Une Leçon a Appris...

Well, I think I successfully blended into the French Culture for about 45 minutes today. I took the metro all by myself and I didn't get lost and no one looked at me like I was a foreigner. I thought not smiling at people was going to be hard but when no one else is smiling it's hard to want to. Although I did learn a valuable lesson today....

All the books about french etiquette said that the French don't smile at strangers, and if you do its considered a "come on" so you only smile at the opposite sex if you're interested. I remembered this so I have been making a conscious effort not to smile at any males under the age of 60 (for the obvious reason that I'm only attracted to men of 60 and up). However, since everything is so new to me, I find myself looking at people and things longer than I would normally. Not starring, but just a lingering look to take it all in. Well I made the grave mistake of accidentally looking too long at a young frenchman that was probably about 30. The only reason I was looking in the first place is because he had ridiculously long hair and I was wondering why he wouldn't get a hair cut when there is a "coiffeur" every other store. By the time I stopped starring at his unruly mane, he was starring at me, and then smiled. Let me tell you something - this was not a sexy smile like they make the French have in movies. This was a creepy "I have a foot fetish" type of smile that lasted way too long, and I couldn't get off the metro fast enough. Needless to say I will not be looking at any people for a couple of days as I recover. Please heed my advice and when in Paris, stick to starring at things such as buildings. It's much safer and doesn't make you feel like you need a hot shower.

Today at the school we had a meeting about living with host families, how to be polite and all that. After though, they told us about all the places to go shopping, how to get there, and what type of places have what kind of stores. They gave us the address of a street where I can buy antique things and vintage clothes and I'm really excited to check it out as soon as I can, so be awaiting an update. I can't even believe I haven't bought one article of clothing and I've been here for two days. The American Casey is very disappointed in the French Casey.

After the meeting I had to go out and get a phone charger because the one I bought yesterday (for 15 euros, might I add) was a piece of shit and didn't charge my phone. Going into the store today was interesting because cell phone terminology isn't really something I learned in my French classes and what we did learn I guess I didn't pay much attention to. I got by though. He was nice and I walked out with a wonderful cell phone charger that works. Now if I could only figure out what my phone number is then I would be very happy! (Side note: if I gave you my number before I left it might be wrong. I think the lady I talked to on the phone gave me the wrong number... so my phone number is one of these two: 011 44 792 454 1049 or +44 700 020 0049. I have no idea. Feel free to try either one out and let me know how it goes).

Also, because I'm a student, I got a free pass to the Louvre today. I can go whenever I want and it's free! AND I get discounts at a lot of cafes, movie theaters, museums, and places around my school.

In about an hour I'm heading over to the school for the cheese and wine tasting. Wish me luck, I have little experience with red wines!