Weekend Reflection in Paris

Here in Paris I have one more week until spring break, yet if I were in Vancouver I would have a couple finals and be off for 4 months. I am envious of their summer, but I am enjoying school here. Things have changed so much since I have arrived. I have made friends I can call at anytime, I have learned to be self-sufficient, I have thrown away my fear of food, and I have expanded my collection of experiences.
I never thought Paris would be so different from Vancouver. I assumed things would be Western like at home, and people would just speak French. Well, this is not the case. The difference between North American culture and French culture is blatant and runs deeper than how we choose to drink coffee. People here can come across as very harsh and distant. I really miss having shop employees greet me when I enter a store; sometimes here it can feel like you do not exist. I have had friends in Vancouver, who live alone tell me that they have gone to the supermarket when they feel too alone, just to be around people... but somehow, that would not cut it here. The supermarket can be annoying as they want you to have EXACT change everytime. The casheirs do not like making change. I went to the store this afternoon with a 10 euro bill and a 20 euro bill. My bill was 10.40, so I handed her the 20 euro bill. She asked if i had 40 cents, I said no, so she handed it back and took the 10 euros one. I got a 40 cent rebate. :)
I have stopped swimming here because I find the pool too crowded, and the people do understand proper pool etiquette. Amusingly Etiquette is a French word (for more information click here) . I think the pool could use a few signs: "stay right", "fast lane", "do not flail limbs into the other lanes", "do not attempt to swim 4 across in 1 lane", "let fast people pass you at either end". Instead, the pool is marked with signs such as: "wear a swim cap", "only speedos", "must walk through cleansing pool on way into the pool"(my own translation).
Two things people have to be aware of here, is lunch time, and Mondays. At the school library (one of the best ones in Europe apparently... although I am unimpressed), I gave a form to get a book I needed (very few books are on the racks) and the lady told me to return in 45 min. I waited about an hour and went back at 1.... only to find that it was closed and would not reopen until 2! I had just waited 1 hour, and was not prepared to wait another, so I found a worker elsewhere and begged her to give me my book. She finally did, but looked extremely annoyed. Me and my ignorance at French inconveniences! Have they not heard of staggered breaks in customer service jobs?
This post may seem like a rant, so I will change it up and not about more positive things. I have had some great dinners here recently. One for my friend Cecilia's birthday (her parents paid for us to go out), and one with friends at a random cheap Vietnamese place. Being out and laughing with friends is a necessary thing to do often while here. It can be weird being without family and super close friends sometimes, and a lot of people get a bit depressed about that at times.
I definatly miss people from home, but have been communicating with them less and less. This is a sign that: it is hard to keep up with people when you need to explain so much for them to understand your stories by this point, and that I am making good friends here who I can talk to.
Anyways, it is past midnight again and I have just spent my lovely saturday night studying. I will try and add some more random streams of thought here, since I had fun, and my posts lately have been void of emotion. Goodbye for now~