http://blog.notanendive.org/ Cross country, across cultures. en Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:13:56 +0200 © notafish http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Dotclear http://blog.notanendive.org/post/2008/08/04/My-Very-First-Culture-Shock#c1895 urn:md5:807a3ac766912f6204e4d6646f3a11bd Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:12:42 +0200 witty lama <p>I remember the first time I met the other students in my class when I went to a french high school. I knew about the "bise" and was prepared for that, but I didn't know that in the area that I was (northern Ardeche) people cheek-kiss three times, not two. Furthermore, I didn't know which direction to start with.</p> <p>In the end I looked very foolish doing a sort of stop-go-stop dance with the other students. They were standing in a circle and I was on the inside working my way around one person at a time. A very threatening position to be in in a new school and culture when you're in "Troiseme" (junior high)!</p> http://blog.notanendive.org/post/2007/12/19/The-credit-card-hell#c126 urn:md5:f3754d42299b095d17b91ac9bdc890fb Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:39:27 +0100 soylentyellow <p>Each McDonald's franchise decides independently wether it will accept plastic money or not. Usually they do, but some don't.</p> <p>However, if you want to fill up your car on a French self service petrol station (without an attendant, there are lots of those especially after hours) and you happen to have a non-French credit card you are out of luck because you won't get a single drop of petrol. You either drive on and look for a staffed petrol station or pay a French person cash so they use their card to fill up your car.</p> <p>Same with the machine in the ski resort that sells ski passes - if your credit card is not from France it won't sell you a ski pass - you have to use a staffed window.</p> http://blog.notanendive.org/post/2007/12/19/The-credit-card-hell#c98 urn:md5:dae49b280446e17c82ff66ab697dcab6 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:54:20 +0100 Hégésippe Cormier <p>J'adore l'image de la personne voyageant en Allemagne et éprouvant le ***besoin urgent d'acheter le dernier iPod aussitôt après sa sortie*** et se retrouvant grosjean comme devant parce que le Mediamarkt n'accepte pas les cartes de crédit.</p> http://blog.notanendive.org/post/2007/12/14/The-toilet-in-the-bathroom#c96 urn:md5:e058aedcfc735fda4d73b2137b87b591 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:47:50 +0100 Guillaume <p>« A bathroom without a toilet is not a bathroom ». Well, he didn't say someone had to actually use it :). You can probably find some shelves and a heavy cupboard...</p>