Before I start, I like this picture:
1. Shakira is everywhere. They can't get enough of her over here.
Doesn't matter where you are; I've heard her in France, Spain and Germany so far. Waka Waka is a favorite especially since it was the World Cup theme song and people here are fou (crazy about soccer). In Spain, a bus driver played Waka Waka 4 times in a row, a little excessive.2. On another music note, they listen to a lot of American music here. But they also have all their European music, so they get the best of both worlds. The only time is when it's annoying is when clubs play 80s music non-stop. There is one dance club here called Australian and without fail, every night at midnight they start their American wedding/80s music track. The first time you hear it you're like "HELL YEAH!" And then everywhere you go they seem to play the Grease Super 80s mix and you gradually come to hate it.
3. People love their dogs. A lot. They treat them like children. They come into shops with them,
on the tram with them, and I've never seen so many dogs being carried before. And there are no leash laws. Surprisingly the dogs don't stray, I always assumed that dogs without leashes would run around like crazy but they stick by their owner's side. I love dogs, but the mess they make is a little out of control here considering there are no laws about cleaning up after your dog either. In Paris, it's so bad that people are constantly slipping on dog s*** and having to go to the hospital. Quel horreur!4. People speak to you in English. It's pretty easy to tell right off the bat who is from Europe and who is not. Aka, if you are American. Sometimes it's a relief and other times it's just plain annoying. For example, the other day I was trying to find the stop for the bus from the centre ville to take me back home so I asked the first bus driver I could find and starting asking him in French where to find the stop. The guy doesn't even let me finish my sentence, interrupts me and says to me in English, "You can speak in English, you know." And I politely respond in French that I want to speak in French. And then he continues to speak to me in English, telling me about how he used to live in London and wants to practice his English. I'm sorry, but I don't care. I am in YOUR country learning YOUR language so please respect that and speak to me in French. If you want to practice your English, go back to London. :)
5. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they love their strikes. There was another one yesterday (Tuesday October 12-- the date on this post is messed up). It even lasted a bit into today for extra effect. They are still a pretty pissed about that whole retirement age deal.
6. Trailing that comment, they're not too crazy about their President, Nicolas Sarkozy, who they believe is entirely to blame for the retirement situation. Although to be fair, I did overhear someone discussing it and saying the other presidents just kept pushing it back and someone eventually had to do something about it. So kudos to Sarkozy. Although, running off with numerous women and remarrying a third time all within the public eye doesn't exactly leave your countrymen thrilled. Also, one of the first things he did as President was give himself a raise. Doubled his salary, actually, to "match his peers."
That's one mean looking man7. The French don't hate Americans as much as we think they do. The only reason they really hated us before was because of good ol' G.W. Bush, but now that Obama is large and in charge they really like the U.S. The same is true for pretty much every country-- they all love Obama and will repeat his name to you multiple times if that is the only English word they know.
8. Nostradamus studied and taught here in Montpellier. So that means everyone here is wise and omniscient also. Including me.
9. People dress very well. Even their babies dress better than you.
Kids wear the cutest clothes here-- they put my purple ballerina outfits and princess dress to shame.10. When you order a beer at a bar or a café, they actually put it in the right cup. Paulander comes in a Paulander glass, 1664 comes in a 1664 glass, you get the point. It's quite a difference from back home where they'll serve you beer in any available cup. Over the summer a bartender have me a JUICE CUP with my pitcher of beer. I kid you not.
11. Lastly, look at my Halloween pumpkin. They don't really celebrate Halloween here,
so that's a bummer. But I'll be in Barcelona on Halloween and I think they have a couple festivals. Although their idea of Halloween is literally ghosts, ghouls and goblins, not the Mean Girls vision we're used to.
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