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Writer's pictureLuke O'Neill

Paris at First Glance


My first lesson about French culture was arriving at Charles De Galle airport and finding the Sheraton hotel. I was looking for the middle of the airport, far from my gate, and I needed to ask for directions since my phone could not connect to the internet. The way I approached an airport worker for guidance was not the French way to do it. I would approach someone, and my urgency would throw them off to find the Sheraton hotel. From my experience living in the United States, going to staffers to ask a quick question was normal since everyone is trying to get somewhere and employees are meant to help customers. In France, I find it is the opposite of this ideology; workers never seem to be in a rush. This stays true in a cafe ordering a coffee, where you are expected to greet the employee before asking for service with a “bonjour.” Overall, my first lesson in France has been to relax and give workers more respect when obtaining a service. In America, it seems as though everyone is in a rush to get somewhere else, and in France, everyone is already in the place they need to be.

Learning French has been a difficult task for me since languages have been a struggle my entire life. I took Italian to the advanced placement level in high school, and my mother can fluently speak the language. However, I could not have a basic Italian conversation if my life depended on it. French seems even more difficult than Italian to me since it sounds very different from many languages I grew up around, like Spanish. In addition to the familiarity of the language, phrases are used differently here than in the United States. When trying to get off the public subway, instead of saying, “Excusez-Moi,” everyone here says, “Pardon.” I learned that “Excuse me” is used more to ask a question rather than get out of someone’s way.

My favorite part of being in Paris has been the sightseeing. The buildings and sidewalks are more intricate than any other place I have ever been to. The attention to small details is something I have appreciated in the French culture, making the textures I find in Paris complex. Almost all buildings here seem to be old and rotting on the outside, but once you look inside, you see that many buildings have been updated to fit the modern world. The color that dominates my imagination when picturing the city from an aerial point of view is beige. In my mind, most old buildings look beige or a color close to beige. When I think of lines in Paris, I think of the fashion people wear. As a child, I pictured Parisians as someone wearing a beret with a striped shirt. I have seen many people wearing striped shirts and dresses on the sidewalks to confirm my childhood fantasies.

In conclusion, I have found Paris to be a very detail-oriented place. The people here have much more time for detail in everything they do. Everyone wears nice clothes, eats yummy food, and treats other human beings with respect no matter where they work.


Color: Line:


















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