All posts tagged: France vs US

18 mars – questions for france

Published by

Why don’t pencils have erasers attached? Is the obsession with writing only in pen the secret work of the White-out lobby? Why do grown adults use scooters as a legitimate form of transportation? Why do children ride on tiny bikes with no pedals? What is with the general lack of technology skills? Why is there a national obsession with slippers? Why are the titles on book spines printed in the opposite direction? What do kids do if they are thirsty at school since there’s no such thing as water fountains? What is going on with the seatless courtyard school toilets? Is there any rhyme or reason to the annual resetting of the train schedules? What are marshmallows and cough drops doing in the candy aisle? Has no one ever suggested standardizing the sizes of your mattresses? And what is with all the square pillows? What is the point of having a door handle in the center of the door? Why are keys so enormous? Do regular rounded paperclips exist in France?  Why is nail polish so outrageously expensive? Why …

So, do you like living here?

Published by

I am asked ALL THE TIME why I decided to come to France, if I like it (obviously), and what I like most about living here. Frankly, I think that’s a bit too complex and personal of a question to ask in such conversational contexts, but I usually come up with some generic answer about wine, cheese, how much I love speaking French and how much more calm and relaxed the style of life is here compared to the USA… things that are generally true but not the most accurate responses. I’ve always had a huge breadth of interests. Without trying to sound like an asshole, I love doing – and am pretty good at – quite a lot of things: directing plays, arts administration, working with kids, making awesome anchor charts, teaching drama, managing social media, writing, speaking French, foreign cultures and travel, politics etc. Over the years I’ve dabbled in so many different things, without giving myself enough time or investment to really commit to any of them in a deliberate way. The …

Q auick note on French Keyboqrds:

Published by

For stqrters; they look like thisM Thqtùs right: So,e keys hqve THREE different letters=sy,bols qssociqted zith the,: Try figuring out hoz to use the %qt% key 920 to type in your e,qil qddress:::itùs bqsicqlly i,possible: *Here’s what this entire post says typed on an American keyboard vs a French one… A quick note on French Keyboards. For starters, they look like this: Is this some kind of horrible joke?! That’s right. Some keys have THREE different letters/symbols associated with them. Try figuring out how to use the “at” key (@) to type in your email address… It’s basically impossible.