Hello, my
name is Kathryn and for those who don’t know me, I am the English assistant
here at Lycée Val de Seine. I will be here until April, so if anyone has any
questions about English or England
or needs any help, don’t hesitate to find me (you can ask any of the English
teachers). Today I am going to write a little bit about my impressions of France
since I arrived here in October, because
life in France
is certainly
a little different to life in England
!
Firstly I
must say that everyone has been very friendly since I arrived here and I have
felt very welcome, I like your school a lot, even though I was very lost and
confused at first. Schools in France
are different to those I was used to in England
. For example, when I went
to school in England
there were pupils from the age of eleven to eighteen in one school. All of the
pupils up to the age of sixteen had to wear a school uniform, so everyone
looked the same and most pupils took sandwiches to eat at lunchtime, so I found
the canteen here very busy! Another difference is that in England
when
you reach year 12 (1er) everybody chooses three or four subjects to
study and can stop all of the others. Pupils then take exams in only three or
four subjects in year 13 (terminale). Here in France
of course, everybody must
continue with nearly all subjects, which is probably a very good idea because
as I stopped maths when I was sixteen, my maths is terrible!
Outside of
school, I have also noticed many things that are very different. Food is one
thing which is certainly a change for me. Although we eat lots of the same
things in England
as you do
in France
, I think that
maybe food is more important here in France
! Everybody loves to talk
about food all of the time, even when they are in the middle of eating! There
also seems to be a lot more choice in the supermarkets. For example if I want
to buy yogurt or cheese, there is so much choice I end up feeling quite
confused! I love the food in France
especially the cakes and pastries, I have a very sweet tooth! However, there
are also certain things from England that I miss, for example baked beans
(white beans in tomato sauce that come in a tin), orange squash (a type of
cordial which is made into a drink by adding water), gravy (a sauce for meat
made with the juices from the meat), cheddar (an English cheese) and my Dad’s
roast dinners (a roast dinner is the traditional meal eaten on a Sunday in
England, it consists of roast meat, roast potatoes, two or three vegetables,
gravy and sometimes a Yorkshire pudding (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_pudding)
all on one plate). Despite missing these few things, I generally do not miss
English food too much, because I like trying new things.
Other than
the food, I have found other aspects of the French culture different. For
example in France
it is much
more common than it is in England
to go out to a café with friends or family to drink a coffee and have a chat. I
really like this and I wish we did it more in England
. Another thing that I have
noticed is that on Sundays in France
,
nearly everything is closed. In England
this is not the case. Nearly all of the shops are open on Sundays and in many
ways it is just like any other day of the week. When I first came to France
, I found
the fact that everything was shut on Sundays slightly annoying because it was
difficult to find things to do or to buy the things that you might need.
However I have changed my mind as I think it is really nice that everyone can
be together with their families on Sundays, as most people don’t have to work.
Some things I find very funny in France
, for example I cannot quite
get used to people kissing me on my cheeks all of the time, I’m much more used
to a good old handshake or distant nod of the head! I also fear for my life
when I am crossing the road, as it seems that in France
drivers don’t really like to
stop for pedestrians even when they are on zebra crossings! But, maybe that’s
just me not looking the right way when I am crossing the road as you do drive
on the wrong side of the road over here in France
;-)
So those
are just a few of my impressions of France as a newcomer to the country, there
have been many more besides, in fact I spent most of my first month in a
general state of confusion. However I am now becoming much more used to living
the French way and am definitely enjoying it. Thanks for reading my blog, you
can always let me know any of your impressions of the UK
or
British people or as I have mentioned ask me any questions!
Kathryn
:-)
