I first visited Paris when I was around 9 years old, and then again when I was 18. I was too young at those times to discern the French arrogance, fortunately. As a spoiled HK-er, my sanity would probably be out the window by my second day in Paris.
When I was in NY a few weeks ago, I caught an episode of Saturday Night Live on TV. During the Weekend Update:
When I was in NY a few weeks ago, I caught an episode of Saturday Night Live on TV. During the Weekend Update:
"The French have launched their own version of Google, called Quaero. You just type in the subject you're interested in, and Quaero refuses to look it up for you." - Amy Poehler
PARIS (Reuters) - Around a dozen Japanese tourists a year need psychological treatment after visiting Paris as the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets clashes with their expectations, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
"A third of patients get better immediately, a third suffer relapses and the rest have psychoses," Yousef Mahmoudia, a psychologist at the Hotel-Dieu hospital, next to Notre Dame cathedral, told the newspaper Journal du Dimanche.
Already this year, Japan's embassy in Paris has had to repatriate at least four visitors -- including two women who believed their hotel room was being bugged and there was a plot against them.
Previous cases include a man convinced he was the French "Sun King", Louis XIV, and a woman who believed she was being attacked with microwaves, the paper cited Japanese embassy official Yoshikatsu Aoyagi as saying.
"Fragile travellers can lose their bearings. When the idea they have of the country meets the reality of what they discover it can provoke a crisis," psychologist Herve Benhamou told the paper.
The phenomenon, which the newspaper dubbed "Paris Syndrome", was first detailed in the psychiatric journal Nervure in 2004.
Bernard Delage of Jeunes Japon, an association that helps Japanese families settle in France, said:
"In Japanese shops, the customer is king, whereas here assistants hardly look at them ... People using public transport all look stern, and handbag snatchers increase the ill feeling."
A Japanese woman, Aimi, told the paper:
"For us, Paris is a dream city. All the French are beautiful and elegant ... And then, when they arrive, the Japanese find the French character is the complete opposite of their own."
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I think the French are a lot nicer to you if you speak French. I went to Paris a few years ago with 3 other friends (all Asian). One of them was a French major so she took care of all the food ordering, ticket booking etc for us. The people became a lot friendlier after she spoke French to them.
I watched Prison Break in a week O_o. It's a good show. Now I have to wait for ep. 9.
Yes, the French people can be very nice. I was also told by several, erm, experienced sources that they can be romantic and handsome and all that too... particularly if you speak accent-free French.
The writers of Prison Break is already getting started on the script for season 3! Perhaps the fans' frustration at the never-ending suspense has prompted them to promise to wrap up the current storyline by the end of this season.
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