I entered France with my Canadian passport and I decided to become a woman with a mission. I was going to find out if French were rude. About an hour after setting foot in my former country, I was ready to say yes. As soon as the plane landed, you could tell the French returning back home from the Canadians: the former loudly rushed out of the plane while the later politely let each other go first.

Years after years, I take the pulse of the population and I can’t help comparing France to Canada. While the former is still a great country on many aspects, there are many reasons why I won’t come back to live in France anytime soon. On the other side, I recently realized that Canada taught me a lot more than I expected.

As a French, I have being taught that bathroom humour is a low form of humour. But I cannot hold it any longer (pun intended) – I’m Canadian now, and if I want to write an article about bathrooms, well so be it.
So, are Canadian and French bathrooms different? You bet they are. And it is definitely part of the funny cultural differences you discover when you travel or live in a foreign country.

In North America, not spending money is almost a sin – what, don’t you want to help the economy? That’s probably why everything is conveniently set up so that people can shop anywhere, anytime.
In France, consumers have to abide by retailers’ will. Not so long ago, stores were closed between noon and 2 pm so that shopkeepers could go have a lengthy French lunch.

I fought hard with my parents for the right to put make-up on when I was in my very early teens and I intended to use that right fully. Pretty much all of my friends wore make-up (including some guys, but that’s another matter). I felt naked without it, I felt grown-up and mature with it.