During my time here in France, the biggest surprise I have had so far is that the stereotype that French people are grumpy and rude is false. I have met many French people so far, and have had an overall positive experience with my interactions. One night out at a restaurant, my friends and I met some French people around our age, and they ended up joining our table. We got to know each other and talked about stereotypes, jokes, Europe, and America, as well as tips on how to approach French people and suggestions on life in France as a whole. We ended up talking for hours and even followed one another on social media. The entire interaction was filled with two different groups of people from different cultures, interested in each other’s lives. Before my study abroad, I thought people my age in France would be disgusted with the idea of communicating with Americans. I was extremely surprised that within the first week, French residents approached a group of Americans, severely outnumbered, and wanted to get to know them. Getting to talk with these people has been one of the best cultural experiences of my life. Seeing the efforts these people made by communicating with us outside of their native language with such precision and fluency was astonishing. One of the girls we met learned how to speak English from watching TV shows on Netflix. This trip has provided me with more cultural intelligence and has allowed me to see how life is lived outside the United States. I have become more understanding and accepting of other cultures. It is because of this study abroad experience that I have a better understanding of the world around me. I can confidently say that life is much bigger than just the United States because of these special interactions that I have had with others during my study abroad.
