The Norms of French Culture

Hey guys, sorry I haven't written anything in a while. I've been pretty busy and not a lot of post-worthy things have been happening. Anyway, I thought I'd bring up the subject of customs in the French culture. There's many things that are different than the customs of the U.S and some things I'm still sort of getting used to.

Faire la bise

As you can see there can be anywhere from 1-5 kisses (that's a lot!!)

Let's start off with greetings and goodbyes. As many of you know, the French have this thing called "la bise." It's pretty much where you air kiss one cheek then the other. In different regions it's a different amount of kisses, but where I am it's one kiss on each cheek. This usually only happens between girls and girls or a guy and a girl, and usually isn't in a romantic context. Occasionally two guys will "faire la bise" but that's only when they're family or very close. For men it is more common to see a handshake or a check (high five.) Even among teenagers a handshake is quite common and not considered formal. Handshakes and doing la bise happen when you first greet someone and when you're leaving. This has been one of the weirdest things I've had to adapt to, even after almost 3 months, I don't always know how I should approach greetings and goodbyes. (Also, hugs are super awkward for the French, unless you're really close with someone, they don't really happen.)

Let's move on to one of my favorite subjects, food*. So food is pretty important for the French. Except breakfast. Breakfast isn't very important and usually consists of some toast and a glass of orange juice. Lunch is kind of the primary meal of the day and is eaten right around noon. Although many kids eat at school, many kids go home to eat with their families. Dinner is eaten pretty late here, or at least for U.S standards (around 7:30.) It's not as big as lunch but still tasty. Both lunch and dinner consist of a meat and some sort of grain and possibly some vegetables. They both end with bread and cheese and/or yogurt.

I don't have much else for this post. Sorry it's so short but I felt the need to write something. Next time it will probably be longer! Anyway, before I go, what are some customs in your country that you feel are specific to where you are from? Leave a comment below! Thanks for reading, I'll be back soon!

*No but for real, food is delish and French Food, it's the bomb-diggity.