The Daily Difference - Day 5: Keys

Keys fascinate me. I love the variety of designs and the intricate patterns which pair uniquely with a corresponding locking mechanism in order to open a door.

When we first moved into our apartment in France, we were presented with a variety of large, interesting keys for our doors. Just to get into our apartment, one must go through three separate entrances. It's kind of like Fort Knox.



The first door is the front entrance to our building. It's one of the biggest, heaviest doors I've ever seen. Instead of using a key, residents enter a secret code on a keypad, causing the door to slowly and automatically swing open on its creaky hinges.

The second door is situated a few meters inside the foyer, and the key to this door is really interesting. Instead of jigsaw edges, the key is flat on the sides, and the face of the key has divots of differing sizes and shapes.

The third door is the front door to our own apartment. It's another heavy wooden door, but not nearly as large as the massive exterior door. The outer doorknob is in the center of the door, not to one side like most American doors. Its key has a pattern of square and rectangular-shaped lines and grooves, unlike the average door keys in America which tend to have triangular shaped wedges, like a saw or alligator teeth.

This door also locks automatically when it shuts -- like an OCD person, I feel a compulsion to touch my keys several times when I leave to make sure I have them with me. Getting extra sets of keys can be very expensive in France, unlike the quick process at Home Depot. Keys are cut at shoe repair shops (cordonniers) - not hardware stores - for some reason (if anyone knows how these two industries are related, let me know!)

All of these keys are interesting, but my favorite key on our French keyring is a large skeleton key which opens the front gate to our church courtyard. Although it doesn't fit in pockets very well, I love it. There is something romantic about an old-fashioned, heavy brass key -- almost like you can use it to enter another time, another era when things were simpler.

Ah, to have a key like that would be blissful indeed!

April in Lyon....

....is absolutely gorgeous! The flowers are in full bloom, the sky is a clear, bright blue, and the air is dry. No wonder outdoor cafes abound in Europe.

April has been filled with activity. Children are enjoying a well-deserved 2 week break from school, and we took advantage of the vacances scolaires to visit friends in Heidelberg and Stuttgart, Germany. We somehow managed to bring the unseasonably warm weather with us.

Greg and I also participated in a fun race through the city streets of Lyon called the "Lyon Urban Trail." Die-hard athletes competed in a grueling 35K death march up and down Lyon's many hills, but  at our age we felt just fine about choosing the "lighter" 13K course.

My readers already know that my favorite spot in all of Lyon is the Parc de la Tete D'or, and I have spent every free moment there, basking in the sunshine, reading, cycling, walking, people-watching, and picnicking.

To top off a great month, it so happens that my birthday is in April and my only wish was to have a picnic in the park with my lovely family. Wish granted!

The Daily Difference - Day 4: Independent Kids

Kids are kids, wherever they live. They all love to play and laugh, and occasionally they throw tantrums and exasperate their parents. I haven't noticed large differences in American children and French children except for one thing: French kids are encouraged to be independent at an early age.

Whenever I walk along the river or in the park, I notice families with their young children. French toddlers do not ride in strollers; those reserved for babies only. In France there is no such thing as an "umbrella" stroller, those life-saving devices used by American parents to transport their preschoolers. Kids here are taught to walk everywhere they go or to ride some kind of scooter.

And they start so small! Stores here sell these tiny "bikes" for toddlers that don't have pedals. They are really low to the ground so that kids as young as one or two years old can straddle the seat as they shuffle along the sidewalk. It's a great idea; they quickly learn the balance and coordination required to ride a bigger bike. By the time a child is three, he's graduated to a real bike with pedals and without training wheels.

Most French kids also get to school independently at an early age. I've seen kids of about age eight riding the metro on their own, lugging backpacks bigger than they are, on their way to & from school. I don't necessarily feel comfortable with this independence - I admit, I worry about the safety of these very young children. But in this society, it's just the cultural expectation.

In America, I'm afraid we've gone a bit too far towards the other extreme. Kids are taught to be wary of strangers and other dangers, and rightfully so -- but as a society I think we've created a culture of fear and stifled our children's ability to learn how to be self-sufficient. Greg told me just this morning of a news story about an American family under investigation for letting their elementary school aged children play in a neighborhood park without parental supervision. I don't know the details so I'll withhold commenting too much, except to say that I played outside all the time as a child, wandering freely through my neighborhood for hours without any supervision. It was just a normal part of growing up in that era.

There's got to be a balance somewhere. We don't want to put our young kids in harm's way, but we also need to let them grow up.

Now it's your turn: are you raising children in France, America, or another country? In what ways are they encouraged (or discouraged) by society or by your own parenting style to become independent? Have you noticed other cultural differences pertaining to children? I'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments section.

The Daily Difference - Day 3: Money

In comparing currency, France takes the advantage. The Euro, like the metric system and the celsius temperature scale, just makes more sense. No wonder -- they had a long time to perfect the system. European fiscal leaders had been planning for a common currency since the 1960s, and they took three whole years to launch the Euro since its "virtual" birth in 1999 (coins and bills started circulating in 2002). Yes, the Euro has problems - I won't go into the fiscal fiascos - I'm just interested in how the average Joe uses coins and banknotes.

Why do I prefer the Euro over the Dollar? First of all, let's compare the coins.

The Europeans have three small copper-colored coins of 1, 2, and 5 cent pieces. 10, 20, and 50 cent denominations are gold colored. And then you graduate to the hefty 1- and 2-euro coins (the 1 is silver in the middle with a gold edge, and its big brother, the 2, is gold in the middle with a silver edge). What makes sense is the size of the coins: they gradually increase in size as the value goes up.

Well duh, right?

Not so fast, let's take a close look at American coins.

Most Americans are so used to irregular coin sizes that they don't even think about it. But I remember teaching my girls the values of our coins when they were young, and it was difficult for them to understand why the dime (10 cents) was smaller than the nickel (5 cents)! After all, the dime is worth more. Our penny (one cent) is bigger than a dime but smaller than a nickel. What?? At least Americans only have to learn 4 coins instead of 8.

Now let's examine the banknotes.

Again, the Euro has the right idea: not only different sizes but also unique vivid colors for each denomination. And no little one-notes to artificially fatten up your wallet. Those are taken care of with coins. (Incidentally, one drawback to the 1-and 2-euro coins is the psychological devaluation of their worth. They're just coins, I tend to think, not "real" money. On the other hand, sometimes digging under the couch cushions can reap rewards!)

Now look at the US banknotes. Same size, virtually the same greenish color (although technically the background colors differ slightly). You have to pay attention when using cash in the US or you can easily mix up the bills. On second thought -- who pays with cash these days?

So there's my two cents. Sorry - couldn't resist.

The Daily Difference - Day 2: Traffic Lights

Greg, the only driver in our family with a French license, had a difficult time getting accustomed to the traffic signals in France. In the US, traffic lights are hung up high and are situated across the intersection from where you have to stop. In France, you pull right up to the stoplight. On major streets, the light is usually hung above the street, but you end up practically underneath the light when you are the first one to stop. On minor streets, the light is very low - almost eye level - and to your right. In either situation, my very tall husband has to crouch down in the driver's seat and crane his neck to watch for the light to turn green.

Another difference is that the yellow light is extremely brief. Unless you are already midway through the intersection, it's best to stop. When we visited Geneva, we noticed that Switzerland has added another twist to the yellow light: when you are sitting at the red light, the yellow light starts to blink several seconds before the light turns green, to give you a "heads up." This is a great idea! I'm sure it cuts down on noise pollution, too -- no more honking at the clueless driver who doesn't know that the light has turned green.

Besides the traffic lights, there are quite a few other driving differences between our two countries. For example, you can't turn right on red, unless you have a blinking yellow arrow indicator - but this is rare. And at non-signaled/non-marked intersections, the person on the right has the right of way. My advice is, if you're going to be driving in France, learn the rules before you go!

And learn to parallel park.

The Daily Difference

 I've had the idea in mind for some time to write "mini-posts" examining some of the small differences between things in the US and things in France. I'm talking about everyday items that people in both countries use, but in different ways. Things that I noticed immediately upon arrival in France, but have become quite normal to me now -- so normal, in fact, that when I travel back to America I find the once-familiar things strange once again. I just asked my family to name some of these differences, and the examples are plentiful:

• electricity voltage
• traffic lights
• measurements
• money
• keys
• school supplies
• credit cards
• keyboards

 I hope to write about all of these and more over the next few weeks. But the one thing that I use every day that got me thinking about this "daily difference" idea in the first place is:

TOILET FLUSHERS!

 Most American toilets have a lever off to one side that activates the flushing mechanism. When you push on the handle, it pulls a chain connected to a flush valve, letting in a whole bunch of water and voilà, the toilet flushes. You can easily lift off the top of the tank to see the inner workings - quite exciting stuff indeed.

 In France, instead of a handle you typically have a large button on top of the tank divided into 2 halves, marked "1" and "2" for use depending on - you guessed it - what you need to flush down. (The "2" gives you a more powerful flush.)

 The button on our toilet is actually screwed into the top of the tank, and to remove the tank cover one needs to unscrew the button. But we've never had to open the tank, because amazingly we've never had a clogged toilet. That's right, we've never once had to use our plunger in France. In the US, unclogging the toilet was at least a weekly occurrence. How come we can't have this terrific toilet technology in the great US of A? Americans, keep your eyes peeled for this type of potty on your next trip to Home Depot, and if you find one, snatch it up! You'll bet your bottom you'll be glad you did. 

OK - enough potty humor. Check back with me tomorrow for a hopefully less filthy "Daily Difference."