19 Fevrier: the French really aren't that rude

Interesting comment that I forgot to mention in my last few blogs. When we went to our neighbor's house for dinner the other night, the mother made a comment that struck me. As she was telling us her stories from visiting her brother in San Francisco, she mentioned how friendly everyone was to her in the US. She barely spoke English at the time, and she claimed that everyone she talked to was very helpful. No one spoke French but everyone was willing to work to understand what she needed or wanted. We expressed that whenever we are in a time of need here in France, whether it be directions or the location of a particular place, just about everyone we asked would at least stop and tried to help. No one blatantly ignored us or gave us a hard time. The mother was very relieved to hear us say that and she had feared that many French that we would encounter wouldn't be so friendly. It was nice to hear her say those kind words of Americans and it was also comforting to hear that there were compassionate people like her that would worry about the kindness of her country.