so there's this thing called tecktonic in france that is really popular, mais à mon avis un peu awesome. it's everywhere and when the weather was warmer (as in a high of something other than 0) one could always find the lycéens with their ipods blaring, showing off their moves in several spots across town. the song is by yelle, a popular female rapper. watch the video and check out the sweet fanny pack. i suppose i should temper the shock now and let all of you back in the states know that i've adopted the tecktonic style and will be entering my first dance off this weekend at the discotheque. wish me luck!
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11.29.2007
11.22.2007
et la grève continue…
tuesday marked the seventh day of the transit strike, the sixth day of the blockage at my university, and the first day of the civil servant strike. the first two pictures below are from the civil servant protest. the third is just one of the many doors at the university which are blocked. the fourth is a sign the protesting students have hung prudently stating that no, france is not america.
11.15.2007
une gentille bienvenue.
as i walked in the dark, frigid cold to the university this morning, i was greeted by several students at the gate who told me that the university was bloqué (literally blocked). maybe it was because it was so early, but it didn't really sink into my head right at that moment. there were many students standing blocking the door into the center of campus, from which all the classrooms are accessible. that's where i found two other girls from the LC program. we thought we could outsmart them and just go in a different entrance, which we did. once we were on the campus, we realized that all the doors to classrooms were chained and padlocked shut. that's when i realized they were not messing around. for better or for worse, the department in which i have classes (french as a foreign language) was not blocked so i had the joy of sitting through 4 hours of class.
i don't completely understand all the political nuances or the many fliers passed out in french but what i've gathered is that the sarkozy administration wants to privatize the french university system. right now it is run by the state and is relatively cheap and affordable. but, according to some of the propaganda, 1 in 2 students is forced to work to put themselves through school. students are also worried about the social effects of privatization which would make class differences more evident and essentially shut the university doors to some students. do they have any idea of the situation in the states? i have no idea.
while i'm all about rebellion and making a statement to get things changed, this seems more ineffective than anything. this act is punishing students who want to learn and do their work. i should say as well that it is only a small percentage of students who are actually protesting. it doesn't seem to be having any success either as many politicians, including the minister of higher education, are dismissing the blockage of 30 universities as a political statement with communist leanings.
as a foreign student, it is a lovely welcome. i'm here to learn the language and become acquainted with the culture, but it appears that local students would rather i not. it's hard enough that many french students are rather standoffish and not all that friendly, but then when i get harassed for or even prevented from going to class and trying to integrate into the culture, it seems a losing battle. i can only hope they realize the inefficacy of this little stunt, and sooner rather than later, seeing that i have final presentations in a month.
p.s. the last time this happened in 2006, the university in nancy was blocked for 3 weeks.
i don't completely understand all the political nuances or the many fliers passed out in french but what i've gathered is that the sarkozy administration wants to privatize the french university system. right now it is run by the state and is relatively cheap and affordable. but, according to some of the propaganda, 1 in 2 students is forced to work to put themselves through school. students are also worried about the social effects of privatization which would make class differences more evident and essentially shut the university doors to some students. do they have any idea of the situation in the states? i have no idea.
while i'm all about rebellion and making a statement to get things changed, this seems more ineffective than anything. this act is punishing students who want to learn and do their work. i should say as well that it is only a small percentage of students who are actually protesting. it doesn't seem to be having any success either as many politicians, including the minister of higher education, are dismissing the blockage of 30 universities as a political statement with communist leanings.
as a foreign student, it is a lovely welcome. i'm here to learn the language and become acquainted with the culture, but it appears that local students would rather i not. it's hard enough that many french students are rather standoffish and not all that friendly, but then when i get harassed for or even prevented from going to class and trying to integrate into the culture, it seems a losing battle. i can only hope they realize the inefficacy of this little stunt, and sooner rather than later, seeing that i have final presentations in a month.
p.s. the last time this happened in 2006, the university in nancy was blocked for 3 weeks.
11.05.2007
le petit voyage de sarkozy.
so yesterday my host dad made some sort of joke about how he ordered a child from chad about 10 days ago but it hasn't arrived yet. i didn't get it at the time but it alerted me that something had to be going on. then on the news this morning there was a story but all i really caught from the reporters who talk a mile a minute was chad, sarkozy, and spain. ah the joys of trying to function in a foreign country.
then in my class this morning we were working on oral comprehension and listened to a radio newscast from last night. after 4 times through and hashing out the information as a class with the professor, i had a better understanding of the situation, but it still didn't quite make sense. i now knew that sarko had flown his private plan to chad yesterday to rescue 3 french journalists and 4 spanish stewardesses who were charged with child trafficking. in the aftermath there were manifestations or protests {but when are there not?} in paris and the socialist party leaders are calling for an investigation into why sarko paid special attention to these individuals when there is so much other suffering in the world.
when i came home for lunch i tried to find an article in english so i could sort everything out, but to my astonishment, of the large news sites i frequent none of them had yet to post a story about it. i finally found an article article on the wall street journal's site by nidra poller who is an american living in paris.
finally the details were becoming clearer. so eric breteau, a frenchman, started this ngo called l'arche de zoé {very close to l'arche de noé-noah's arch} to save the children of the world. rather high expectations for a first timer. so he decides to 'save' the children of darfur by importing them to european families who are desperate to adopt. so breteau manages to get tons of money from these families and embarks on his mission to chad along with a spanish flight crew and several french journalists to document the whole thing. then things turn sour when local chiefs in chad start bribing families to give up their children and telling them they will attend an islamic school in the nation's capital. it turns out that of the 103 kids only a dozen or so were actually from darfur. many of the rest weren't even orphans, but rather bribed away from their families (allegedly).
on october 25, the group was about to take off for france to deliver the kids to anxiously awaiting families. alas, the plane never arrived. the french organizers, journalists, and spanish flight crew were taken into custody before the plane ever took off and the 103 toddlers are still trying to be sorted out and returned to their respective families. fast forward to yesterday, and good old sarko arrives in chad for a surprise visit. he speaks with the president and a few hours later, 3 of the journalists and 4 of the flight crew are on sarko's plane back to europe.
in all of this it wasn't really the hypocritical publicity stunt sarko pulled by rescuing the cute girls who may well be accomplices to international crimes opposed to his own conservative views on immigration. what angers me more is the lack of response from the american media. i thought for sure they would take every chance they got to jump all over the french and criticize them. hello, fox are you still there? or have you finally disappeared into the shadows in my departed time from the not so united states? wait, what's wrong with me? oh right, i forgot, the US prefers to pretend darfur doesn't exist. hang on, what's darfur again?
then in my class this morning we were working on oral comprehension and listened to a radio newscast from last night. after 4 times through and hashing out the information as a class with the professor, i had a better understanding of the situation, but it still didn't quite make sense. i now knew that sarko had flown his private plan to chad yesterday to rescue 3 french journalists and 4 spanish stewardesses who were charged with child trafficking. in the aftermath there were manifestations or protests {but when are there not?} in paris and the socialist party leaders are calling for an investigation into why sarko paid special attention to these individuals when there is so much other suffering in the world.
when i came home for lunch i tried to find an article in english so i could sort everything out, but to my astonishment, of the large news sites i frequent none of them had yet to post a story about it. i finally found an article article on the wall street journal's site by nidra poller who is an american living in paris.
finally the details were becoming clearer. so eric breteau, a frenchman, started this ngo called l'arche de zoé {very close to l'arche de noé-noah's arch} to save the children of the world. rather high expectations for a first timer. so he decides to 'save' the children of darfur by importing them to european families who are desperate to adopt. so breteau manages to get tons of money from these families and embarks on his mission to chad along with a spanish flight crew and several french journalists to document the whole thing. then things turn sour when local chiefs in chad start bribing families to give up their children and telling them they will attend an islamic school in the nation's capital. it turns out that of the 103 kids only a dozen or so were actually from darfur. many of the rest weren't even orphans, but rather bribed away from their families (allegedly).
on october 25, the group was about to take off for france to deliver the kids to anxiously awaiting families. alas, the plane never arrived. the french organizers, journalists, and spanish flight crew were taken into custody before the plane ever took off and the 103 toddlers are still trying to be sorted out and returned to their respective families. fast forward to yesterday, and good old sarko arrives in chad for a surprise visit. he speaks with the president and a few hours later, 3 of the journalists and 4 of the flight crew are on sarko's plane back to europe.
in all of this it wasn't really the hypocritical publicity stunt sarko pulled by rescuing the cute girls who may well be accomplices to international crimes opposed to his own conservative views on immigration. what angers me more is the lack of response from the american media. i thought for sure they would take every chance they got to jump all over the french and criticize them. hello, fox are you still there? or have you finally disappeared into the shadows in my departed time from the not so united states? wait, what's wrong with me? oh right, i forgot, the US prefers to pretend darfur doesn't exist. hang on, what's darfur again?
11.02.2007
novembre.
with the crisp snap of the air, the appearance of christmas lights and advent calendars, and the smell of roasting chestnuts in the streets, i can feel the impending christmas season. with the lack of thanksgiving to officially kick off the holiday season, it seems the french get a head start. and from what i understand, christmas is a pretty big deal around here. the streets are already decked out with overhead lights and decorations. i'll admit being irritated by the appearance of christmas decorations in US stores before halloween, but here i'm actually really excited. nancy has a huge parade with st. nicolas and fireworks the first weekend of december. nearly every town or village has a marché de noël or christmas market with food specialities, books, decorations, and other treasures which usually start in november and run through christmas. i also love the process of choosing gifts for people, and this year, living with 6 kids and 2 great parents, i've got a lot of work to do.
i also found out the hard way that photographs are illegal in french cemeteries. yesterday was jour de toussaints {all saints' day}. It's traditional to visit the graves of loved ones and place flowers. since it isn't widely celebrated in the states i was rather intrigued by it. i walked over to the large cemetery de notre dame which is near my house. it was a beautiful, sunny, fall afternoon and i brought my camera. after i snapped one shot, i was quickly told by one of the guards that pictures are illegal. luckily he let me off with just a warning. there was an older woman walking behind me and after the guard drove off she asked me if he had told me not to take pictures. i said yes and she seemed shocked and thought it was ridiculous as i did. she said ah well, they're just graves, what's the big deal? i passed her again on the other side of the cemetery and she shot me a little smile. at least someone is on my side.
{rue henri poincaré}
i also found out the hard way that photographs are illegal in french cemeteries. yesterday was jour de toussaints {all saints' day}. It's traditional to visit the graves of loved ones and place flowers. since it isn't widely celebrated in the states i was rather intrigued by it. i walked over to the large cemetery de notre dame which is near my house. it was a beautiful, sunny, fall afternoon and i brought my camera. after i snapped one shot, i was quickly told by one of the guards that pictures are illegal. luckily he let me off with just a warning. there was an older woman walking behind me and after the guard drove off she asked me if he had told me not to take pictures. i said yes and she seemed shocked and thought it was ridiculous as i did. she said ah well, they're just graves, what's the big deal? i passed her again on the other side of the cemetery and she shot me a little smile. at least someone is on my side.
{rue henri poincaré}
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