Last night I went to a meetup that I hadn't been to before. It's called "dinner time is talk time," and it's a big dinner party with one house rule: half the time we speak only French, and half the time anything but French. Rebel that I am, I didn't follow the rule completely although that was due in large part to the fact that my new friend Arnaud was dying to practice his English. Arnaud is a law student who spent some time in the US and wants to live in New York. We decided that there should be a foreign exchange program for adults--he takes my place in the states, and I take his place here. Sounds fair, doesn't it? With Arnaud was Caroline who spoke such American sounding English that at first I mistook her for a fellow American. But no, she's French too and also a law student wishing to live and practice law in NY.
They were both so much fun...friendly, cute, funny, and so positive about the US. Caroline and I were talking about my prospects for working in France, and I was telling her about working in the US in adult education and, in particular, in sales education, and I was saying that the sales culture is different (perhaps non-existent) here. When I mentioned the different approaches to sales and my concern that perhaps no companies in France care to hire someone to train people in sales skills, her response was, "yes, but your system works!" Amazing...a French person who thinks the US system works. She added that maybe "some stupid French people" won't want to hear from me because they want to keep doing things their way, but she said there are companies that would appreciate my skills. I really enjoyed Caroline and Arnaud and spent much of the evening with the two of them.
I also saw my old friend Claude. Claude and I met at Jim Haynes' home several weeks ago. Claude is an old Frenchman (pretty darned old), and he is adorable. Speaks great English, lucky for me, although I spoke French with him more than with anyone else. He's very funny too. And I saw Antonio--I believe he's from Mexico--whom I had also met at another event although not the Jim Haynes event. Michael, the host, was awesome. In fact, I enjoyed this dinner party much more than the one at Jim Hayne's house, and here's the reason why: people were friendlier. And here's the reason for THAT: fewer Americans. Seriously, there were a bunch of Americans at Jim Haynes' house, and they were mostly younger. They were doing that American high school thing--get your little clicque early then don't let anyone else in. The Americans I did speak with at Jim's were all older, and there were a few French and a few English, but the group was mostly made up of younger Americans. On the contrary, the people at Michael's were all ages and from all over...and they were so much more interested in talking with everyone, regardless of anyone else's age or nationality. I talked with a ton of people--Russians, Swedes, French, Germans, and yes, even a couple of older Amerians who were great. It was just a more fun, friendly crowd, and when I mentioned, in response to someone's question about how I liked the event at Jim Haynes' home, that there were mostly younger Americans there, someone overheard and told us that only since the NPR story has that been the case. So maybe once the story has died down, I'll try Jim's party again.
As I was saying, Michael, the host, was awesome. When I found him at 10pm to say merci and au revoir, he whispered in my ear that a friend had brought a nice bottle of wine, and that there's a crowd that stays after everyone else leaves and that I should stay and enjoy the wine with them. I got invited to the "after-party"! I said ok and stayed for about another hour, but even then very few people had left, and I was exhausted. So again I said merci and au revoir and that I'd be back. It was a very fun evening.
I should have known that it would be a good evening. I had just left my apartment and was on my way to the metro station to head to Michael's house when I passed this older gentleman walking down the street. He looked right at me and said, "Quelle belle! Bonne soiree!" By the time I processed what he had said, we were past each other, so I turned around and he was looking at me smiling, so I said, "Merci! Bonne soiree!" and he smiled and said, "Ahhh" as if to say, "ah, she acknowledged and appreciated my compliment." Sweet. I love Paris.
