I’ve been in Paris for almost three years. Although my understanding of French culture isn’t as deep as my understanding of Hong Kong culture (after all, I lived in Hong Kong for seven years), I’ve noticed some differences in everyday life that I’d like to share here.
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Elevator doors
🇭🇰 In Hong Kong, the last person to enter an elevator presses the door-close button after stepping inside. If it’s crowded, whoever is standing next to the buttons will help press it. In short, everyone has an unspoken understanding and doesn’t want to waste even a second.
🇫🇷 I’ve been working at a company in France for eight months, and every time I take the elevator, I still have to resist the urge to press the door-close button. After everyone enters and says bonjour, the elevator suddenly falls silent. Only after a few seconds do the doors slowly close.
Eating at restaurants
🇭🇰 When you eat at a cha chaan teng in Hong Kong, a server will come to take your order within a minute of your sitting down, and the food arrives incredibly quickly. Once you finish eating, your dishes are whisked away at lightning speed. Sometimes, a server will start eyeing your bowl while there’s still a little food left. Once or twice, I’ve even had to rescue my plate from their hands because I hadn’t finished eating.
🇫🇷 A server will usually wait two or three minutes after you sit down before coming over to ask whether you’ve chosen your food. Getting a server’s attention depends entirely on making eye contact. Unless people are waiting outside, in which case those inside will generally finish eating and leave of their own accord, you can otherwise sit for as long as you like. After all, French people spend an average of an hour and a half eating, then another half hour chatting afterward.
Administrative speed
🇭🇰 In Hong Kong, administrative processes are always fast, and everything is handled according to the rules. My visa renewals were always processed quickly, although the staff in the Immigration Department building had terrible attitudes.
🇫🇷 Forget it—administrative slowness is notorious even among French people. It’s especially bad in département 94, where I live; renewing a residence permit is nothing short of a “disaster.” For example, I applied to renew my residence permit on July 4 last year. It wasn’t until December, with just over ten days left before my permit expired, that the approval certificate finally arrived. And that was only after I emailed them to say that if they didn’t renew it, I wouldn’t be able to keep working at my company. Otherwise, who knows when it would have arrived.
The reasons behind these differences
Here, it is necessary to introduce how different cultures approach time in cross-cultural communication. American sociologist Edward T. Hall proposed two concepts based on different ways of using time: monochronic and polychronic time.
Monochronic cultures (Northern Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America) tend to complete one task at a time. They are characterized by efficiency and focus, an emphasis on speed and punctuality, and a preference for following schedules. (The J types in MBTI.) Because of British influence, Hong Kong leans more toward this type of culture.
Polychronic cultures (Romance-language and Arab countries) tend to do many things at once. They are less punctual, value flexibility and adaptability, are more spontaneous, and change plans more readily. (The P types in MBTI.) France clearly belongs to this type of culture.