[pyrnet] myths

[Diana Brown <nixie@mad.scientist.com>]

Joe,

I agree with you with only one exception.  As a near-native speaker of French, I have travelled in France and been mistaken for a Parisian - gives me a whole different group of friends than the "ugly Americans" with whom I sometimes travelled, and a totally different reception/perspective.  I have nothing but good things to say about my French friends and ex-boyfriend <s>.

However, the attitude toward bathing, frankly, *is* different.  As for the "sale barn" - to be frank, there are differences in every culture based on economic prosperity, lifestyle and other "class"-based distinctions.  

Based on that, I will limit my observation to those of the same general "class" as I was (sorry - I hate the word, but don't know a better one - and whether we like it or not, those distinctions do exist).  I would get up in the morning, have a shower (don't feel right til I do) - and if I spent the day walking or at the beach, might well come back and shower again before going out for the evening - maybe not, depending on the day's activities.  Most of my French friends found that to be terribly excessive - and, in fact, many chose to bathe (fully) only every other day, finding it otherwise too harsh on the skin.  At most, they might indulge a "sponge bath" to any offending areas in the interim.  

I do not state whether this makes them any more or less "offensive" or welcome in anyone's home - only that it reflects a distinctly different attitude toward bathing in general.

As for "Ugly Americans" - have seen too many (and, unless there's something I really didn't catch at the time, have only been one on rare occasions, accidentally, and only early in my foreign travel years).  You are right - the sort of smug superiority that assumes one has the only right answer is what makes them offensive.  But (please take this with a smile) - I will also say that the sort of smug superiority that assumes that things *aren't* different, or that our way is the only way, or that any divergence is bad is what is at the heart of that.  I do not find our way or the French way "superior" - on the subject of bathing or anything else.  Merely different, and reflections of culture. But I do recognize - and frequently revel in - the differences.

Di

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