-1 Floor...???

One of the few things that foreigners fail to adapt to in France is the funny 'floor system.' In Asia, or Thailand and Korea I should say, the ground floor is often labelled 'L' for lobby, or 'G' for ground, but we usually call the 'ground floor'... the 1st floor. However, in France we call it '0' (zero) floor as you can see in the image above (a typical French elevator). Although, this little thing does not seem much, it can cause quite a bit of a problem at times. My first day at the Alliance Francaise didn't quite begin the way I wanted... because of this 'floor system.' I was told my class was on the 3rd floor... and in Thailand or Korea, that would be 2 floors above the ground floor... (1, 2, and then THREE) I ended up on the SECOND FLOOR according to the French system. It was actually supposed to be (0, 1, 2, and THREE).

Another funny thing is when you go below ground... the first floor below basement is called '-1' floor... haha. So you would need to first press the 'negative' (-) button, then 1 if you took the elevator in the picture. Very Logic and simple thinking, but its something very new for an Asian to adapt to. Vraiment bizarre ca....