Before moving to France, I had often heard that French culture was pretty different from American culture. I was told all the common stereotypes, those things that are believed about a group that are only partly true or not true at all: that French people could be rude, that they didn’t care about working hard and that they could even be unfriendly to foreigners. French people do sometimes do or say things that can seem pretty strange to us. But I now understand them more and can see that they are actually quite wonderful, friendly people. It is important not to judge people immediately and to be open to different perspectives.
One of my first cultural moments in Paris happened when I wanted to do some work on my laptop at a cafe. My friend James and I got two large cafés au lait (coffees with milk) at the bar, then sat down at a corner table. I was pulling out my computer from my backpack when one of the staff came over and said “c’est interdit,” meaning, “that’s not allowed.” My first reaction was of anger—why wasn’t I allowed to use my laptop? I always do work on my computer at cafes back in the USA! But then I looked around the room and realized that everyone else there was happily chatting away with their friends.
