Cultural Literate

Growing up in a strong household surrounded by intelligent people has helped me become culturally literate in my own culture. Not only did I have to learn about new cultures when coming to Paris but I had to learn about the culture in Clemson, South Carolina. The culture is completely different living in Cincinnati than it is living in Clemson. The hardest thing that I had to adjust to was people being "gentlemen" and "ladies." In Cincinnati it is not common for someone to hold the door for the person after them, in fact, I would say that you are more likely to get the door slammed in your face rather than having the door held open for you. I, however, was always told to hold the door, to say please and thank you, and help out people who are in need. Making the transformation from Cincinnati to Clemson was difficult enough for me but then to go from Clemson where everyone is nice to Paris where everyone basically hates everyone else and they only care about their own lives. 

When arriving in Paris, France the first thing I did was hold the door open for the lady behind me. She didn't say thank you, in fact she didn't say anything at all as she walked past me giving me the death stare. I thought it was a little much for holding the door but after a couple of weeks in Paris I noticed that hardly anyone  holds the door for another person. One of my teachers who is from Europe told us one day that girls think of people differently when someone holds the door for them. If it's an elderly man than he is just being nice but if it is a young man like myself then I must be hitting on her. I still always hold the door for the person behind me but I have been noticing that younger girls react differently than older women. So, what has made me culturally literate in one culture doesn't necessarily make me culturally literate in another culture. I am still trying to get used to all of the cultural differences and trying to act more like the norm than an outsider. Every Sunday I still wake up and try to do things that I could normally do back in the U.S. such as grocery shopping. It is impossible to go grocery shopping in Paris on a Sunday because all grocery stores are closed. Going from Sunday equals grocery day to Sunday equals day of rest and seventy-five percent of the city is closed will be hard for me to get used to.

I feel like the amount of gaps to make me completely culturally literate in Paris will decrease but it will never fully disappear. This isn't because I am not trying hard enough but because I will always fall back on what I was taught growing up and what is now instinct. I still say words or phrases that you will only hear people in Cincinnati say, even in Paris when half of the conversation is in French. This is because you will never completely lose yourself or be able to change all of the ways that you normally act. You may be able to take me out of the city but you will never be able to take the city out of me.