Bonjour tout le monde,
It has been awhile since I have posted, and for that I apologize. I have all sorts of excuses, but none are really good; although this isn't a job, I do need to write more!
A friend of mine sent me a link to a little article asking the question "What is a cultural habit in France that took you a long time to get used to?" Many of the responses had to do with getting used to French kisses. You know - in the US you see folks doing the "mwah, mwah" and kissing the air near the cheek of the other person.
In France, that would be sort of insulting...you must make cheek contact. It is not something that took me a long time to get used to; my family is huggy, so contact is not unwanted. The main thing is knowing how many kisses to give - 2, 3, 4? I usually give the two, then hang out a couple of milliseconds to see if the other person is coming back for kiss #3. (Oh, and in France, one usually goes to the right first, but in Italy, you go to the left.) When you are at a party, you have to say goodbye to everyone, which means that you often have to start your goodbyes well before actually walking out the door. And for me, in the evening, men have that late afternoon stubble, so my cheeks get a scrub, too!
The biggest conundrum for me is whether to kiss or to shake hands. Then I went to a birthday party for someone who was a friend of my friend; I didn't know anyone, but they knew my friend; that made us friends. I stuck out my hand as I said "Bonjour"; and they just leaned in for the kisses. After two attempts of shaking hands, it was kisses all around.
The second main thing that folks took time to get used to was saying "Bonjour" when greeting everyone, including shopkeepers. I needed some time to realize that Bonjour is said all the time, even when entering elevators! No other conversation is really needed then, but it is essential to recognize others.
Here is the link to the actual article, with many thanks to Kathy Christie.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-cultural-habit-in-France-that-took-you-a-long-time-to-get-used-to
What cultural habit took you a while to get used to? Respond in the comments.
