French continue to talk during
meals (Egypt) Entree (starter), Plat (main), Dessert, and a cup of coffee to enjoy the
time... When you go to the restaurant in France, you need more than 2 hours
before you leave. It is quite amazing for Japanese who spent less than an
hour, normally. What do French do during 2 hours? The answer is talking. You can easily understand 2 hours are almost nothing for lovers, but
how about for people who don't know each other very well? I took part in a French tour to Morocco departing from Paris. Of
course, rest of us was all French. As all meals were included, we saw each
other 3 times a day at table. Even the French people didn't know each other
before, but they talked and talked during the meals. About the city we visited, about the carpet someone bought, they
continued their discussion. Nevertheless, they didn't enter personal topic like
"How old are you?”“ What is your job?” Because of the advanced
individualism, French people hesitate to ask personal questions. But how can they find the subjects? I suppose they are well trained
since childhood. They are forced to speak during meals, which they regard
as place to exchange their informations. What a difference with Japanese
who are taught not to speak but concentrate to eat! In addition, Japanese doesn’t care small intervals between
conversations, but French hates it. French people often prepare or keep a
subject so that they can continue to speak even with the people they don’t know very well. As the result, we can often find same subjects or
jokes. By the way, in Morocco, it was very difficult for me to intervene
French who launch his words like bullets of gun. Above all, to find timing
to interrupt was almost impossible. French people were expressing
themselves even if it was just a repeat. But for me, I felt I was an
amateur who had to fight with soldiers well equipped. French text Japanese text
INDEX
Soldiers armed with words
English Version
French Version
english Version
Japanese Version