riding the paris metro = le métro
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
i wanted to write about this yesterday, but today, someone reminded me about her experience in le métro in paris. so i’m writing about it now. the classes at l’alliance francaise-paris start at 9am. business hours in paris also start at 9am. we students are commuting to l’AF together in the metro and in the buses. i’m writing about this because i used to find the idea of personal space very uncomfortable when i’m in paris. they don’t have the same “3 feet away from other people” or “this is my space and that’s yours”. maybe it’s because it’s super crowded here? je ne sais pas - i don’t know, but there is a big difference and you feel it especially in the metro. yesterday on my commute, i was forced to stand face-to-face with a man. the metro was so packed! luckily there was a pole in between us. had there not been that pole, i might’ve been jerked by the movement of the metro and i might’ve fallen onto the man’s lips. he and i were about the same height. it wouldn’t have been so bad had he been handsome, but alas, he was not.
one of the american girls in my class told me that she was holding her school bag in front of her for fear that someone might take her wallet. while in the métro, there was a gentleman standing next to her and she thought that had she lost her balance, she would’ve hit the man in the crotch with her fist!
also, i noticed that standing under people’s arms - i should clarify that… standing UNDER a stranger’s armpit is not uncommon or having someone’s hair slapping your face or having your whole body slammed up against a perfect stranger is not such a big deal. is it that i don’t ride public transportation in the states? how different is this from new york?
then there are those times when you are trying to go through the métro turn gates and you feel someone’s bag up against your back. or when you feel someone’s crotch pushing up against you. you turn around and it’s some person who just used you to get a free ride. the french are so formal with strangers what some even ask you politely using ‘formal language’ (using the vous form and not the tu form) to ask if they can jump the gate with your help! think that i may happen to people of my stature more because they are better able to fit into the turny thing that you have to go through. those things only allow one person at a time. the people who do this - i’m going to guess - are the older, shorter people of france. why? because i’ve seen kids jumping over the turny thing because they are nimble and yesterday, i saw a tall guy just walk over it.
other posts from this trip:
attempting french mail
l’alliance francaise-test
wine
ahhh pah-reeeeeeeee
galette de roi
le premier jour
friends in the parisian suburbs
riding the paris metro = le métro
brazil, french and crepes in paris
hello can anyone understand me
joyeux saint valentin
my last day
