I deal with a lot of European professionals in the course of doing business and came to the conclusion that I like dealing with British people, don’t like dealing with French people. I met with the CEO and COO of a London-based broker dealer today. Wasn’t looking forward to the meeting but they both turned out to be friendly, non-pompous guys. Thought about all the times that I’ve met with Brits and I would say that 90%+ of those meetings have been positive experiences. Then I thought about all the times I’ve met with Frenchmen and it’s just the opposite, 90% of the time they give off a pompous, egotistical, I-don’t-really-like-you-because-you’re-American attitude. On top of that I have a hard time understanding French accents so they sound even more pompous to me. Does anyone else have similar experiences or am I just being an ignorant @sshole?
We deal a lot with Germans, and I like dealing with them personally. They always write their sentences with exclamation points!
JA JA!
My Level III study partner is a French chick here on a work visa; she is very polite. My wife and I had her over for dinner and she arrived with a bottle of wine (pretty standard) and a dozen roses for my wife (above and beyond).
Bankin’ Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My Level III study partner is a French chick here > on a work visa; she is very polite. My wife and I > had her over for dinner and she arrived with a > bottle of wine (pretty standard) and a dozen roses > for my wife (above and beyond). …yes yes go on…
The French do 35hr work weeks and like 8 weeks vacation. While Americans brag about how many hours they work the French almost consider it evil to overwork. They spend their time eating, sleeping and vacationing. So ya, basically it is like the exact opposite of the US culture where we work, work, eat fast food, work some more, never take vacation. The Brits are somewhere in between the Americans and the French. The Koreans are at the extreme, they work the most hours of anyone and don’t sleep. I believe they basically had a 6-day/wk until recently.
And don’t forget the French smell…just kidding frenchies. Yes Bankin’ what happened next…a little too much wine with dinner move the party to the couch…
I agree…the Brits are pretty cool. Down to earth and always up for a pint.
now if they can only do something about their teeth and food and constant rain and cloud coverage
purealpha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The French do 35hr work weeks and like 8 weeks > vacation. While Americans brag about how many > hours they work the French almost consider it evil > to overwork. They spend their time eating, > sleeping and vacationing. Sounds pretty good to me. I’d love to have 8 weeks of vacation; take August off and get out of town. Then have 4 more weeks remaining.
Ha and they do just that, “hey I’ll be out for August” was something a guy I knew at Zurich NY got used to hearing from them. Also, they take vacation seriously and do not answer cells even if emergency. It is easy to see how they would want to keep their professional distance from the tense work-obsessed Americans and also how not being available for a month would drive us crazy. I’ve been looking at London for awhile, but what I’d really like is Asia [SH or Seoul] with a global pay package and a modest 4wks vac. Making six digits USD while living under Chinese PPP makes you one rich bastard.
when my husband and i were dating, he bought a volkswagon. we were sitting in the car and he is inspecting it. he pulls down the visor and starts reading the air bag instructions/warning in french. getting into an accident never sounded $exier. seriously. if you guys want a serious tool to pick up girls… learn french. you’ll reap the benefits. i promise.
Germans are the same way. Completely unreliable and never own up to anything.
purealpha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ha and they do just that, “hey I’ll be out for > August” was something a guy I knew at Zurich NY > got used to hearing from them. Also, they take > vacation seriously and do not answer cells even if > emergency. > > It is easy to see how they would want to keep > their professional distance from the tense > work-obsessed Americans and also how not being > available for a month would drive us crazy. Yeah that’s a big reason not to visit Paris in August. Everyone’s a tourist and the people in the service industry (i.e., waiters) are pissed b/c everyone but them are on vacation.
Oh is that the reason everyone was an a-hole, I was in Paris Aug07 and it blew goat. Good food however.
serious reply to OP: the birts are very proper but excellent poker players. they are usually polite but most americans miss their dry wit. they may be making fun of you without you knowing it. the french are more straight forward and say it like it is.
purealpha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Oh is that the reason everyone was an a-hole, I > was in Paris Aug07 and it blew goat. Good food > however. You know how it’s always sunny in Philadelphia…well it’s always August in Paris (sounds like a porn title). I D-spize the French.
I don’t like french people…unless they prove themselves to me first. they can be “nice” but at the end of the day their heads of full of crap ideas…especially about how great their culture and language are and how “stupid” americans are. personally, i don’t like tham on a macro level. on the micro level a few of them could be ok. in generally, i wouldn’t care if some country in the mid east accidently nuked them. gee…oh well.
LPoulin133 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I D-spize the French. Isn’t your screename French?
John is a sharp one…it does sound sorta French-esque. Hey he’s trying to blend in by bashing the French along with us, let’s get him and make him eat a cheeseburger!