The adjustment period

Well it has been two full weeks here in Lyon. All in all the experience has been quite mixed. My initial perceptions of what France would be like were destroyed within the first day and I am still trying to figure out just how I could describe France to anybody. France is not Paris. France is a lot more than just Paris and a lot more complicated at that. When you see something about France on the Travel channel, you always get the Paris experience and then a brief description of the various historical places in France. If you haven't been able to tell already from my other posts, France is a whole different world than Paris and the United States. I have learned a lot already and have much more to learn in the 3 and a half short months that remain.


In the two weeks that I have been here, most of my experiences have been cultural. It has been about learning the major differences between my culture back in the United States and the rich, sometimes stubborn, culture here in France. There is the generalization that the French hate Americans. While I have not been able to prove this completely wrong, I can say that as in any culture, there are very nice, accepting people and then there are the exceptions to the rule. There are the people who you can tell don't know what America is about and do not want to know. They are stuck in their "French ways" and will never deviate. There are also the people, who I mentioned, that are absolutely thrilled to meet an American and express how much they would love to travel or work in America. It is when you meet these people that you can really start to learn the true differences in the cultures.


It has been an eye opening experience in that some things are so different here, I wonder where and when in the course of time two developed countries such as the US and France could end up at opposite ends of the spectrum. My opinion on the solution to most of these "differences"..... get rid of the 35 hour work week and install a 40 hour work week like the rest of the world. Maybe then I could get some service in this country and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to put my life on hold when its Sunday since everything is closed. While it may seem almost comical to read, those 5 extra hours per week seem like they would make a ton of difference. Of coarse, this is all part of the cultural experience. I do not hate the French culture, nor do I love it. It is something different, something interesting, and something that I look forward to learning more about.