Culture - Soccer and Coffee

To fully tell you of my relationship to French coffee I must go back in time a little bit to when I first experienced France and its culture. It was December of 2008 and I along with 2 friends (one from Wofford and the other from Austria) had taken a trip. Our trip to the city of Paris involved seeing many sights and also winging it on some of our plans. (refer to blog posts on 12/27/08 and 1/9/09) The only negative experience I had with Parisians on that trip stayed with me and I have been cautious ever since.

Janice, Danielle and I went to see the Notre Dame cathedral and had finished circling it, entering it, and taking pics of it around 2pm. We decided that we were hungry and looked for a cafe to grab lunch. Since it was December it was also cold outside so I knew a coffee would go great with my meal. We find the cafe and take our seats. The garcon comes back to us to take an order when Danielle has to politely ask for menus which he didn't seem to take well. He returns after a long time... long enough for us to also decide our food choices. We go around ordering drinks and he just walks away! When drinks were served, Danielle mentioned that we wanted to order food which strangely confused him.

What was the problem in this cross cultural exchange? The french love coffee, they love fine cuisine, what could be wrong here? What everyone needs to know is that the French don't drink coffee with their meal, and by ordering a coffee I signaled to him that we weren't eating. And when we were his suspicions of us not being French were confirmed.

(fast forward to the present)

I'm searching for a coffee house or a pastry shop/bakery that serves coffee and allows you to enjoy the coffee there. This is a slightly more common find in Austria apparently, as I haven't had much luck around the school at lunch time.

1) I find a small cafe/to go sandwich shop with tables in the back. I order a coffee because I see there machine. Unfortunately, my desire for cream or milk in my coffee is not fulfilled. Oh well, keep searching and remember to ask for cafe au lait (coffee with milk) next time.

2) I spot a pastry/bakery/deli on the way to school with tables inside and outside. At lunch I remember to go there and I ask for a cafe au lait. She says no and I am thinking she is like the first place and only serves espresso. I say espresso, s'il vous plait. She says no again and then says something..... 2 o'clock. Right, since the french don't have lunch with coffee, she won't start serving it until 2pm. Super, keep looking.

3)All the restaurants near Place Plumerae (see photos Week 1) are expensive but one the night of the France-Uruguay? soccer match we go out to find a bar to watch the game. Me and some other girls decide we don't want to be out in the rain, nor do we care much for the match. And we have spotted the "French Coffee Shop". The waiter was super friendly using English with me. And we got delicious drinks. It isn't a very french feeling cafe. It seemed more like their version of a Starbucks, but I'm not complaining because I was able to return this week and study some French there alongside a coffee (cream and sugared).

4) Lastly on Monday, I went with one of my roommates (a german named Ulli) to a language cafe night near the Hotel de Ville (see photos Week 2) . Here I was able to enjoy a Cafe Creme and for awhile I just listened to those around me speak French and I picked up on bits of the conversation... a soccer match was happening at the time which Ulli and my new friends at the table were watching. This turned out to be a great night because one of the guys at the table wouldn't let me leave after 30 minutes and helped me have a conversation in French with him. It was super challenging but so fun at the end, realizing what I accomplished. When I couldn't understand, this guy was incredibly patient and never frustrated.

Lastly what I have learned from this is that if you order a coffee you must tell them you also plan to eat otherwise, they will take away your place setting and your silverware. But I have at least found a few places to order coffee or I can enjoy an instant espresso at home.

But equally important but more briefly shared here is my encounters with soccer. If you haven't heard about it yet, there World Cup is taking place right now in South Africa. The USA tied England 1 to 1 so we will need to win tonight against Slovenia in order to reach the next round. Also Mexico beat France last night! Watch a game and witness what everyone in the world (except for Americans) lives for every 4 years.