The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly...minus the Eastwood

Living in the south of France certainly has its incredible benefits. Yesterday, my new friend Gabrielle and I went to the beach and just sat next to the water for hours, making fun of French men wearing Speedos and watching little French children playing in the sea. I still can't get over how beautiful the weather is; even at the end of October, the sun is shining brightly, it's an easy 80 degrees outside, and there is a light wind. It definitely feels like fall, but it's warm! That is lovely.

The bad part of living in France is the inconveniences that come up unannounced. Yesterday, Gabrielle and I were waiting for a bus for an hour that never came. We had practically given up on it, thinking it was some sort of French conspiracy against us, when we learned that yesterday was the end of Daylights Savings Time in France. Guess we didn't get the memo. No one told either of us! You'd think, at least, that our teachers would tell us so that we'd come to class on time. Oh, but wait...it's vacation. Their minds are checked out, just like their students' are.

But the worst part of living in France is the lack of respect for certain groups. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but there are ingrained cultural aspects that I cannot seem to forgive. There seems to be an overall lack of respect for people in positions of authority. France, for example, is the only place where I have seen an ambulance stuck in traffic. I mean, seriously, people...in what universe is that okay?

There is an overwhelming lack of respect for teachers. In class, students sometimes "tutoie" their teachers (using the informal "you" rather than the formal "you" -- a concept that is hard to grasp for Anglophones), which used to be seen as unacceptable. It still is, but sometimes they don't care. They don't stop talking, even after a teacher has yelled at and threatened them -- and even when they are taking a test.

But what gets me the most is how women are treated. When walking down the street, I have had the most vulgar things said to me. I have no fear about anything happening to me, but men take advantage of harassing women when they feel like it. I mentioned this to one of the English professors at my school, and he said that men (sometimes Frenchmen, but more often, men of Arab descent) won't respect women, but they'll respect the man behind a woman. So he advised me to say that I'm married and wear a ring on my left hand. Heh. I'm not quite used to that.

So, in light of all this, I want to say a big THANK YOU to all the men in my life who have ever held a door open for me, walked me home late at night, paid for a meal, driven me somewhere, given me flowers, given me a hug, laughed with me, encouraged me, or challenged me to become a better thinker, learner, scholar, or person. You did this not because you had to (I can take care of myself, thankyouverymuch), but because you have respect for me as a woman, a friend, and a human being. And I appreciate that more than you know -- especially because I don't have it here.

Seriously...where is Clint Eastwood when I need him??