Exchange Students

Now that I have been living in Paris for some time I have realized things that I neve noticed in my first weeks. Coming in to Paris is knew little about their culture and how they reflect it in everyday life. During the winter months, you will not see a single Parisian wearing any color lighter than navy blue and the first day I went out in Paris I wore an orange sweatshirt. The looks that I got from every person I walked by shocked me because I had no idea what I was doing wrong. Now that I know this I dress to fit in with the rest of Paris. I went shopping and purchased dark clothes just to walk around (I even bought my first scarf.) I never thought that I wouldn't fit in with the majority of people like I do back home. If you are going out to eat in Paris plan on sitting for a long time. The waiters will now come to your table unless you ask them to after you ordered your food. If you get lucky they will ask you if you want coffee for desert (which was strange to me) and then you can ask for the check. Knowing this now I understand why other people have a hard time adjusting to customs of another country.
If I was hosting an exchange student the first thing I would tell them about living in my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio would be the obvious places to not go when the sun goes down, much like I was told when coming to Paris. Then, I would tell them what to do in order to adjust to customs in Cincinnati.
Unlike Paris, Cincinnati doesn't care to much about fashion and you may stick out more if you dress with the most up to date fashion advice.
Cincinnati is a sports oriented city, if you don't like sports don't tell people and it may help to know some of the major athletes in Cincy. You can and probably will get in an awkward conversation if someone yells, "free Pete," on Fountain Square and you don't cheer. Another thing I would have to explain to an exchange student coming to Cincinnati would be the food that we eat. Cincinnati is a very German town. Some street signs are still in German and there are a lot of beer houses in the city. If you go in one you will see a lot of sausages and sauerkraut  being consumed and washed down with a liter of beer. Another big food staple in Cincinnati is Skyline Chili. You either love it or hate it and if you hate it you might as well leave Cincinnati...
I noticed the first Sunday I was in Paris that nothing is open. This, however, is the complete opposite in Cincinnati. Everything is open everyday of the week. Restaurants and stores may close earlier on Sundays but they are still open past six o'clock, so don't worry if you go to hard Saturday night you will be able to find food the next day. Cincinnati is a very catholic city but is not as orthodox as Paris or other European cities.