Likes/Dislikes

Weird things about Paris...:

-the cars will always stop at green lights, and drive on red lights. pedestrians do the same thing. one time, we were waiting patiently at a red light near Opera, when 3 people on motorcycles/mopeds cheered us across: "ALLEZ! ALLEZ!!! WOOOO!".
-people run in street clothes. whoever said that parisians don't run lied. they do run. they just run in khakis, nice shoes, and nice sweaters or polo shirts. the women sometimes wear spandex, or other normal running clothes.
-the metro stops running at 1am on Friday nights, but it is impossible to get a taxi on Friday nights after 1am.
-people eat with their elbows on the table, and they eat unbelievably quickly. if you haven't finished your plate 3-4 minutes after it was served, you will be the last one eating.
-somehow people manage to not be obese, yet they eat more cheese, ham, and white bread than i have ever seen in my life.
-you cannot make eye contact with anyone on the street. ever. if you do, it is obvious that you are a foreigner, and it is considered an "invitation" to men.
-salads cost between 15 and 20 euro, but a sandwich or a glass of wine costs 3.
-pastries and crepes are cheap & delicious
-waiters are not just rude to americans, they are rude to everyone. unless you act cute, and then they flirt with you.
-people do not like to wait in line (and generally will not wait in line)
-everyone smokes. and all my clothes smell like smoke. my whole room smells like smoke. on february 1st they are banning smoking in bars & restaurants, so the government is subsidizing nicorette gum & the patch...only in France.
-what is the deal with telephones? when the phone rings, everyone runs to answer it. everyone keeps their cell phones with them at dinner. and if any phone rings at dinner, it is totally appropriate to carry on a long conversation with the caller. however - you rarely see people talking on the phone on the metro, or in cafes...odd.
-the toilet is in its own room, separate from the shower and the sinks. this makes it awkward when you want to wash your hands. i can only assume that people do not find it necessary to wash their hands after going to the bathroom.
-the shower is not a shower. it's a bath, with a shower head. i don't think anyone really knows what to do with it. you can't take more than 5-10 minutes in the shower (i shoot for 8), so you can't take a bath. but you can't really take a shower, since there is no curtain. hmmm.
-in the US, we watch foreign films in the original language, with subtitles. Here it's hard to find movies in the "version originale." you would think that if you wanted to see Casino Royale, for example, it would be in English with French subtitles. In fact, only 2 cinemas in the entire city are showing this Version Originale. all the other cinemas use the dubbed versions. why?


more to follow...