- A question of time? If so, how long? A month? Six?
- A question of knowledge? For example, if I know the best restaurants to eat at depending on the amount wanting to be spent or the cuisine to be eaten, or if I know how to navigate the metro without help from another person.
- Development of a routine? For example, regular visits to the gym, the supermarket, language classes, etc.
- A combination of these?
- Something else?
And on an unrelated note, I have my first PT (personal training) gig this Friday morning. Woo! I'll let you know how it goes.
4 comments:
the second you start going to the gym in france, you're a frenchie.
at least being a PT will give you an opportunity to indulge your love of gawking at (i mean, interacting with) french ladies.
dibs on your akubra ^_^
Mate, i've been living here in Shanghai for 4 years and i consider myslef to be a genuine ex-pat but by no means a local. i have all your aforementioned qualities (talk the talk, no less) but still no dice. actually a hallmark an expat's arrogance on his/her newly adoped home is when one looks at other foreigners and regards them with distaste. just remember that they are thinking the same thing looking at you!
one breakthrough that happened to me the other day was when i was talking about the Sichuan earthquake with some fellow (local) building-residents and when a delivery man expressed his suprise at my knowledge of the event (i did feel the damn thing!) but also my ability to talk about it, my fellow residents said "this is our foreigner!" so maybe the LOCAL title may never be achieved but when they claim you, as opposed to you claiming them, then you have something special.
Something that makes me FEEL like a local in a place is when i go to a coffee shop or a bar and they know what I want without me having to say anything... After a while i change my order to keep them on their toes :)
Before I read Benedict's response, I thought that local was defined as living in the area (permanently, not just staying with friends) so that you know all the hidden delights of your area... but I suppose that's a suburbian local if you're from the same country. After reading Benedict's response, I change my mind. I suppose you also need to be fluent in the local language... even living in the US, it took me a year or so to perfect an accent so that nobody could tell I was from 'the outback'... perhaps being able to hold a conversation with a Parisian stranger on the street is the definer!
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