This week the tenants of our building were invited to "prend un verre" in the courtyard. What a lovely idea! Finally, we would socialize with other members of the building beyond the "bonjour", and "pardon" 's in the hallway. I have say, this took some courage. My wingman Rupert was in Finland and D at Pony camp, so it would be just P and I to face the small talk in a foreign language. Small talk is not a particular strength of mine and small talk in french has been one of my biggest challenges since we moved here, but I felt I would be more embarrassed in not going, so I took a deep breath and plunged right in.
In the end, everyone was very nice, I did the best I could with what french I had and finally excused myself after 45min when I felt everyone was exhausted from conversing with me. Hopefully I wasn't judged too severely when I didn't personally say good bye to *each* person individually. It is considered rude not to do so here. You are expected to shake hands or give the b's (two kisses) to each and every person at the party, when leaving. I hit most of the crowd but gave up when the final three good byes required moving two old ladies from their chairs. Hopefully they didn't take it personally.
2 comments:
What a great group shot. Who organized the "prend un verre"?
We had a bouncy castle at our street party last week. Perhaps you should suggest one for the next gathering, it would fit right in.
P.S. I also LOVE that P is the only one wearing a "colour". Good for her!
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