the french are rude?

when i told people i was going to study abroad in france, i got a few different responses.

1. "why? they're just going to be really rude to you."
--this, so far, has been false. sure, i've met people who are short with me when i ask a question, or a store owner who won't let my friends and me sit down in the restaurant when we order something small, but i run across those douchebags in california too. here, lots of people say bonjour to me like we're all friends. they say pardon whenever they bump into me on the metro. i say it back. i understand the culture; they're busy people and they'd rather not be bothered with my petty problems, especially if i'm rude about it. i find that when i'm polite to them, they're friendly back and often times helpful (i know they can hear my awful american accent thick through my french).

2. "oooohhh nicki! watch out for those french boys!"
--i don't know what the crap these people are talking about. i've run across one crazy group of french boys yelling on the metro, but that's it. sure, my friends and i get cat calls, but not more than in the states. they're just boys. boys are boys, no matter their age, origin, language, major, etc. the french men aren't more conniving or manipulative or whatever they were supposed to be.

3. "ah, you're so lucky!"
--now i understand why you said that.



i'm off to versailles tomorrow during the day, and a boat trip along the seine tomorrow evening. it'll be another day on my feet. i'm glad school's starting on monday, because that's when things'll calm down :-)