A Frenchman in New York
My French teacher, A, was in New York last weekend, and it was fascinating to hear about the things that he was struck by about the city, and especially about the people and how they acted and reacted. So often it was revealing about how French and particularly Parisian culture works.He had some trouble finding a coffee that he found drinkable (ironically, he resorted to espresso at Starbucks). And he noted how everyone seems to carry around a big coffee while they go about their business, even keeping it sometimes in a special thermos mug. This is something about Paris that I miss: not only can you not get a big mug of steaming coffee, people just don't consume food or drink in public (an exception seems to be the metro, for some reason), so you can't wander about the shops or go off to class with a fortifying hot drink. You get a few tablespoons at a time which you consume wherever you purchased it. A was also impressed by how people managed to drink while in motion. He wasn't opposed to the idea of carrying your coffee with you, but was sure that he would just spill it on himself if he didn't stop and take his time.
Europeans are always struck by the space in North America, but I always thought they were talking about the size of our yards, the width of the roads and the distance between towns. But A was amazed by how people interacted over what appeared to him to be huge distances. He noticed that people, sometimes strangers, would see him from across a sidewalk, from a car, from the other side of a room, and would meet his eyes rather than decorously ignoring him unless they knew him and then only acknowledging him once he was up close. He noticed that they move differently on the sidewalk or in a hallway, adjusting course so to make way many yards in advance. He found it unsettling to be so clearly noticed from such a distance. Parisians walk directly and only alter course a little and at the last moment; they're just not used to having a lot of space to manouvere so are used to just brushing by. This is something that I have found unnerving in Paris, the way people appear to be ignoring you while they're on a collision course - it seems so obnoxiously arrogant, the assumption that you, inferior being, will of course move out of their way; whereas it's really just a difference of personal space.
The distance we're comfortable with enables us to have a brief conversation without stopping. We're quite used to greeting a colleague as we pass in the hall, but A was surprised when someone asked him "How are you?" and kept walking, not even waiting for a reply. Europeans are not so casual with their pleasantries. He watched tourists leaving a hotel outside of which the JFK shuttlebus was waiting. The driver would shout across the width of the driveway and sidewalk to each one, asking if they wanted the shuttle. It was clear who were the Europeans because they appeared completely unaware that they were being addressed, since it was inconceivable that anyone could be talking to them across such a distance; the driver in her turn was clearly put out by being so rudely ignored by the people she was talking to.
A Frenchman in New York... someone should make a movie.
posted 19.1.07
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home