In Paris, all signs and announcements were in French, of course. If they were also in a second language, it was English, and as a third language, they were sometimes in either Spanish or German. Here in Lille, almost all signs in the railway stations, etc. are in French, Dutch, and English, and the announcements over the PA system in the train stations are in French and Dutch and occasionally also in English. Lille is close to the Belgian border, of course, where the official languages are French, Dutch, and German, although only a minority speaks the third language as a native tongue. However, to the best of my knowledge, the language spoken across the border is French, and not many French-speaking Belgians, known as Walloons, speak Dutch.
Lille is a small city. I'm not sure what I'm going to do here for the next three days, but even if I sit around and read, it will be good, because it will give my leg a chance to rest and heal.
This city is certainly white compared to Paris. Paris is very multi-ethnic with lots of blacks, Arabs, Asians, etc. In Lille, almost everyone, surely 98% or so, looks European and white. As to my roommates, there are two Germans and one Chinese student who is studying in France and speaks good French and poor English. I am that only one who is able to carry on a conversation with everyone in the room. However, we didn't speak much last evening, as everyone was engrossed in reading.
The weather was damp with light rain when I arrived yesterday, and by evening it had gotten worse. It rained during the night, and it is still raining. The weather forecast calls for heavy rain this morning clearing toward noon. This youth hostel is closed during the day, so if it doesn't stop raining, walking around Lille today won't be pleasant, although I do have a rain poncho.
No comments:
Post a Comment