On resting bitch face and my first full week

I knew this would happen. You probably knew this would happen. But alas, I have failed to update my blog regularly. I can't say I didn't warn you, but after several messages from friends and family members alike, I have decided to lock myself dans ma chambre to write this post. I mean, you do have to understand that the minutes it takes me to write these damn things are valuable minutes that I am missing out on walking and exploring and drinking. Alors, quelques impressions:

The French are my kinda people for the following reasons:

1. They are fashionable af. 

2. POLITICS POLITICS POLITICS!

3. RBF (Commonly known as resting bitch face).

French fashion is amazing, and I just happen to live two blocks off of one of the chicest streets in all of Paris known as Saint-Germain des Près. It is home to the cafes that Hemingway wrote in, Ladurée, Cartier, etc. etc. Every morning in my metro ride to school I am so inspired by what people are wearing, be it the cocoon coats that every femme in Paris seems to be sporting these days, or the Gregory-Peck type specs that so many men wear here. I haven't done much shopping yet, but I am making the trek to the 18th to shop at the APC store (and also check out a knitting store that a friend's host family recommended to me bc ya gurl is in desperate need of yarn). Fashion is effortless here, but not sloppy. As it should be.

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"The French go bon-kehrs for politiques" - my host dad, Jean-Claude (He has the cutest habit of trying to slip in "common English expression" to seem widdit and hip when speaking to me). 

The French rarely talk about themselves in conversation, which is why so many people think that the French are guarded and unfriendly. Maybe to an American perspective this might seem to be, but just try to talk about politics with them and they will welcome you with arms wide open. I love the way the French approach politics as well. People get into heated discussion all the time, but never offended. Political debates in French are all about progressing in a conversation and learning from one another, not being petty and attacking one another. (AMERICAN FRIENDS, LEARN FROM THIS). They aren't afraid to be opinionated, and they care about global issues, not just national issues. Even though my host family and I don't always have dinner together, we to watch the news together almost every night pour être courrant.

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Finalement, le resting bitch face. RBF is about as plentiful as baguettes and red wine at dinner, so much so that the French even have their own expression for RBF, known as faire la guele. I was once probably like you are now, asking what stick the French had up their asses because they always looked so pissed and never smiled, especially when on the metro. And then it hit me. They, too, have resting bitch face. I am no stranger to this terrible affliction. Many a times has someone asked me if "I was mad" or "having a bad day" because my face (not my personality?) just exuded bitchiness. But c'est pas ma faute! RBF is real, and I am just a mere victim. Not gonna lie, the fact that I pretty much only wear black, navy, and olive doesn't really help combat the assumption that I am in fact a sour bitch, but like the French, I apologize for nothing.

Is she a bitch? No, she's French.