French Fire Drills

We had the first spring fire drill at school a couple days ago, and I thought I might as well write a quick blog about it.

I'd like to start off by saying that a fire drill in France is more of a social event than a safety precaution. We had ours at 9 in the morning at the beginning of science class, and as soon as the alarm went off, people started talking immediately. Everyone is pretty relaxed about it here and students took their time shuffling out of class. Don't get me wrong, no one really took them seriously back in New York, but we were always kind of forced to adhere to all the rules. I just remember all the teachers shouting at us to be quiet all the time during a drill and I also remember them being timed with a stopwatch. Administration was always really proud when we beat our fastest time.

Not in France! Once we got outside, everyone strayed from their classes to find their friends and I don't think anyone was keeping track of anyone. A few guys from various classes got together for a quick soccer match, and most everyone was just wandering around and talking. I was with a couple girls from my class, and we actually lost our class at one point. I was nervous that the teacher would be annoyed with us for leaving, but when we actually found him a little while later, he was just chatting with a few other teachers and I don't think he ever even noticed us.

To be honest, I wasn't really surprised by all this because the French are generally very social creatures. Every time I go the supermarket with Anne, we stop to talk to pretty much everyone. As soon as Anne sees someone she recognizes, whether they are friends or acquaintances or coworkers, etc... we stop our shopping and have at least a 15 minute talk with them.

In America, I suppose it's a little rude to stop someone you barely know and talk for that long. It's considered a good thing to be social, but America has a very on-time culture. If you talk to someone that long in the supermarket or on the street, you might be making them late, and that is definitely frowned upon.

Because France has such a laid-back culture, this is rarely a problem. People love talking and socializing and having guests. I still remember my third day in France when I went to a dinner party with the Delenne's that lasted from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next morning. In my opinion, we were totally overstaying our welcome, but more than 6 months later, I realize that it's not rude at all. People love having guests and entertaining until all hours in the morning.

Now I realize why the French love their fire drills. They last a whole lot longer than American fire drills and they are a good way to get out of class for a while and catch up with your friends. Go ahead and socialize, and don't worry about an actual fire because really, how often are there actual fires in schools? haha - Just don't forget your soccer ball, and you'll be good to go!