Culture shock

It’s been so long since I last updated that I don’t even know where to begin with this entry!

Anyway, to start it off, I have undergone (pretty much on a daily basis) a culture shock—something new and alarming about the French culture that needless to say still shocks my American mind.

One of the reasons I decided to come study in Paris is because I’ve learned SO much about Paris and its culture and have been extremely fascinated with it. Paris is one of the most culture-conscious states I’ve ever heard of, where anyone could become a citizen as long as they adopt French language and values, rejecting all other non-French ethnicities and placing the French ethnicity before all others. As a Filipino-American I thought my skin color or physical traits wouldn’t matter, and thought that maybe the French would only regard me as American, not as Asian. I thought it wouldn’t have mattered.

Coming here, I was proved sooo wrong. As a Filipino-American woman the only hello’s I was taught were “Hello” and “Kamusta,” if even that. But everywhere I go in France, vendors and locals all say, “Ni hao” to me, as if I were Chinese. Now I don’t know if this is offensive to other French non-Chinese Asians, but being born and raised in America where skin and ethnicity shouldn’t matter, I found this very alarming and offensive. I’m not Chinese, and the fact that I have slightly slanty eyes and dark hair and tan skin doesn’t mean people should automatically assume that I’m Chinese. I’ve talked to some of my other Asian-American friends on the program about it, and apparently they get the same things said to them. “Ni hao, madame.” And when we say no, they ask, “Oh.. Japonais?” Seriously.. Shocking. Perhaps it is just me and that it’s NOT offense for every French person in France to say “Ni hao” to you even if you’re not Chinese, but at the end of the day I am STILL an American and I do not appreciate being placed in one category because of my appearance.

Ethnicity also became an issue one night as my friends and I attempted to go to a club here along the Champs-Elysees. What a waste of time! Apparently it’s free for ladies before midnight on Fridays, so my friends and I got there well before midnight in order to get in for free. We separated off into groups and pairs because clubs here don’t like letting big groups in at a time. I ended up staying back with my 2 Asian girl friends, and 3 of my guy friends (2 of them white, and 1 of them Mexican). The bouncers stopped us at the front, and told us we couldn’t get in. Right after us, though, they let in our 3 blonde friends and white guy friend. We thought maybe it’s cuz we were with so many girls.. So our three guy friends said they would leave and maybe we should just go without them. So when it was us 3 girls, we tried again but they STILL said no. We were waiting outside, and then 4 of our other friends came. They asked the bouncer if we could get in.. And he said, no. And when one of the girls (also Asian) asked why, he said no reason. And then he told her (the Asian) that she could either stay with US 3 Asians or go in with the other white girls she came with. WOW. I was absolutely stunned. I did not see one Asian person go in without the aid of a non-Asian girl friend(s), and even then it was only 1 at a time. Honestly, I was just amaaaazed.. I felt awful. I have never in my 21 years of life experienced that kind of racism in American! NEVER. I keep thinking that maybe there was another possibility as to why we didn’t get in, but it’s pretty plain to see, as we were extremely composed, we were in dress code, we were very respectful and speaking French (albeit, broken French.. our other friends didn't even try to speak French), and our guy friends even offered to pay for us.. It isn't hard to do the math. Needless to say I will not be trying to go back to that club. It’s not worth it.

The point is, I have never been MORE aware of my Asian ethnicity as I have been now. I'm not so sure this is a bad thing, but I guess coming to France with certain expectations about their culture makes it a bad thing. Firstly, they shouldn't pride themselves off of being blind to previous/original ethnic origins, if they're going to "Ni hao" every Asian person they see. Secondly, they shouldn't discriminate against a certain ethnicity when it comes to who should be let in to a certain place and who shouldn't. That's just wrong. To feel racially discriminated against in a country where everyone has the equal opportunity to become French regardless of what you look like doesn't make sense to me. I understand the occasional, "Are you Chinese?" in California, but I know that not all Americans are as diverse as California is. In this respect France has EXTREMELY let me down.

Anyway, I didn’t realize I had this much to say regarding the cultural experience I’ve been having here in Paris.. And this is only one of the aspects! It’s actually about 330am and I should sleep now since I’m off to travel to Versailles tomorrow. I am soo excited!

I’ll try to keep the updates coming without so much time in between.. Til then, au revoir. (: