French Stereotypes Episode 2

So, back by popular demand (or just the demand of my father) is the wonderful section that dives into the facts and myths behind French stereotypes!

French people drive really small cars: Not exactly true. I've seen two smart cars and one tiny Italian car in the 3+ months I've been here. In general, they drive normal sized cars, though I do see the occassional SUV. I have yet to see a Hummer, however. My other seemed to be under the impression that the French don't use large tractor-trailor things for shipping. They do, just like in the US.

French people don't say the letter H: although technically they don't pronounce their H's in words, I have noticed that French people tend to say H's at the end of words that don't need them, like "lundi" becomes "lundihh." And in English, it's true that they don't say H's when they should, but they also tend to insert H's where they don't belong, like "I have eight hats" becomes "Hi 'ave height 'ats."

NEW! Some stereotypes to replace the ones I've broken:

French people are super obsessed with having neat school papers: I'm serious. Their papers have like a thousand lines on them, to make sure everything is nicely lined up, they use rulers to underline everything, write in different colors. It's all far too organized for me.

French people don't go barefoot: my host mom always gets really shocked when I don't wear shoes inside. I guess it's a cultural thing, since I love having naked feet.

French Stereotypes Revealed

So, as I've been living in France for a little over a month, now, I've discovered how terribly incorrect some stereotypes are, and how correct others are. So now, courtesy of "Les Aventures de Vicki" is a new feature I like to call "French Stereotypes Revealed":

French Women Don't Shave: Definitely a false one, because they do shave. Impeccably. And more often than I do. Either that or they just don't have body hair at all.

French People Stink: Also false. They smell rather nice, and, being in France, they not only smell good naturally, but know how to use parfume without putting on too much and reeking. Occassionally, someone will smell mildly unpleasant, but that happens in the States, too. It's not like Americans are super adept at avoiding all perspiration.

French People Love Wine and Cheese: Yeah, this one's definitely true. Food in general, actually, but wine, cheese, and of course bread, are by far the most important. There are three meals a day, and not much snacking in between (but the meals are so big, who needs to snack?) and at special occassions wine is of course served. At first I was unsure as to whether I should drink wine or not, but my host club has been very insistent that I should try their drinks, as in champagne, and all sorts of French wines.

French People Smoke All the Time: Yes and no. Certainly they don't have a smoking age, and there are kids at my school who are sixteen years old who step outside for a smoke during the breaks, but not everyone likes smoking, and it's not acceptable everywhere either, like in stores or most restaurants. Still, it was definitely weird at first to see students just casually standing by the doors of the school smoking.