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" One of the maddening things about being a foreigner in France is that hardly anyone in the rest of the world knows what's really happening here. They think Paris is a socialist museum where people are exceptionally good at eating small bits of chocolate and tying scarves. "

Pamela Druckerman

Good

Small

Think

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" Not many foreigners move to Paris for their dream job. Many do it on a romantic whim. "

" How hard or easy it is to raise kids, especially while working, is a big part of people's well-being everywhere. "

" I guess we're all supposed to get used to living in a more dangerous world. "

Pamela Druckerman

Dangerous

Used

" Eating among the French certainly affected me. After a few years here, I gave up most of my selective food habits. "

" The French aren't known for being hilarious. When I told Parisians I was interested in French humor, they'd say 'French what?' "

" I've gotten used to being a foreigner. "

" I'm not an early adopter. I'll only start wearing new styles of clothing once they're practically out of date, and I won't move into a neighborhood until it's fully saturated with upscale coffee shops. "

" And as a mother of three with a full-time job, podcasts gave me the illusion of having a vibrant social life. I was constantly 'meeting' new people. My favorite hosts started to seem like friends: I could detect small shifts in their moods and tell when they were flirting with guests. "

Pamela Druckerman

Job

Life

" Childhood and adolescence are nothing but milestones: You grow taller, advance to new grades, and get your period, your driver's license, and your diploma. Then, in your 20s and 30s, you romance potential partners, find jobs, and learn to support yourself. "

" When people used to ask me what I missed about America, I would say, 'The optimism.' I grew up in the land of hope, then moved to one whose catchphrases are 'It's not possible' and 'Hell is other people.' I walked around Paris feeling conspicuously chipper. "

" Just do what you want more often. Don't be so worried about what other people expect. "

" Discrimination was a problem before terrorism. Now, the bad deeds of a few people have made life worse for millions. "

" Parisiennes rarely walk around wearing the giant diamonds that are de rigueur in certain New York neighborhoods. "

" When I left for college, I put Miami behind me and tried to have a life of the mind. I got a graduate degree. I traveled. I even married a fellow writer, whose only real estate was a dingy one-bedroom apartment in Paris, where we lived. "

Pamela Druckerman

Mind

Real Estate

" Like practically everyone who grew up in Miami, I knew little about its history. We were more worried about mangoes falling on our cars. "

" Having lived in America and France, I've been on both sides of the picky-eating divide. "

" While I love walking past those beautifully lit bookstores in my neighborhood, what I mostly buy there are blank notebooks and last-minute presents for children's birthdays. "

" My husband is so upset by President Trump's scapegoating of immigrants and Muslims, he refuses to even visit the United States. "

" I gradually understood why European mothers aren't in perpetual panic about their work-life balance and don't write books about how executive moms should just try harder: Their governments are helping them - and doing it competently. "

" In my 40s, I expect to finally reap the average-looking girl's revenge. I've entered the stage of life where you don't need to be beautiful; simply by being well-preserved and not obese, I would now pass for pretty. "

" French schools follow a national curriculum that includes arduous surveys of French philosophy and literature. Frenchmen then spend the rest of their lives quoting Proust to one another, with hardly anyone else catching the references. "

" The French don't think everyone should have the same bank balance, but they're offended by extremes of inequality. "

" Remember that the problem with hyper-parenting isn't that it's bad for children; it's that it's bad for parents. "

" I always knew the French had a penchant for criticism and abstract thought. Usually, that just meant they complained a lot. "

" It's fine to discuss money in France, as long as you're complaining that you don't have enough, or boasting about getting a bargain. "

" I was scared to say I was in my 40s because at that point, it sounded really old, and to out myself as a middle-aged human - I felt very awkward about it. "

" Earnestness makes British people gag. "

" One of the great joys of a creative life is that your observations and loose moments aren't lost forever; they live in your work. "

" Every time I pass a cafe, I imagine it being stormed by men with Kalashnikovs. "