native encounters

1. Today I was waiting at the tram stop to meet my new friend Alexandra, and a man came up to me and asked in French, "What are you doing today?" (I thought), so I responded "Oh, I'm waiting for a friend." And then he looked all disgruntled and said something about "How is the day," so I said, "It's a very nice day..." and then he said, "I'm married you know, I just like to talk to people... blah blah french." And I looked confused and I figured he must have thought I was waiting for my boyfriend and thought he was hitting on me, and he left. But then he came back and said, "In fact, I think you're not very respectful." And then I stammered in French and he said, "Oh you don't speak French?" and seemed to not be mad anymore, but then he asked if my friend was French and said it would never work out.

BUT the point of that story is that he didn't know I'm not French (or at least a real French-speaker) until halfway through our conversation!

2. Then later this afternoon, while Alexandra and I were in line for gelato, a girl came up to me and said she loved my shoes and asked where I got them. I got to feel all exotic when I said, "Oh en fait, je les ai achetées aux États-Unis," or "In fact, I bought them in the U.S." But she asked for the brand so she could find them. So, that's me. French style icon.