I remember the day I arrived in Aix-en-Provence ( A small but well known city in the south of France) and just thinking to myself "OMG what have I done" I want to go home already" I can't believe I am going to be living here". Being in a different country where you can't understand anything can be pretty intimidating! I remember the other students that I was traveling with being so anxious to get out and explore, but as for me all I wanted to do is call my mom and tell her that I was ready to head back home.
Once I got tired of hiding inside my hotel room I decide to take a stroll around the city. I started noticing that people weren't being friendly. They wouldn't even smile! This was extremely weird for me because I am use to smiling and waving a lot, but for the French smiling and specially waving is weird and plus its "an American thing".
The next day my friends and I decided to take the bus to the local market. It was such an interesting ride! Everyone in the bus was so quiet and they all looked pissed off or something. I thought it was weird and even when they talked to their friends it was like they were whispering to each other. They wouldn't even make eye contact with you or anything. Later on I was told that the French like to keep to them selves and unlike us Americans they don't like to make a scene. They think its rude to laugh loudly or be loud in general. Believe me I was being shushed many times by random French people that I didn't even know just because I was being too loud.
They also didn't like when I use to speak english. They use to say stuff like "We are in France so speak french". The older people seemed to have a bigger problem with it but the younger crowd would roll their eyes at you if they heard you speaking english. This use to make me so uncomfortable!
As that weeks went on I started to get a grasp on how life would be for me in the South of France and by the looks of it, it was not going to be easy!
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