<p>jym, catchphrases are good if you can pronounce them well enough. DH was dropped at an infectious diseases hospital instead of the conference venue when he was trying to show off his French to a bus driver. :D</p>
<p>I did a summer in France back in the 80s and I remember enjoying my Big Mac after 5 weeks of French food. I am sorry that you didn’t have a great time, but I have to agree with jym626 that nothing compares to a real French baguette. Hopefully you learned something about traveling on your own, the need to learn how to cook and clean before you go to college, that even the the best planning can go awry and to keep a sense of humor during travel.</p>
<p>It was cheap meat and I stand corrected what I said before. I meant to say raw, but when I have something cooked medium, it isn’t pink inside.</p>
<p>The mother and the kids thought peanut butter brownies were disgusting. They saw it in the cook book, haha. I actually like them. The mother also thought pudding was disgusting, when it seemed like I was eating a type of pudding there haha. And there is even macaroni and cheese pizza here at CiCi’s.</p>
<p>OMG, LOL Bunsenburner!!! What many dictionaries have is the english-french, french-english translation. So you just find the phrase in english and ask someone to read the French translation.</p>
<p>Also have heard the story of people trying to say they are embarassed in Spanish, and instead end up saying they are pregnant.</p>
<p>When I asked people on the beach “Tu parle anglais”, the French couldn’t even understand that. I was asking them if they spoke English. Parle vous anglais is better, but my French teacher said they knew exactly what I was saying but the French tend to be rude… She even admitted that the French don’t even like Americans and she’s been to France thousands of times.</p>
<p>Sometimes the French don’t like the Americans because they think the Americans have a bad attitude.</p>
<p>The French don’t smile!!! :(</p>
<p>Well, jym, DH was attending a conference on infectious diseases. 
He laughed, called me on his company-issued Blackberry and asked to google directions for him. :)</p>
<p>I wonder what life would be like without Google :(</p>
<p>Really, the French don’t smile. And you can’t believe in that little town that no one knew any Jews? Well, I can tell you there are people in my little town there are many that have never met any Jews. It does not make them racist, just not worldly. I think you had a bad host family (some exchanges pay peoole to host) but I also get the feeling that you probably annoyed them and thus they found it fun to provoke you. I would get a little college under your belt before I went abroad by myself again. I hope your freshman roommate experience goes much smoother.</p>
<p>The only time I annoyed them was when I talked about America or spoke English. They really didn’t like Americans. The kid told me on facebook that he doesn’t, after I went. Maybe I’m just better off having a single in college, lol.</p>
<p>Singles in college usually cost more money. Can you afford it? It would be helpful to wor on establishing friendships and getting along with people,even if you dont have a lot in common with them.</p>
<p>I was just being sarcastic, we probably couldn’t afford it. But my mom suggested I should, but I told her it costs a lot more money. I have a feeling I’m going to get a really bad roommate though.</p>
<p>
Thats interesting. Why did she suggest this?</p>
<p>She just rather me room by myself. She had problems rooming with a friend in an apartment when she went to USF. I’m also a love or hate type of person, as well all know.</p>
<p>College is the ideal opportunity to learn to get along with others, to be flexible and adaptable, to defer to others when they want something you dont, etc. Having a roommate can be a wonderful, learning experience, and you may make a friend for life. Just because you mother had a different experience 25 or so yrs ago has NO bearing on you. I had an awful roommate freshman yr of college. But that didnt stop me from having roomates in the future after that. My roommates in grad school became dear friends.</p>
<p>True, but it wasn’t 25 years ago. My mom graduated college in 1993.</p>
<p>Completely irrelevant.</p>
<p>This CNN essay was posted today:</p>
<p>[Foreign</a> tongues don’t always come easy - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/travel/speaking-the-language-tl/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7]Foreign”>http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/travel/speaking-the-language-tl/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I apologize that you didn’t have a good visit to France. Hopefully, you will be able to visit again in a couple of years and will have a better experience.</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, you seem to have expected France to have many of the same things as the US. First off, the French have a passion for drinking wine, not whine (the semi-crying complaining small children often do). Much of the food is different as the French have grown up eating French food rather than “American food” and the local cuisine has been adapted to suit local tastes. Publix French bread has been modified to suit the tastes of people who live in the Southern US and Florida. The food will be different. This is even true for different areas of the US. For example, you probably don’t eat a lot of salmon, elk, and caribou (reindeer), both of which are commonly eaten in rural Alaska. The Chinese food you might eat in your town is not the same food you’d eat at a local diner and is likely different from the Chinese food you’d see in San Francisco, even if it is all “Chinese Food.” So you didn’t like eating a lot of French foods or eating “late,” of which the latter is very common in France, then find foods you do like and stick to them. It is possible to live off orange juice, cookies, produce, and deli meats, though most people branch out from those foods.</p>
<p>Yes, the host children were acting immature and probably had too much to drink, you can find that in the US too. Alcohol makes people say dumb things and some people say dumb and/or hurtful things without alcohol. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to ignore these dumb/hurtful things and focus on the positives. Just like you don’t have every little thing in common with each of your friends in Georgia, you won’t have every little thing in common with people in France.</p>
<p>The French are known for being very proud of their language (they have an official society dedicated to preserving it). Part of this pride will often manifest itself in French people being embarrassed that they don’t speak English as well as they do French, so they will answer that they don’t speak English. Speak enough broken French and they will likely switch to English.</p>
<p>Part of growing up is learning to live with other people. This doesn’t mean that you have to share the same bedroom, but rather that you do have to interact with people to get things done.</p>
<p>Also, don’t use tu when addressing a person that you don’t know unless they are a small child or tell you otherwise. Instead, use vous as it is considered to be more formal and polite.</p>