Oh, and by the way,
Do not come to France if you intend to persist in your culture.
I will explain.
There’s too much culture to be subject to, but it is not the culture that is loud; it is the people.
I do not mean the French people are volume insensitive, quite the opposite,
They are confident in their culture and ways of living,
So much so that you may question if eating saucisson and hot vegetable broth at 8:34 am is the correct and only way of living.
So much so that young boys have the confidence of a performer when publicly urinating anywhere they wish.
I will present an example,
On a casual Tuesday evening, a friend and I embarked on a typical stroll around the city,
Suddenly a crowd of four swarms and looms over bags of black filled trash,
Nothing is thought of until it becomes clear what is occurring, and suddenly our casual evening stroll has turned into a casual evening jog.
As we jog by, a small peep of a “pardon” can be heard.
You’re excused at the expense of a short laugh.
I took to wondering how this act of (what I knew to be) public indecency was normalized.
Until,
One day, I am sitting on the bus, the clock is reading 7:00 am,
A bit of worry surrounds my head; my own suffocation is on the rise as the bus fills with bodies, and I am wearing layer on top of layer on top of under layer on top of shirt; all to save me from the wind pursuing the bus outside.
However,
The morning ignites a feeling of delight and gratitude, so I will be unbothered.
This is when I look out my right window to become a witness to a grandmother encouraging her younger schoolboy,
( I believe they were headed to school as the boy carried a small colored backpack ),
To take a leak into the distance.
Clarification and horror struck me.
I do not inform you of this to provide a stomping ground for anyone or any cultural difference.
But to share my own experiences and thus, the lack of worry I have observed from the people of France.
Confidence is appreciated to the highest degree.
Lessons have been learned from these individuals, some of which are already packed in my case and will accompany me home.