Monday, November 21, 2011

Saturday, November 19, 2011

The rebellious French

While living here in Paris for nearly 3 months, I've been paying close attention to the French people. First of all I must say that the French culture is much different from American culture. The French have always had a long history of protests against their government, and I have noticed that it seems to have impacted all of the French people in some way or another. For example, in school the French kids are much more loud and crazy in class. While the teacher is talking the whole class is talking and laughing amongst themselves, and the teacher has to yell and swear at them to stop. But the kids just ignore the teacher most of the time, especially if the teacher is a nice one with a kind disposition.

I think that it is really cool that the French are so passionate about their opinions. There are protests all the time in the streets with many people. They are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. Compared to the French, Americans don't protest as much. I wish that Americans protested more about injustices. If they did then the government and country would improve, and if enough people stood up for what they believed in then they could actually make a change. Because of all of the constant protests here in France things have changed and gone a long way. Many of the French people as a result have developed a rebellious spirit. They are determined for change. The only negative thing about constant rebellion is that there can be a lack of respect. In my opinion rebellion is natural and healthy, but it's a matter of balancing that and respect for others that can become a problem.

French markets

One thing, out of the many things I appreciate about Paris is that there are always lots of open markets. The French culture has really been into setting up markets in the streets, and they have been doing this for hundreds of years. It amazes me how you wake up one morning and just over night there are loads of stands set up that sell every kind of produce you could imagine. There is a market up the street from our apartment that has an entire stand of just olives alone. There is also a meat stand with practically every kind of sausage, a wine stand (where we got a nice bottle of wine), a bakery stand which sells lots of pastries and such,  and many other interesting stands. The French really know how to live.