Hi everyone, I'm Kate I'm an American
who's been living in France
for 9 years now. I have been doing videos on my channel unintentionally frenchified
concerning French culture, american culture, tips
for foreigners living in France, my life as a young mom in Paris etc...
I do most of my videos in English,
normally, but i wanted to start to do more videos in French
because I realized that the majority of my audience
is French and even if you all speak great English,
I think that it's a great idea to do some videos in French too!
I want to apologize right away for my very very thick accent
I really do the best I can pronouncing, it's really the best that I can do
So i'm really sorry, i speak like this and I'm making a lot of effort,
but I hope that everyone can understand me anyways!
Today I wanted to do a video on the French habits
since I moved to France. I actually asked this year
to have the French nationality, but i'm still waiting for the response
so I'm not French yet, or French American yet
but I feel like after 9 years, there are some small things
that I do in my daily life that are VERY French that I didn't do before.
So i'm going to share my 8 new French habits, but before I get started,
don't forget to like this video, if you liked it of course!,
subscribe to my channel and
and tell me in the comments if they are things that you do that are typically French too!
alright let's go!
When we think of France as a foreigner
we think of course about cheese, good wine, gorgeous guys, chic women
but we also think about desserts
and a dessert for an american, a french dessert,
it's often pastries, cakes or chocolate.
and actually when I arrived in France, I realized that the idea of desserts for the every day French person is larger
there is also fruit, yoghurt and applesauce.
For most americans, a fruit could maybe be a dessert like a fruit salad,
but not really applesauce or yoghurt.
Those are really things that we eat at breakfast.
at least where I grew up, we only ate applesauce and yoghurt at breakfast.
and now i eat all the time applesauce and yoghurt for dessert and
it's really wierd for my family when i go back to the US and we are all going to take a dessert and
and i'm like well i'd really like to have an applesauce.
It's just such a breakfast thing for us
It's kind of like the omlettes in France,
You can eat an omlette during dinner and that's really normal,
but in the US, an omlette thats a breakfast food, potentially brunch, but really breakfast.
so it's different, but now I love it!
I can't say that US administration isn't annoying in the states for citizens and for foreigners
nobody, i promise you nobody, likes to go to the DMV,
the place will you need to get your drivers licence, nobody likes that place.
however, fighting with the adminstration is something that is so so French
Maybe because the French administration is really on another level.
I don't know. But what I know is that we are going to debate
we're going to hear 5 times, well no that's no possible,
but were will continute to push to get what we want
it's really French.
and honestly, i'm starting to get really strong in negotiation!
which really wasn't the case before, because in the states, even
if the administration is annoying, there isn't a lot of debating.
There isn't no it's not possible and then you need to push.
when they say no, it's because really it means no
and when they say yes, it's yes.
There really isn't more to it. Side note, I have already
cried more times than you can imagine because of the French administration. Thanks POST OFFICE!
but i'm starting to get it.
I come from a country that's pretty prude.I know, I know
we love guns in the US, but as soon as we show any breasts
on the television, we are all SHOCKED.
Do you guys remember the superbowl with Janet Jackson. Yuppppp.
it's true. But since I've moved to France, I've become a lot less prude.
Nudity in general shocks me less now.
I even remember a couple of years ago with my husband, we were on the beach together
and so i took a selfie of us two together to send to my family, including my very conservative Grandmother who was 88 at the time.
and i didn't realize in the background that there was a woman, topless in the photo. I sent it to my whole family,
and honestly I really did not even notice that the woman was in the background.
and i think it's really because I'm just not that surprised by it anymore so I didn't notice.
I don't know if it's like this only in France or perhaps in other European countries,
but i've gotten very used to the fact that a delivery person who will be bringing a package or our groceries,
will need a really long explanation where we live within the building and it's still highly likely he will get lost.
because there aren't numbers on the apartment doors. So each time you need to give directions.
here is the code to get into the building, then you need to go to the fourth floor,
then you need to turn right, it's the door with the hello mat et here is my phone number just in case!
and in the states, we just have numbers on the apartments.
so it's like, i live in apartment 3B. and that's all they need to find the door.
It's not a big deal or anything, but i feel like for the delivery people, it's like a treasure hunt to find the door each time!
When you arrive in France as an American, there are lots of things that are different about Healthcare
First congratulations, Healthcare is affordable for everyone which is a concept most americans can't seem to understand.
but if we go a bit farther than this enormous detail,
I'm going to talk about doctor's offices.
Doctor's in the US are always in hospitals, or in a clinic, or in a space that is very "medical"
and it's not always the case in France and that we can have doctors in clinics and hospitals,
but for example all the family doctors, gynecologists, dermatologists, they are usually in apartments.
They are transformed into waiting rooms and doctor's office, but it's still very much an apartment feeling.
and it's really different than the doctors offices in the states that are really white, sterilized, and very medical.
so when we arrive in France as a foreigner, we are pretty surprised. It doesn't surprise me at all anymore.
I get to the office, i go to the waiting room, i say hello to everyone, I sit down, i find out who i'm after,
and i wait, but it's just not shocking, well shocking isn't the best word, surprising anymore.
and I really love the healthcare in France, i talk about this in my videos all the time
, but i think it was a difference where it took a bit of time to get used to.
I love eating, i love drinking and I am a huge pizza fan!
This new habit is pretty linked to food,
because it's the syrup that the French mix with water.
I had never seen or heard of this type of syrup during my 21 years in the US and i've still never seen it since.
and it's really a basic product in France. I feel like everyone in France has at least one type of syrup.
and now it's kind become my thing too. We always have a grenadine syrup,
I have a perrier grenadine three times per week
it kinda replaced my coca cola, american side!
It's wierd but it's really something that I miss when I'm in the states!
A very French language tick that must be part of all the main ones like
"en fait," "ah bon?" and "ehhhh" there is also the way that they say "oui" or yes.
but they say it while they breath in at the same time. So it's like *makes sound."
and the first time that i heard someone say that, i thought they were choking.
*makes sound* really this is what i thought! and honestly now, i will spontaneously do this.
i think this might be the proof that i am possibly a real french woman.
and the last thing is the way to read and say time.
In Europe, they split a day in 24 hours. In the US we split in 12 hours two different times.
When I arrived in France, it was a little complicated when people said, "I'm going to arrive
around 20 hours and in my head i needed to covert 20 hours to 8 pm.
because in the states we cut the time in 2 x 12 hours,
and then afterwards, we add the letters a.m and p.m. to show the difference between 8 in the morning and 8 at night.
It was really hard for me at the beginning! Now it's not a problem at all
but unfortunately, with the different measurement systems in France and the US,
when the doctors ask how tall i am, i'm completely lost between feet and meters,
when i'm trying to cook, i'm completely lost with the measurements
so that's not yet a new habit for me, but at least for reading the time, it's good.
Ok everyone, that's all for today!
I hope that you guys have liked the video!
Don't forget to leave some comments about your habits
like the video if you liked it of course
and subscribe to my channel to get updates when the new videos come out each week!
Bisous!
