The English Question
Several hours ago, I went outside to buy books and phone credit. I get only several steps away from my door when a older French lady stops me to question me about my attire, and whether or not I'd been frostbitten yet; this happens, perhaps, more frequently than it should.
La Dame: You haven't cold in your neck?
Me: Oui, but...
La Dame: Oh, are you anglaise?
Am I that obvious?
Me: eh...oui.
This is obviously a lie, but it's easier than explaining.
Me: It's less cold here than at home anyway...
This is not exactly a lie, but it's also not the reason I've come out without a scarf or higher-cut neckline; that had more to do with the fact that I continue to trust my weather widget when it is consummately wrong about the state of the weather, but what kind of stranger wants to hear about widgets? And how would one say widget in French anyway?
La Dame: Oh, Amerique? Where do you come from?
Me: Well...I live in Scotland, but I'm of American origin.
More lies. I may spend a lot of time wishing I lived in Scotland anyway...
La Dame: Me, I spent some time in America. I lived at Princeton
Me:Really, that's all close to me. I lived in Philadelphie.
This is an under-exaggeration, at best.
I don't even know what the honest answer is when strangers ask me if Vous êtes anglaise? I mean, I know that I'm NOT English, but do randoms on the street really want to hear my whole life story? Maybe a non, mais je suis fausse anglaise would come closest to the truth...
La Dame: You haven't cold in your neck?
Me: Oui, but...
La Dame: Oh, are you anglaise?
Am I that obvious?
Me: eh...oui.
This is obviously a lie, but it's easier than explaining.
Me: It's less cold here than at home anyway...
This is not exactly a lie, but it's also not the reason I've come out without a scarf or higher-cut neckline; that had more to do with the fact that I continue to trust my weather widget when it is consummately wrong about the state of the weather, but what kind of stranger wants to hear about widgets? And how would one say widget in French anyway?
La Dame: Oh, Amerique? Where do you come from?
Me: Well...I live in Scotland, but I'm of American origin.
More lies. I may spend a lot of time wishing I lived in Scotland anyway...
La Dame: Me, I spent some time in America. I lived at Princeton
Me:Really, that's all close to me. I lived in Philadelphie.
This is an under-exaggeration, at best.
I don't even know what the honest answer is when strangers ask me if Vous êtes anglaise? I mean, I know that I'm NOT English, but do randoms on the street really want to hear my whole life story? Maybe a non, mais je suis fausse anglaise would come closest to the truth...