One of the most stark changes I had to adjust to was interacting with French staff in cafés, restaurants, and supermarkets. The first experience that stood out to me was during my second week in Paris while having dinner with some friends I made. Since I have previous knowledge in the French language, I always try to order in French to show respect. What really surprised me in this interaction was that they responded in English with a look of hostility when speaking to me. When researching France before studying abroad, I knew that this negative interaction would occur if I only spoke in English to them. It really took me by surprise – and made me feel at fault – that they spoke to me in this way. In the moment, it seemed to me that it would not make a difference whether I spoke French or not during my time in Paris. However, I still spoke to them in French when responding for the rest of the evening. The waiter seemed impressed by this, both in my reaction to his intimidation and my willingness to adjust to my situation. This exact situation occurred more times than I could count since Americans are considered to be the least welcome (out of other countries) in Paris specifically. In the beginning, this made it difficult to assimilate during my time in Paris because I was not able to have positive interactions to increase my knowledge of the French language. It first the first couple of months to adjust, but the positive experiences began to stick out from the negative ones. When speaking to my professors – who grew up in the U.S. – that had moved to Paris, they elaborated that they still ran across judgmental experiences.
What I have learned from interactions like these is how much Americans expect other cultures to assimilate into their own. Those without any knowledge of the French language would usually expect French citizens to adjust to their limited knowledge; they usually are forced to accommodate that. What I first perceived to be deemed “rude” when French individuals would judge me for my background turned into an understanding for how the culture in the U.S. is so unaccommodating. Being able to study abroad in Paris greatly expanded my perspective to make it less Western-centric. When coming from the perspective of a U.S. citizen, they would draw upon the stereotype that French people are not welcoming to other cultures. However, my time abroad has helped me understand the biases that I have growing up in the Western hemisphere. This experience has made me want to live in France – or another French-speaking country – again because I have loved the complete immersion in art and a lack of a “hustle” culture that is predominant in the United States. It especially helped me gain an immense amount of respect for those who move to the U.S. that have to adjust to an entirely new culture and lifestyle.