General Studies 450 Post: Cultural Differences

Now that I have been here in France for a little over 5 months, there are countless cultural differences I have seen, whether blatant or subtle. When I first arrived, I was in the 'high' of finally being in Paris and it appeared to be the picture perfect-framed dream that I have always thought of. Though, after the 'tourist' feeling wore off, I began noticing various differences between my life in San Diego, and that of the people here in Paris. My first encounter of a difficult situation between ‘The French’ and myself was while going to BNP Paribas, a French bank I am with here in Paris. 

I had just arrived in the city and at my first school ESSEC and had opened a bank account with them through my school prior to arriving and was going to go get my ATM card and account information with them. I went in (thankfully with a French student at ESSEC that was helping new arrivals) and asked (in French too!) about my account and if I could sign my papers today. The man at the front desk just replied, non. So I asked if I might know why and he said they have not arrived. Which for me was odd because I had received an email saying they were ready about a week prior. Thankfully my French friend was there to handle the situation. Turns out, all of my paperwork was there, the man just did not want to deal with it since he was off work in an hour. 

For me, I was incredibly annoyed. In American banks, if you come in with money, they will practically feed you by hand and offer you things like coffee until you are completely satisfied and leave. In America, banks want your money, here in France they could care less if you were a customer of theirs, they don't need you, you need them. My French friend explained this to me and I, fresh to France, was still just so confused, especially being a business student.

My friend talked the man into helping me out since I was new and was just trying to do what the bank had told me to do. So he told me to come back in an hour and he would help me. I guess coming back was better than coming back the next day or following week. When I returned, I had a stack of almost 30 pages to sign with 'lu et approuvé' written at the bottom. The man said in English, quite snidely, 'you have to earn your account here, start signing'. WHAT? I have to 'earn' my account? My friend started laughing. He later explained to me the same thing, the bank employee is not required to do anything for me, he simply is there for his current customers, and if I want to become one of them, I must practically sign my life away, more than 30 times if necessary and make sure when I go home with a sore hand and writing cramps, I will have 'earned' my account. Not to mention with the waiting time for the whole process. Who would have thought? I didn't.

Throughout the next months, the concept of time as with the bank account situation had really become a relevant and quite noticeable part of my life. Like we Southern Californians joke about 'Hawaii Time and to slow down/relax', here in France I had to apply the same concept. Everything here in France takes two to three times as long as it would in the US. From eating lunch at a restaurant, to the baristas at Starbucks, mailing a letter at the post, doing ANYTHING administrative with the government like for my residency permit, and countless other things. After some time here though, I began to slowly adjust to my new home and its 'French Clock'. The saying 'pas grave' took on a whole new meaning to me, because after awhile, having to wait for something became well, just normal to me. It has given me a real sense of patience. Granted, I still get annoyed from time to time when things just don't go my way when I need them to, but all in all, I am not in San Diego, this is Paris and this is how it is going to be. I always get a good laugh at the markets by my place when they don't open until 10am but always tend to open about 15 minutes late. When they close at 10pm, they tend to close about 15 minutes early. Come late, leave early... Definitely not an Anglophone concept.

In conclusion on learning to adapt to slowing down my life, in reality, it isn’t just slowing down my life I have done, I have learned to treat everyday things like a Parisian. Coming to Paris as an American, you cannot come here expecting to have everything you want and need ready at your disposal. People in America are very accustomed to having things done for them right away and having everything available to do so. I hope that when I return to San Diego, I can bring back with me the calm mindset when something I need just isn’t possible at the moment and that I may need to evaluate alternative sources or possibilities, not to get angry and demanding with the situation… Has France made me complacent? Haha. As the Parisians say, ‘C’est pas possible’… not to forget the blank stare as they say it. 

But most of all, taking the time to really savor time itself.