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Gidget goes to Paris
Once upon a time there
was a young woman named Gidget who decided to study abroad for her junior year
in Paris. Gidget was an attractive woman of nineteen, and was very interested in
learning French. She had studied French in her rural high school and continued
her study at Midwestern Teaching College, where she planned to major in
International Business. She had heard that study in France would be her best
chance to really learn French, so she was very excited to learn that she had
been accepted to a study abroad program.
Midwestern Teaching College is housed on a leafy campus located in a medium sized Missouri city. Gidget felt pretty comfortable there because everyone was just so friendly. Whenever she met someone on campus, they would almost always smile and say "Hi," even if she didn't really know them. After a couple of years at Midwestern, Gidget's self-confidence had never been higher. She got terrific grades in French, her favorite subject, and she had lots of friends. Even though she had grown up in the country, she had grown accustomed to the city, and to the ways of campus life.
At the beginning of her junior year, when Gidget finally arrived in Paris, she felt confident in her French and she was ready to make friends with French people. However, she soon noticed that in public places strangers very rarely smiled at her and almost never said "Bonjour." She wasn't sure what this meant, but she was starting to wonder if France's reputation for chilly reception of Americans was not based in reality. She decided that she would just try to be as friendly and outgoing as ever, after all, that's who she really was! So she smiled and said "Bonjour" to everyone she met. Some people just stared, others replied but in a puzzled way and still others, all of them men, smiled back. Before long she was fending off all kinds of unwanted sexual advances from men to whom she had said a friendly "Bonjour" with complete innocence. She was utterly perplexed by these reactions, and to make matters worse, no one had taught her any of the language she needed to let these men know, in no uncertain terms, that she was not interested in them in that way.
After the first month, Gidget felt completely discouraged. She still had no French friends, and she didn't know why, since she was such a friendly person. Gidget plunged herself into her studies, and when she wasn't studying, she hung out with the other students in the American study abroad group. She was improving her ability to read, but she was sure her speaking ability was only getting worse, because she almost never talked to French people. She was starting to lose confidence in her ability to learn French, so she started consciously avoiding situations where she would be expected to talk: She sat in the back of the class. When she had to buy something, she only shopped at large, anonymous supermarkets. She was more and more convinced that the French hate Americans, and that they are obsessed with sex.
Things might have gone on exactly like this for the whole year, but one day, when she was sitting in the back of the class as usual, the teacher asked if anyone knew the author of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Nobody said anything, and as the teacher started to get that exasperated look on her face, as if she were doomed to spend her life among illiterate cretins, Gidget timidly raised her hand and offered the answer. "Emangouais. C'est exact!" beamed the teacher. And then, the girl next to Gidget whispered "Chapeau!" and, to Gidget's amazement, smiled. It was an ironic-looking smile, but it was definitely a smile. It turned out that Gidget's neighbor was called Mathilde. Gidget and Mathilde went out to a cafe after class, and Mathilde helped Gidget tell all about herself IN FRENCH. Mathilde, it turned out, was also nineteen years old, had always been fascinated by American culture, and was planning a stay abroad with a family in Saint Louis the next year. Suddenly Gidget had a mentor, someone who would help her learn the language, introduce her to friends, and include her in French life.
Mathilde eventually explained to Gidget that, in Paris, most people don't smile at strangers unless they have a reason. Later on, Gidget read a book called "French or Foe" and learned that Parisians tend to do exactly the opposite of what midwestern Americans do in a lot of situations. She finally figured out that she had actually been inviting all those guys to flirt with her by smiling and saying "Bonjour!" By the end of the year, Gidget's spoken French was really good, although she was still unsure about a lot of things and she tended to use too much of the slang she had learned with Mathilde's crowd. She had also learned how to walk, and gesture and smile just like a Parisian.
From: Platt, Polly.1994. French or Foe: Getting the Most out of Visiting, Living and Working in France. Skokie, IL: Culture Crossings, Ltd.
Midwestern Teaching College is housed on a leafy campus located in a medium sized Missouri city. Gidget felt pretty comfortable there because everyone was just so friendly. Whenever she met someone on campus, they would almost always smile and say "Hi," even if she didn't really know them. After a couple of years at Midwestern, Gidget's self-confidence had never been higher. She got terrific grades in French, her favorite subject, and she had lots of friends. Even though she had grown up in the country, she had grown accustomed to the city, and to the ways of campus life.
At the beginning of her junior year, when Gidget finally arrived in Paris, she felt confident in her French and she was ready to make friends with French people. However, she soon noticed that in public places strangers very rarely smiled at her and almost never said "Bonjour." She wasn't sure what this meant, but she was starting to wonder if France's reputation for chilly reception of Americans was not based in reality. She decided that she would just try to be as friendly and outgoing as ever, after all, that's who she really was! So she smiled and said "Bonjour" to everyone she met. Some people just stared, others replied but in a puzzled way and still others, all of them men, smiled back. Before long she was fending off all kinds of unwanted sexual advances from men to whom she had said a friendly "Bonjour" with complete innocence. She was utterly perplexed by these reactions, and to make matters worse, no one had taught her any of the language she needed to let these men know, in no uncertain terms, that she was not interested in them in that way.
After the first month, Gidget felt completely discouraged. She still had no French friends, and she didn't know why, since she was such a friendly person. Gidget plunged herself into her studies, and when she wasn't studying, she hung out with the other students in the American study abroad group. She was improving her ability to read, but she was sure her speaking ability was only getting worse, because she almost never talked to French people. She was starting to lose confidence in her ability to learn French, so she started consciously avoiding situations where she would be expected to talk: She sat in the back of the class. When she had to buy something, she only shopped at large, anonymous supermarkets. She was more and more convinced that the French hate Americans, and that they are obsessed with sex.
Things might have gone on exactly like this for the whole year, but one day, when she was sitting in the back of the class as usual, the teacher asked if anyone knew the author of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Nobody said anything, and as the teacher started to get that exasperated look on her face, as if she were doomed to spend her life among illiterate cretins, Gidget timidly raised her hand and offered the answer. "Emangouais. C'est exact!" beamed the teacher. And then, the girl next to Gidget whispered "Chapeau!" and, to Gidget's amazement, smiled. It was an ironic-looking smile, but it was definitely a smile. It turned out that Gidget's neighbor was called Mathilde. Gidget and Mathilde went out to a cafe after class, and Mathilde helped Gidget tell all about herself IN FRENCH. Mathilde, it turned out, was also nineteen years old, had always been fascinated by American culture, and was planning a stay abroad with a family in Saint Louis the next year. Suddenly Gidget had a mentor, someone who would help her learn the language, introduce her to friends, and include her in French life.
Mathilde eventually explained to Gidget that, in Paris, most people don't smile at strangers unless they have a reason. Later on, Gidget read a book called "French or Foe" and learned that Parisians tend to do exactly the opposite of what midwestern Americans do in a lot of situations. She finally figured out that she had actually been inviting all those guys to flirt with her by smiling and saying "Bonjour!" By the end of the year, Gidget's spoken French was really good, although she was still unsure about a lot of things and she tended to use too much of the slang she had learned with Mathilde's crowd. She had also learned how to walk, and gesture and smile just like a Parisian.
From: Platt, Polly.1994. French or Foe: Getting the Most out of Visiting, Living and Working in France. Skokie, IL: Culture Crossings, Ltd.