Bienvenue à
Cannes !
It’s time I finally introduce you all to the lovely city of
Cannes! The city is made up of several ports on the coast of the Mediterranean
near the Italian border. The Italian influence is very clear, in the food, the
architecture, and the attitude. For a
girl who splits her time between Vermont and Ohio, I feel as though I’m living
in paradise.
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There are many distinct contrast between Cannes and Paris. Not only is Paris
much more traditionally “French”, but the general population there is younger
and the atmosphere is busy and not exactly friendly. The simplest analogy I can use to describe the
cities and the difference between them is that if Paris is New York City, than
Cannes is Florida. The people here are generally older (many come here to
retire) and have a surplus of money and time to spend the day walking their
small dogs or dining in cafés. For now, there are not many tourists, although
at the time of the film festival the city quadruples in size!
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| This is the generous breakfast spread my roommate and I receive every morning at our homestay: half a baguette, jam, butter, cereal, milk, fruit, and coffee or tea |
I’m still not sure how I
feel about Lewis’ Culture Model or the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral
Effectiveness (GLOBE) study and other research that tries to find universal norms for a country.
À bientôt,
Kara
Kara,
ReplyDeleteHi! I hope you're enjoying your stay in France, your pictures are very beautiful! I just have a question regarding what you stated towards the end of this post. You said that you are beginning to believe that the universal norms from Lewis's Cultural Model do exist because of the centralized government in regards to the education system. France is considered a multi-active culture, so it makes sense that they are people-oriented and focus on collectiveness instead of individualism. I also believe that multi-active cultures tend to not have interest in schedules or punctuality, and they care more about completing a human transaction over completing the task within a certain amount of time. I was wondering if you could give some examples of having experienced this while going to school in France? Have you had any problems adjusting to this culture as someone who lives in a linear-active culture? Enjoy the rest of your stay in France!
-Marissa Merriman
Salut!
DeleteTo answer your question about the French being multi-active, there's a clear difference in punctuality here, and they greatly value human transactions. When there's a time given for something, in the US that's the time it will start. In France, that's the time it starts to start. For example, we have a break halfway through our language course and the class resumes at 10:30. For the first few weeks, the American students would be seated, notes-out by 10:30. However, for the Mexican students and or French teacher, 10:30 is when they would take the last sip of their coffee in the school's cafe and start walking back to class so that the teaching actually starts around 10:05. That's just one example, but it happens pretty consistently at public events or meetings as well.
The French greatly value their relationships with family and friends. In fact, I learned the other day that the French spend the most time of any country at the dinner table for meals. It's common for a dinner with family or friends to last two or three hours! Other evidence of this can be seen in store hours. Many places are closed on Sundays and Tuesdays or have long, two-hour lunch breaks (which drives Americans insane!). This is because they reserve time to be away from work to either rest or spend time with others. To most people, it's not worth the extra pay of staying open if you lose time to be with others.
Glad to hear from you and I hope that answered your questions!
Bonjour Kara!
ReplyDeleteI noticed in your post that there is a distinct age difference between the people in Paris and the people in Cannes. You also noted that you believed the Lewis model to be relatively applicable, but I was wondering if you had an explanation for the differences in behavior between the young and the old French? On Lewis' model, he places France nearer the multi-active side of the spectrum, meaning that the people are generally collective and relational, so I found it strange that the younger population in Paris were unfriendly. What do you think accounts for this variation between the ages of the people and their adherence to the generalizations put forth by Lewis?
Happy Travels!
Maria Stickrath
Thanks for your comment!
DeleteThe culture differences between Paris and Cannes stem mainly from the types of cities they are and their location, and the age difference is a consequence of this as well. Paris is full of schools and job opportunities so it attracts younger people whereas Cannes has the warmer climate and is much less busy so it's ideal for an older person. As for the "attitude" difference, Paris is the tourist capital of the world, so it is packed with tourists, souvenir shops, etc. So for the Parisians, who are there to study or work and have to deal with all of these foreigners wearing 5 euro berets, it's understandable why they may appear stand-offish to others. It's true that France is a culture that values greatly the collective good over the individual, but they are not necessarily more welcoming of others. In fact, the opposite is true, but I won't get carried away with that just yet. In Cannes, there are hardly any tourists, many people are already retired, and they all have the beach in their backyard. So naturally the mood is much lighter and the people seem nicer.
I hope that I answered your questions, but if not I'd be happy to clarify!
Hi Kara!
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that you are putting a lot of effort into language, do you think this has improved your experience? I heard that making an effort to use/learn the language from the country you are in makes the people more open, have you noticed anything like this? Have you noticed a difference in how the different ages between Cannes and Paris perceive those efforts and foreigners in general?
~Emma Strick
Salut,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Learning the local language is an important element of living abroad. The more of the language you know, the easier it is to be immersed in the culture. I've spoken with the students that came here knowing little to no French who say they feel limited in what they can do here on their own. Students in higher French levels are traveling more, meeting more people, and making more of their time here in general. For anyone planning to visit France, I would say that for the most part, the French appreciate an effort to speak French so try whatever you know. The exception may be Paris, especially in tourist spots like souvenir shops, popular cafes, crêpes stands, major sites, etc. The Parisian workers are far less likely to wait around for you to find the right verb conjugation and will simply say that you can use English. In Cannes, you're far more likely to strike up a conversation with someone in store or have a server continuously use French if they hear you trying. So it's not necessarily the age that determines their response to your French efforts, it's more if you're in a bustling, tourist-filled city like Paris or in a more laid back city like Cannes. No matter where you are, it's custom in France to say "Bonjour" to the owner when entering a shop or boutique and "au revoir" when you leave. I would certainly recommend learning several key phrases like these (and of course "merci") at the very least.
Thanks for your comment! If you'd like me to clarify anything, just let me know!