建物はオスマン調と呼ばれ、（名前は昔のジョルジュ・オスマン知事が由来、詳細はここをご参照）１９世紀に建てられました。古い建物なのでエアコンはもちろんありません。また本当かどうかは知りませんが、聞いた話ではエアコンの室外機が景観を損なうので、多くの建物はエアコンがありません。だけどフランスの夏は日本と違い、わりと過ごしやすいので窓を開ければ快適。
ここから本題に入ります。私もオフィスも窓を開けているので、隣の話声は全て丸聞こえです（＾＾；喧嘩した日にはこっちが怒られている気分になりま す・・・そう、あまりにも近いので、私は料理をする時にはあっちに臭いがいかないよう、窓を閉めていました。だけど、それをＥに話したら「日本人だねぇ」 と言われ、少し文化について考えさせてくれました。フランスはどちらかと言うと個人主義のため、他を気にし過ぎると馬鹿を見るという考えをもつ人が多いようで、まぁ、日本とは正反対の考えと言えるでしょう。そこで、私は友人の意見を聞いてみることにしました。結果はアメリカ人とアメリカの帰国子女の友人は そんなの気にすることはないと。インド系シンガポール人は私の配慮に感動し、アイルランド人は私が疑問に思い始めたことは私がヨーロッパ人化していると、 そしてフランス人は窓に関しては隣人との戦争であると。様々な意見が興味深く、また窓一つでこんなに話が膨らむことが面白かったです。
結果としては、私は「郷に入れば郷に従え」ということで、その後は窓を開けたまま料理することにしました。
The apartment I live in has a courtyard in the middle of the building, and all windows face this courtyard so my kitchen window is diagonal to my neighbor's window. We are a mere meter away from each other. As for my neighbor, they are a famous shoe company.
The building is called Haussmanian (name comes from a former mayor, Georges Haussman, details can be found here) and was built in the 19th century. It's an old building so of course there are no built in AC (air conditioner). From what I heard, which I am not sure is true, is that the AC's exterior machine is deemed to impair the scenery so many buildings do not have AC. However French summers are mild compared to Japan so opening a window will just do.
Now, here comes the main topic. As both the office next door and I open our windows, I can hear everything that's going on :| And when they fight, I feel as though I am actually the one being yelled at...! Yes, we are so close that I thought it was only appropriate to close the window when I cooked so that the smell wouldn't bother them. However when I told that to E, he said "you really are Japanese" which made me start to think about cultures. France is rather individualistic and apparently many people think that you will get the short end of the straw if you think too much about others. Which is well, the exact opposite of Japan. So I decided to ask the opinions of my friends on this matter. The results were: my American friend and Japanese returnees from the U.S. said that I shouldn't worry about my neighbor. My Indian Singaporean friend was moved by my consideration, an Irish friend said that I was becoming more European because I am starting to have second thoughts about my actions, and a French friend said that it is war when it comes to window related issues with her neighbors. I found all the different comments interesting and amused that one window can develop into a whole conversation!
Finally, I decided to go with the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" and from then on I keep my window open when I cook.
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