The first week of my Erasmus+ internship in France is over already, with three more to go. Almost inconceivable, the from the individual's perspective ever accelerating flow of time.
It has been an eventful week with ups and downs, but ultimately very enjoyable and exciting.
We did a lot of sightseeing and were in the city every evening. Additionally, we visited a festival on Wednesday and the famous dune of Pilat yesterday.
A few things I’ve already noticed about life here:
Some of the stereotypes I can confirm, such as French people consuming at least one baguette per capita daily, or that they don‘t tend to speak English all too well, often at all. Luckily, that isn‘t the case at my workplace.
However, the often mentioned claim that French people are rude or arrogant could not be farther from the truth and is a total misconception. A great example of the contrary: people here greet and thank bus drivers, supermarket workers and each other, which is rarely the case in Austria.
Another thing worth mentioning is the "laissez-faire" lifestyle, for example drivers and pedestrians alike showing a complete disregard to the otherwise modern and very much functional street lights, crosswalks, etc.
Today was a really hot and exhausting day, which is why I bid farewell to you for now - see you next week or à la semaine prochaine! 🥖🇫🇷
