even mentioned before...). Here I'm talking about the paperwork nightmare I've gone through for visas, housing aid, health insurance, etc. Also, it's nearly impossible to get things done quickly here. For example, when I was trying to apply to the university here (something I decided not to do), it took me about 20 emails, 10 phone calls, multiple visits to the university, and some serious optimism to correctly apply. The frustrating part is that you will call someone, they'll tell you to call someone else, and then that person will tell you to call the person that you JUST TALKED TO. This brings me to my next point...
-Why is it so hard to be helpful? For some reason, people find it very difficult to help you out, answer your questions, or even just do a good deed. I don't even waste my time asking for help in stores or offices, because people just look at me with a blank stare. My favorite example: I was on a train on my way to go skiing last winter. I got up to go to the bathroom, but discovered it was already occupied. I waited for over 10 minutes in front of the bathroom, and finally started wondering if there was actually someone in there. I asked the person who was sitting next to the toilets, and he looked at me like I was an idiot. The response was "uh, no, it's out of order" in the most condescending voice. Well, it wasn't written on the door that it was out of order, how was I supposed to know? And didn't you notice that I was standing next to the bathroom for 10 min waiting, would it be that hard to just to tell me?
And speaking of not helping, don't even get me started on French servers. It'll take you a half an hour to get a drink refill in this country.
Note: this is only talking about people in stores, offices, restaurants etc. Socially and at work people have always been very welcoming and kind to me!
-Store and office hours. All stores and offices close everyday from noon until 2pm. They also are closed on Saturday afternoons, and on Sundays. Occasionally even on Mondays. Do you guys really need this much time off? At home I am used to running errands on Sundays when I have nothing else to do. Here it is impossible to even go to the grocery store and pick up a loaf of bread. I understand that people don't want to work on Sundays, or during lunch, but when do people that work 40 hours a week run their errands? It's a mystery to me. Thankfully I have a lot of spare time so this usually isn't a big problem for me.
-Strikes. Why are people here always striking? The French rail system loooves to strike. The best is when I go to catch a train, and see on the board that all the trains have been "deleted." You have free health care and 35 hour work weeks. Things aren't that bad. Luckily a new law has passed where they are required by law to warn the public of strikes pretty far in advance. We'll see how that goes.
-Sandwiches. I know, this one is a little different than the others. The French cannot put together a sandwich. They consider half a baguette with some butter and a piece of ham slapped on it as a "sandwich." They also will charge you 5 bucks for that. Sometimes all I can think about is eating a big fat deli sandwich from Corky and Lenny's.
-What's that smell? The Metro is the smelliest place in the world. I never knew the true smell of old pee (sorry to be so gross) until I moved to France. Paris is pretty bad, but most other big cities can have their stenches too. I think it's probably because of my next and final point...
-I gotta go! Public restrooms are hard to come by in France and in Europe in general. If you aren't eating in that restaurant, forget about going to the bathroom there. Bathrooms also usually aren't even in stores, there's usually a few around in malls but you're probably going to have to pay for it. However, the bathrooms that you have to pay for are usually impeccably clean. I'll spend the 50 cents to have a clean toilet. I've gotten used to finding places to go to the bathroom outside in some situations (too much information?), sometimes you've just gotta do what you gotta do. I don't think I am helping the "smell" much by doing that. Oops.
Phew, OK well lets move onto some of the things that I DO like about France!
-I feel healthy! I feel so much better here. I walk everywhere, and I eat healthier. Even if I don't try to eat well, the food here is just better for you. There aren't nearly as many preservatives in the food, and it's not quite as easy to find junk food. I have slipped up and visited McDonald's many of times, but I swear even that isn't as bad for you over here!
-So many freebies. If you are under 25 and living in Europe, life is good. There are so many things you can do for free or for extremely cheap. I can go to every museum in Paris for free. I take the trains all over the country and I get a 50% discount on every ticket. I can go see concerts, movies, plays, anything, and I always get a discount! It's not even just a few bucks either... it's almost always 50%. If they don't offer a discount for people under 25, then I flash them my old OU student card, and it's guaranteed they'll have some sort of student discount instead.
-Health care. I can go to the doctor or dentist here, and it costs me almost nothing. Same thing for prescriptions. A typical doctor's visit will cost you 20€ (about 25 bucks) and, through my job I get reimbursed almost 100%, as do all French people.
-Public transportation. You can get anywhere you need to go, either by bus, train, tram, or metro. For example, this morning I went from Reims to Paris, and I took a train, then another connecting train, to the Metro, to the regional train, to a bus. And here I am. Once you get the hang of it it's so easy, and usually very convenient. I think that this has taught me to be very patient! Sometimes you can wait a half hour for a bus that might not even be coming. The only time public transportation really stinks is late at night, or during a strike. Then this category is immediately changed to the "worst" list.
-Everything is so old. I love old stuff. Old buildings, old furniture, old pictures, old people, whatever. I walk around some days just amazed at how beautiful everything is here and how much history is behind it all. Of course I was very lucky to live in my fairy tale world of Alsace, which is in my opinion, the most beautiful region in the country. This year I am living down the street from an arch that was built in the year 200. It's funny that in the states, it's incredible if a building is over 100 years old. In France, that's practically brand new.
-They just don't need as much "stuff." Here in France, people don't seem to need as much stuff. They don't need a car. They don't need 5 designer purses, they just need one. They don't need a million different outfits to wear everyday to work, they can just wear the same thing everyday. Their kids don't need a million toys, they can just give them one and they'll be fine. They don't seem to need or want as much stuff as everyone in the states has. It's also great for me because sometimes I just don't feel like picking out a new outfit for the next day, why not wear the same one? The clothes aren't dirty after wearing them once!
-Family. People here are so attached to their families. At night, most families have dinner all together. Every Sunday the whole family gets together and has 4 hour lunches. College students go home to their family every single weekend. People here love their families! I am of course the same way at home, but I don't know if most people in the States are...
-The Education system. The education system here is overall pretty impressive. It's not very fun for the students, though. In the high schools I worked in, the students worked harder than I ever even worked in college. Their senior year is the hardest year of their education, unlike in the US where it's usually the biggest joke. After high school, students don't feel pressured to go to college. There are tons of great options for them, 2 or 3 year programs, internships, etc. I think that there's way too much pressure put on American kids to go to 4 year schools when they're done with high school. Some people just aren't cut out for it, and those people are always taken care of here. Oh, and did i mention that college is free here? The states schools are all FREE. You can become a doctor, lawyer, anything, and it's all free. It must be nice to finish college and not be in debt!
Well there are many other likes and dislikes that I could go on about, but I think that's enough for now! I'll keep you posted if I think of some more important ones :)
