French Exchange

I just got back from the French exchange on Monday afternoon, and it was a fantastic experience. Not only were the food and people just the best, I also picked up on a lot of cultural differences. Since we recently wrapped up our culture unit, I thought I'd back-track a little bit and mention some interesting cultural differences.

The one difference that I found the most interesting was that French teenagers can drink at the age of sixteen, but they can't drive until they're eighteen. In America, it is most definitely a fact that many teenagers drink illegally. I think the danger comes in when these teenagers, who hide their drinking from their parents, get into cars. In France, teenagers can drink if they want, but they have to call their parents to get picked up. By the time we reach the age of twenty-one, we've all been driving so long that I think that even though drinking is legal, it's not always safe. Though people may try to adhere to the .08 limit, I still think by then we're just too comfortable in our cars. We don't necessarily take the caution we should. French teenagers can experience alcohol, get over the novelty of it, and then get their licenses. It seems smarter and safer to me.

Something else that interested me was French bathrooms and showers. The French keep their toilets in separate rooms than their toilets, which, thinking about it, seems really smart to me. After I came back home, I went to take a shower and saw the toilet next to it. After being in France, it just seemed so nasty and gross to me! Why put the dirty toilet in the same room as the thing you use to get clean? Another thing about French showers is that they have hand-held heads. What you do is rinse your hair and body, then turn off the water, shampoo, then turn it back on to rinse, turn it off, condition, and so on and so forth. At home, my showers probably use gallons and gallons of water, but in France, I felt so much less wasteful. The French seem to really value prudent use of resources. What would happen if all Americans took showers the French way? Our water bills would be lower, that's for sure. My idea for world change is that we all start taking French showers, and then donate the money we save to organizations that bring clean drinking water to other countries, like that well charity we're raising money for with the t-shirts. What do you guys think?

A couple things before I wrap this up:

You wouldn't think that other countries would have different keyboards, but it's true. In French, certain letters are used with different frequency than in English. For example, in French, the letter Q is very frequently used! Take a look at the French keyboard:

Another thing, quickly, is that brands are packaged differently in France. I use Herbal Essences shampoo, but when I went to a French grocery store, I didn't even recognize it. Maybe we can get Herbal Essences like this in the States too, but I've never seen it (image on the right). Compare it to the kind I use (image on the left):

The packaging for the image on the right emphasizes nature, whereas on the package for my kind, the only thing remotely nature-related is the name of the brand. The package is glaringly orange. In America, we're very interested in modernity and newness, but in France, they were so proud of the natural beauty of their land. They have monuments that have been preserved from the Roman times. America is a much newer country, and we've always exuded energy and drive for better and more modern things. I think these differing attitudes are definitely reflected in the packaging of the hair care products.

That's all for now! - Bex