Posted on 11/18/2006 9:20:18 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
I guess I'm just not trying hard enough to find them. Even in Paris, I've never been treated like I was "less than dirt." (I've even had a few Parisians be positively charmed by the presence of an American girl.)
Parisians are rude, but, as I explained, that's how they treat everyone. My French husband hates going to Paris just because he dislikes Parisians so much.
I haven't visted Paris but i HAVE visited France.
Why are some french people rude towards foreigners?
Maybe this has got something to do with how France has been treated by foreign powers throughout history.
Stalin defeated nazism. US/British/Aussie troops took care of what was was left of it. Does this give grandsons/grandaughters of the US troops an eternal right to insult the sons and daughtthers of France?
Sorry, Forgot that it ought to look like this:
"I guess I'm just not trying hard enough to find them. Even in Paris, I've never been treated like I was "less than dirt." (I've even had a few Parisians be positively charmed by the presence of an American girl.)
Parisians are rude, but, as I explained, that's how they treat everyone. My French husband hates going to Paris just because he dislikes Parisians so much."
I haven't visted Paris but i HAVE visited France.
Why are some french people rude towards foreigners?
Maybe this has got something to do with how France has been treated by foreign powers throughout history.
Stalin defeated nazism. US/British/Aussie troops took care of what was was left of it. Does this give grandsons/grandaughters of the US troops an eternal right to insult the sons and daughtthers of France?
This brings to mind an American expression:
Freedom is not free!
"Civilization and Freedom COSTS.
This brings to mind an American expression:
Freedom is not free!"
- What every child ought to know.
I don't know. Why are people anywhere rude to people different from them? It's not like this only happens in France.
I think some foreigners perceive that they get treated rudely because they go to a foreign country and act just like they do in their home country. My French teacher in the US told us the story of his (French) aunt who visited him in the US. They went to a restaurant and she refused to speak to the waiters in anything but French. Obviously, the English-speaking waiters reacted and this lady probably thought they were rude.
We were in a restaurant here late one evening when an American couple came in asking for directions to a bed and breakfast outside of town. They spoke English to the restaurant owner, who does not speak English. Luckily for them, I heard them and my husband and I helped them get the information they needed. The husband was nice but I found the wife to be a little demanding and rude.
I've always done my best to blend in and conform to the local customs and culture. For the most part, if you at least attempt to speak some French (even if it's just a parlez-vous anglais) and treat people politely and with respect, that's what you'll get in return.
As for insults, I think it's time all sides dropped them.
We have a friend here who visited Sweden this summer. He sent us a postcard of Stockholm and it looks beautiful! He really enjoyed his visit there and encouraged us to go if we ever had the chance.
It will have to wait though, since I've already decided that our next European trip will be to London. I've never been and it's a shame to be so close and not make the time to go!
Did the notations in the local church indicate when those sons and daughters offered their lives?
During the Great War, the general indications are that the French actually fought heroically. However, the exercise of "young men trying to wear out machine guns with their chests" seems to have caused the populace to lose their interest in actually defending the country.
The French seem never to have recovered from the Great War.
"Did the notations in the local church indicate when those sons and daughters offered their lives?
During the Great War, the general indications are that the French actually fought heroically. However, the exercise of "young men trying to wear out machine guns with their chests" seems to have caused the populace to lose their interest in actually defending the country.
The French seem never to have recovered from the Great War."
The years (and perhaps the specific dates) although the locations of their death were mentioned.
Before engaging in further discussion of this matter, we should ask ourselves when the last time our own neighborhood made a sacrifice like that.
Well, why do you always meet with such strange behavior when travelling to foreign countries?
Without trying to lecture (I've travelled some but I'm well aware you have too):
- Customs ARE different from country to country
- People in the service trade you encounter while abroad sometimes get a little nervous because of the very fact that you ARE a foreigner. Especially if you ARE acquainted with the national culture and you, therefore, know the name of the game. Say you're a citizen of the US who speak some french (I guess you are such a citizen of USA), in that case a french hotel receptionist etc, might feel he/she doesn't know how to deal with a person like you. Strange but true. Perhaps you should refrain from speaking french at all?
I often visit Italy and Germany. I just lay back, order giant tankards of beer, la mia bella pranzo/cena and make new friends wherever I go.
"la mia bella pranzo"
Not proper italian, I know.
Si dice "Il mio bello pranzo", scusi.
Anyhow. The italians tend to forgive me for these shortcomings of mine.
I love Italy.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "our neighborhood", since my neighborhood and your neighborhood appear to be separated by a rather large body of water.
That notwithstanding, the English also suffered horrifically in The Great War.
There was a discussion here a few weeks back regarding a war memorial in Scotland showing the names of several hundred men who were lost in The Great War.
The names of those lost in WWII numbered in single digits. The Great War wiped out the entire adult male population of the town.
Yet, when the Hun came a-knocking, the English stood up behind a man who said "...we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,..."
I've been reading your comments, and I really appreciate them, because my gut reaction is that all French are lazy snobs and their country is going down the toilet. I remember going to Paris in 1991 and being treated very rudely (I think they thought me and my sister, ages 14 and 10, were going to rob the mall!). The recent student riots did not help my opinion, nor all the socialism.
But then, along with your comments, I remember how nice a lot of the French exchange students that visited us in Alabama. And my parents went to Paris a few months ago and had a wonderful time, the people were nice and everyone looked well off.
Is it possible there is a "red/blue state divide" in France, much like here?
Thanks for any insights!
BamaGirl
I have never met an American worker (any level) who did not need to believe that his or her work was at the core of the business. Some really, really, lame time servers have advised me that their particular contribution makes the whole thing work.
Most European workers I've met either,
(a) Stood by the 'we are superior' doctrine without an iota of support, or
(b) Needed to believe that their equally lame or not lame contributions would provide for this year's vacation and maybe a new pair of Levis.
I really wonder if that is the breaking point, Americans need to believe they are a part of the performing end of society and Europeans need to believe that a performing society will carry them with it.
Both workers and the system of labor/production have developed to support those needs in accordance with the political theories of the day, grafted to the political theories of the day before, and so on...........
(I'm sort of a MacDac products fan, but their management and last lord and master sucked rusty canal water.)
Understand that Harley's are pretty popular there as well.
I still own my old Brits but it is pretty much a Hog and Rice Burner world over here today.
I don't meet with strange behavior. I was offering a theory as to why others might have had negative experiences in France.
I'm American, I live in France, I speak French to everyone here and have never had a problem. Not speaking French is not an option and French people have proven themselves quite capable of dealing with expatriates living in their country. (There are a lot of us.)
I can help you out here. I live in France and let me assure you the country is not going down the toilet, contrary to what many posters here would have you believe.
You can't say "All (insert nationality here) are..." about any group. The popular stereotype that the French are lazy snobs is not true. Are there lazy, snobby French? Well, of course, just as there are lazy, snobby Americans. My French husband and all of our French friends work very hard and it's often a chore to pry one of them out of the office when you have somewhere to be.
My husband works for the government and technically has a 35-hour work week but he always works a lot more than that and doesn't get paid for it. He has a job to do and he will get it done in however many hours it takes.
I don't know exactly what you mean by the "student riots" but the burning car riots were different from the student protests over a new employment contract. The student protests did not turn violent, other than by some of the car burners who saw an opportunity to cause some trouble and took it.
Are you truly surprised that there are "well off"-looking people in Paris? Do people really think this is a Third World country?
God forbid! Some people have a twisted sense of humor,(I presume that you were joking?) After WW 2 France had a population of about 30 million with 60 million members of the resistance,(your underground )( the whole population was on its knees denying any involvement with the Nazis) if the children of French parents were smart,France would have a population of zero French, but thanks to a power greater than noi, the French are still in France and if we all pray hard every night maybe they will stay there.
Thanks for your input. Do you live in the suburbs or the city? The reports say that the French keep all the Muslim, dark skinned immigrants out in the suburbs, and there is little integration for these peopl into society. Is it true that the police refuse to go into some parts and that they are ruled by Sharia law?
When I meant student riots I was referring to the protests by students when it was possible that they could be fired. But also that does bring up the Muslim riots that lasted for days. What was the local perspective on that?
I'm not trying to put you down or your culture, but this is what is reported on this side of the Atlantic, and if you have any extra data/refutations I'd appreciate it. The US has a lot of the same issues, we had the LA riots, Cleveland riots, etc., but I guess I'm just not used to expect that same kind of behavior in France.
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