Friend #6 - Claire

The French Girl

Week 6. I wanted to share this article, unrelated but the best thing I’ve read this week about Iran.

Claire and I have been texting for weeks but weren’t able to meet until this weekend. She’s originally from Dijon, France but has been living in Miami for the past four months working in marketing for a real estate company.

She initially shares that she is going back to France at the end of December because her job is not what she was expecting.

“I feel like Miami is mainly for amusement,” she tells me.

“I agree, I feel that it’s hard to actually build something here,” I say.

She then admits that she can’t get over how many rules Americans have. I agree with her to an extent.

I tell her that I need to practice my French and we end up talking about the difference in dating dynamics in America versus France.

“In America, the concept of exclusivity is very different. In France, if you meet someone a few times, then you are a couple. There isn’t a big discussion about it,” she says.

“People also don’t know what they want here,” I reply.

“Of course and American women fuel the strange dating habits of American men. I think in France we are more simple, if you’re lonely why not spend time together?” says Claire.

The notion of gathering is also different in North America. In France, any day of the week, you can find someone to get a glass of wine with.

“Would you ever live in Paris?” I ask her.

“No, it’s too busy and the people are stressed,” she says.

Claire is a cinema lover and we finish the evening by watching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The theatre in Miami is undeniably fancy and we agree to meet again for a drink later in the week.