Oh, celestial sphere

Hello, going back to my days in Astronomy 1 freshman year of college! Anyways, just when I thought I had many of the subtle nuances of French culture down, nature has to go and throw me off my learning curve -- again.

You see, normally I pretty much got that people say bonsoir either when it's a.) dark or b.) the working day's over. And for the past few months, the two have usually been one in the same.

But now, with the approach of the vernal equinox in only two days (good riddance, winter!), our days here in the northern hemisphere are getting much longer. In fact, almost equal to the amount of time that is night. Which means, when I get off work (on the two days I work past/until 4 p.m.) it's still very bright and sunny outside. So wanting to take advantage of this weather that's slowly getting more and more dry and less and less chilly, I'm walking around much more. When I enter my humble abode after a full day of work and at least a solid hour at the gym, I can almost make dinner in full sunlight at 6:30 p.m. -- almost.

That's all going to change in a little under two weeks anyhow, when France finally hits on daylight savings times and jumps ahead one hour. Then it'll be sunny until 7:30 and beyond!

The only complaint/qualm I have with all of this is as follows: When's the appropriate time to say bonsoir now?! When I said hello to the people at the gym at 4 p.m. in broad daylight, they corrected my "bonjour" with a "bonsoir" in return.

Is it just me, or is there something wrong with saying "good evening" when there are still nearly three good hours left of sunshine?!

Well, at least I don't have to worry about the cultural importance of saying "good night" at 8 a.m. like they do in parts of Spain. Oh wait, I'll be there in about three weeks...