Saving Face

Last week I met up with my friend Victor for coffee. He’s the Canadian/Russian guy who I met (and have since befriended) because I misread his sign on campus. We had a good time and he gave me some insight about the locals. Important thing to remember-the Niçoise hate to be wrong. He said when they make a mistake, don’t hold your breath waiting for an apology. This theory was immediately confirmed when the waitress forgot to bring back our change. We had to remind her twice and no apology or explanation was ever given. In fact, we even had to tell her twice how much money we had given her so she could bring back the appropriate change. Victor also told me that the locals hate to look like they don’t know something. So when it comes to asking for directions, it’s common for them to make something up to save face rather than admit that they don’t know where something is.

This evening, in a desperate search to find a “cultural activity” to fulfill a course requirement, I found myself at an Erasmus event. Erasmus (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), despite the crazy acronym seems to just be a foreign exchange program for Western Europe. They host lots of events for exchange students as a way to meet up and interact. So tonight my friend and I went to “Each one-Teach one” which was supposed to be a language exchange program. Neither Kathleen nor I actually looked up specific directions to the place, thinking it was going to be really easy to find.

That was a mistake.

After wandering aimlessly for 10 minutes, I popped into a souvenir shop to ask the employee if he knew of the restaurant. “Oh yeah…I’m not sure which of those buildings it is exactly, but I know it’s down that way,” he said, waving his arms in a left-ish direction.

So we headed in the left-ish direction he indicated, but we hit a dead end at the flower market and the place was nowhere to be found.  So I called Victor. It turns out the place was pretty much 100% opposite of where the shop employee told me.  Annoyed, we backtracked to our original location and found the restaurant with no further problems, thanks to Victor’s accurate directions. 

One more for the list of lessons learned the hard way:

Always ask at least two or three people for directions to any given place. Then compare and make sure you’ve not been lied to. 

No clue what "Fridge Mice Shock" means.

For the record, I loved the Erasmus event. I can't wait to go back! Everyone was extremely friendly, and it was a great way to really meet people and practice my conversation skills. The only downer is that the restaurant where they meet is really expensive, and you have to buy something to stay and hang out. A can of Orangina is 3.50!