This weekend was a fun-packed adventure, considering we started out having nothing planned! Jeremy had off Friday for WWII Victory Day so our weekend started Thursday night with our new American friends! Jeremy was told a while ago of a woman from Boston but between us getting settled in and her giving birth, we just recently met up. She is from the Boston area, went to college abroad, and there she met a French man also studying abroad and the rest is history.
We had some sushi and this time the sushi roll was pretty decent. Last time, if you remember, I was not impressed with French sushi. We talked about America and France and what we liked and disliked about both. She asked, "I've been here a while and am pretty pro-France now, I've gotten biased. What would you say you like least about France? What drives you crazy?" And I have to say:
1. No indoor air conditioning. There's a statistic out there that says only 11% of homes in France have air conditioning. I don't know how true that is, but it's close enough. A lot of small restaurants and businesses don't have it either. I've been told it gets cool enough at night that often not even a fan is needed, but that doesn't change the fact that during the day in summer it's in the 80s and sometimes 90s. You either have to stifle or open up all the doors and widows, which brings us to:
2. There are no screens for windows and doors. Every single bug out there can help itself to a tour of your home. Within an hour of having the balcony door open, I have at least 6 flies in the house. Luckily, they're fatter and slower than American flies so it's not too hard to get them back out, but it takes a good 5-10 minutes. There are also these tiny gnat-like bugs and there are literally thousands right outside our kitchen window so once it gets dark we have to close up the windows or they'll come in for the light.
3. The hard water. This is a touchy subject with the French because they're in denial about how gross their water is to those of us who come from soft water areas. Every stainless steel or chrome item is white. You could clean it every day and it wouldn't matter. Same goes for water spots on glasses, tupperware, utensils, and so on. Even when it's clean, it looks dirty. My hair is the least manageable it has ever been because it is so hard to clean. And I know it's not bad to drink, there has never been research to say hard water is bad for you because of excess minerals, but I just can't wrap my head around it. Like, if that's what my sink looks like, what would my stomach and intestines look like?
4. No clothes dryers. I understand you're trying to be energy efficient, but come on! Heavy clothes and comforters just don't air dry fast enough unless you can stick them outside, besides do you know how much lint dryers get out of clothes and towels? I never really realized it until I came here and there is lint all over my bathroom, where my washer and drying rack is. I have a hard enough time keeping my hair clean because of the hard water, now I have to dry it with a towel that has enough lint to start a fire? You should see my hair brush, it's disgusting.
5. The mops here are ridiculously inefficient. For a country that adores hard flooring, you'd think they would have better mops. I discussed the mop types in this blog post. I really miss having a sponge-head mop. It cleans so much better than the ones here. I have to figure out how to fit one in my suitcase next time I visit the US.
Kierie, the woman from Boston, said I really hit the nail on the head, but that I forgot a very important one:
6. How long it takes to get anything done here. If there's paperwork involved, and there is almost always paperwork involved, it will take months. Have you been wondering why I haven't updated about our shipping problem or credit card problem? It's because nothing is being done. There are usually three main reasons this happens: the French take weeks to address a problem, and then weeks to fill out and handle the appropriate paper work, and then someone who is crucial to signing, approving, taking it to the next step, what have you, is on vacation for the next week or two. This makes the simplest request a nuisance, and a more difficult request a nightmare.
We had some sushi and this time the sushi roll was pretty decent. Last time, if you remember, I was not impressed with French sushi. We talked about America and France and what we liked and disliked about both. She asked, "I've been here a while and am pretty pro-France now, I've gotten biased. What would you say you like least about France? What drives you crazy?" And I have to say:
1. No indoor air conditioning. There's a statistic out there that says only 11% of homes in France have air conditioning. I don't know how true that is, but it's close enough. A lot of small restaurants and businesses don't have it either. I've been told it gets cool enough at night that often not even a fan is needed, but that doesn't change the fact that during the day in summer it's in the 80s and sometimes 90s. You either have to stifle or open up all the doors and widows, which brings us to:
2. There are no screens for windows and doors. Every single bug out there can help itself to a tour of your home. Within an hour of having the balcony door open, I have at least 6 flies in the house. Luckily, they're fatter and slower than American flies so it's not too hard to get them back out, but it takes a good 5-10 minutes. There are also these tiny gnat-like bugs and there are literally thousands right outside our kitchen window so once it gets dark we have to close up the windows or they'll come in for the light.
3. The hard water. This is a touchy subject with the French because they're in denial about how gross their water is to those of us who come from soft water areas. Every stainless steel or chrome item is white. You could clean it every day and it wouldn't matter. Same goes for water spots on glasses, tupperware, utensils, and so on. Even when it's clean, it looks dirty. My hair is the least manageable it has ever been because it is so hard to clean. And I know it's not bad to drink, there has never been research to say hard water is bad for you because of excess minerals, but I just can't wrap my head around it. Like, if that's what my sink looks like, what would my stomach and intestines look like?
4. No clothes dryers. I understand you're trying to be energy efficient, but come on! Heavy clothes and comforters just don't air dry fast enough unless you can stick them outside, besides do you know how much lint dryers get out of clothes and towels? I never really realized it until I came here and there is lint all over my bathroom, where my washer and drying rack is. I have a hard enough time keeping my hair clean because of the hard water, now I have to dry it with a towel that has enough lint to start a fire? You should see my hair brush, it's disgusting.
5. The mops here are ridiculously inefficient. For a country that adores hard flooring, you'd think they would have better mops. I discussed the mop types in this blog post. I really miss having a sponge-head mop. It cleans so much better than the ones here. I have to figure out how to fit one in my suitcase next time I visit the US.
Kierie, the woman from Boston, said I really hit the nail on the head, but that I forgot a very important one:
6. How long it takes to get anything done here. If there's paperwork involved, and there is almost always paperwork involved, it will take months. Have you been wondering why I haven't updated about our shipping problem or credit card problem? It's because nothing is being done. There are usually three main reasons this happens: the French take weeks to address a problem, and then weeks to fill out and handle the appropriate paper work, and then someone who is crucial to signing, approving, taking it to the next step, what have you, is on vacation for the next week or two. This makes the simplest request a nuisance, and a more difficult request a nightmare.
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