“Different” things I’ve noticed about French culture

This is a quick list I made of little differences I've noticed and/or had to get used to so far since moving to Paris:

• Everyone dresses like they’re going to a job interview. For Coco Chanel. All the time.

•  Europeans drink a TON of Coca Cola. They call it “Coca.” It’s seen as so American, but they drink way more than people in the U.S. do.

•  Also, France apparently never got the memo that smoking cigarettes gives you cancer, because everyone smokes. Everywhere.

•    Cheese is its own course with every meal, even in normal households. Not even just in restaurants. They eat dinner with wine and then say, “Would you like some cheese?” and they bring out a plate of wonderful, stinky French cheeses and you cut it and say merci and whatnot. Then there may be dessert after, but sometimes cheese is dessert.

• They’re wine snobs, but only because everyone really knows wine.

•  They’re skinnier than Americans on average.

•   But they aren’t necessarily healthier. They eat and drink so much sugar and other processed food and smoke cigarettes, like I said, but everything is in smaller portions and they value the quality of their food very much.

• They’re always talking about food, especially when they’re eating it.

• They really love their black-and-white striped shirts.

• The cheese is its own brie. Get it? Like, it's its own breed, but it's its own brie. APPRECIATE MY PUN. The cheese we eat in the United States isn’t even the same stuff as here. Even the brie.

• The women have immaculate nails but do absolutely nothing with their hair.

• People don't clean up their dog's poop on the sidewalks. 

• The men are bolder here.

• Everything closes by 7:30 p.m. if it’s not a bar or restaurant.

• They don’t eat dinner until 8, 9, or 10 p.m.

• They prefer lunch to be the heaviest meal of the day, rather than dinner.

• You’ll never hear someone say, “Mhm,” in the pleasant way we do in English. It’s rude. You always say, “De Rien."

• Some people do live up to the stereotype that French people are snobs who don’t like Americans, but it’s not nearly as large a percentage as we think back home.

•  It is true, however, that making an attempt to speak their language gains a little respect, even if it’s just “Bonjour” or “S’il vous plait.

•  There’s no such thing as food to-go or taking your left-overs home. You eat it or you don't.

• Coffees to-go are rare.

• You can’t find coffee that’s not espresso.

• Tiny! Tiny cups, tiny coffees, tiny streets, tiny showers, tiny men, tiny apartments, tiny portions, tiny lips.

•  Personal bubbles get popped on the daily because everyone kisses each other on the cheeks, even when they first meet. I knew this before, obviously, but I never had to do it all the time, and it’s honestly taking me a long time to get used to. I didn’t think I had a bubble, but having a stranger get up in my face before I’ve even seen what color their eyes are is uncomfortable for me still.

• They really like crappy American pop music in public places.

• Did I mention the cheese?