For one, it is impolite to put your hands under the table at a restaurant. In America, I think it's most polite to fold your hands in your lap while pausing from eating or after a meal. Do you think so, too? In France, it's not polite to do this; in fact, it's more acceptable to place your hands on the table--but no elbows! I wonder how exactly you place them--palms up or down? I don't think it matters, so long as they're visible. This is the case because it's expected that one affirms that he/she is not hiding anything. Tout est visible.
Also, it is absolutely unacceptable to talk about bathrooms in restaurants, as well as other people's homes. If you need to go to the bathroom, you either A) Walk around like a lost person, until the host can infer that you need the bathroom and thus direct you, B) Say you need to wash your hands, or C) Not go at all during the meal. Because then people KNOW what you're doing, and you're doing it while they're in the middle of eating--gross! Even if a meal lasts 2-3 hours, as many French meals can, it's most polite to just hold it. And if someone asks where your friend is, and he is in the bathroom, you're not supposed to say that. You say you don't know. There are certain subjects that are just off-topic for the French, and this is one of them. In an informal setting, it's a little more acceptable, but still best to not be talked about at all.
If someone sneezes, it's more polite to NOT say "bless you." Or, in this case, "a tes/vos souhaits." By saying this, you acknowledge that someone made noise and did something kind of unclean (though not their fault), and you just underline all these facts. It's better to say nothing at all and not make a big deal out of it. Especially when people sneeze 5, 6, 7 times in a row, it can also get annoying to say. They know you sneezed, and they moved on. Bon!
ANother interesting thing that doesn't really concern politeness and manners is the role of the foreigner in France. Let's face it-- one can say in general that the French, especially Parisians, have a bad rap with Americans. Many thing that they're rude and brash and unwilling to accept others. French is the be all, end all. It's not COMPLETELY untrue. There are some aspects of truth, and it was kind of cool to hear my French professor talk to us about it. The French are VERY proud of their heritage and their language. If you make an effort to speak the language, they really appreciate it. In general, they think, if you speak French, you're a good person. I know, it sounds like of crazy, right, these judgments? At the same time, they love speaking the (more often than not, very few) English words they know. My professor said that the French will often try to talk to us in English but we "have to persevere in French and be stronger than them!" Haha, it was pretty funny. As a side note, I love my new professor, and we have her for a phonetics/internship class every Wednesday night. I think I'm going to learn a lot.
I like how in my classes I don't just learn grammar and textbook information, but also important nuances of French life and culture. The REAL important things. Like, the French rarely drink milk. This surprised me, what with all the popularity of cheese and the cows in the countryside. Almost no one drinks milk here. Are my bones going to suffer in the coming months? Maybe. Though I think the dairy in my gelato will suffice until December.... :)
No comments:
Post a Comment