One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

One thing I've noticed since I've been in France is that I do not fit in here. If you line me up next to three French women and play a game of "One of these things is not like the others..." you will immediately be able to tell that I'm the thing that's not like the others. And in all honesty, it doesn't bother me one bit. In fact, I'm really kind of amused by the whole thing.

So let's take a closer look at this.


Hair. For one, I am probably one of 30 females in Aix with blond hair. And another 4 or 5 of these blonds are girls in my program. All of the French women have brown or black hair.

Shoes. Every French woman I've seen wears heels of some sort in black or brown. Whether it's a nice work shoe or knee high stiletto boots, there's always a 1.5 inch heel. At least. Then there's me. I wear flats everywhere. And depending on the day and outfit, they can either be simple black flats or silver sequined flats. Which leads me to another observation. Have the French never seen sequins before?

Clothes. You know how in the US, flaired or bootcut jeans are the main styles? Sure, there are some girls who wear their skinny jeans. But not many. Well here it's ALL about the skinny jeans. They're everywhere. Regardless of whether or not the people have the shape to wear them. Oh and my coat? It's a very fashionable black/blue/purple design. I get compliments on it all the time. But no way, you won't see anything like it here.

Facial Expressions. Do you smile while you're walking down the street, make eye contact with passerbys or say hello? Might as well brand "I'm American" across your forehead. Here, don't smile while walking, don't say "hello" because that's invading someone's personal space and lastly, don't make any eye contact. That is, unless you think someone is cute. Eye contact essentially means, I'm available and now we're boyfriend and girlfriend.

It's kind of crazy to see how even the tiniest details can set you apart.

Although I think my favorite experience is from yesterday. Yesterday, I took a walk with Lauren to find one of the local parks. She planned on running afterwards so she wore her running shoes, leggings underneath shorts and a longsleeved running fleece. Although with the looks she was getting, you would have thought she was walking down the street in a gorilla costume or something. It was highly amusing.

Obviously, the French just don't fully appreciate our hot American style.