What Europe taught me

I have already spoken about a recent trip to Europe. My family and friends also know about my abnormal fondness for certain European countries namely : Germany, France,The Netherlands, Scandinavia, and basically the rest of western Europe. The reason for this 'fondness' is simple, Europeans seem to have a different approach to life than Americans. I admire the Europeans for different reasons.The Germans are known for their efficiency, the Dutch are known for (other than beer and *cough**cough* well you know) their creative and inventive thinking,the Scandinavians are great at adapting to their environments as well as being eco-friendly. That brings me to the French.They are often given a bad reputation for being rude and unfriendly but to be fair, as I discovered, that isn't always the case. Before going to Paris for a few days on my school trip, I was told by many globetrotters that the French,particularly the Parisians, would be quite rude.Furthermore I was informed that my American accented English would not be an asset to me as the French seemed to have a thing against Americans. But I did not find this to be true at all. In fact I fell in love with the city as well as the people who call it home.

The most important thing I learned was not to rely on the preconceptions put in my head by other people as they turned out not to be accurate. The Parisians I met were very friendly and more than happy to help me with any problems I had. I found that the best way to keep things cool with the French was to speak to them in their own language. As mentioned before, mon Français est très mauvais (my French is very bad...I think) but a quick course on the way from Madrid to Paris by overnight train helped a bit, as did our tour guide who spoke fluent French (among many languages). I picked up a few basics and that turned out to be just enough.

My very first day in Paris I had to order breakfast at a crepe stand near the Pantheon. So very politely I said "Bonjour monsieur. Je voudrais un crepe avec le nutella et les fraises." My accent was off but hey it did the job (by the way that means "Hello sir. I would like a crepe with nutella and strawberries." It was very delicious.) The response I got was "Very good, very good. That will be €3.50." He spoke English but he was very glad to hear me (attempt to) speak French. Apparently I did such a good job that some schoolmates who were on line with me started asking me how to say certain things in French...I couldn't help them much.

This first day in Paris taught me that the quickest way to the hearts of the locals was to speak,or attempt to speak, their language. I never had a problem (with a local) during my entire trip because in both countries (Spain and France) I always started off the conversation in their native tongue and hoped to switch over to English if possible (Spanish wasn't too bad as I studied it in school...French...different story). So my advice to travelers everywhere is to try to learn the basics of the language before you go.The extra effort will be worthwhile.