bye! later! see ya! peace out dude!

One of the things that I noticed right off the bat here in France is that when saying goodbye to someone, tons of people use a word from a different language. Italian! Forget saying au revoir, that's only for someone you don't know or have only just met. Everyone else uses Ciao. That is, until the other day in the office I heard the German guy talking on the phone (in German), his parting salutation? Cheers! I don't know why I was so stunned when he said it. Maybe because literally the whole converstaion had been in a language that I don't understand and then all of a sudden, ding! A word I know. But British English to end a German conversation? Italian to end a French one? I got to thinking that it is maybe because the French don't really have a off-kilter slang word for See ya! I mean, I'm sure the young, hip and with-it have their own saying, just like we all have our sayings with friends, but even walking on the street, the overwhelming favorite here is Ciao. It isn't just the French either, the word is used pretty much all over to familiarly say later dude. Just thought I'd keep you up with the hip and happening. Capishe?