Avranches

Last Friday, I went to Avranches with Hélène, where she is doing her student teaching in the local high school. She invited me to a dinner hosted by her students who were raising money for a ski trip to the Alps.

It was a very interesting and wee bit hilarious evening. It was, however, not exactly like any high school dinner/fundraiser I'd ever seen in the USA.

Let's start with the commonalities:

People in rural areas, whether in the US or France, have no idea how to dress/put on make-up.
People in rural areas tend to be a bit heavier than city folk.
There are always people who live in the country but try to act like they come from the ghetto.
People from small towns are à la fois close-minded and welcoming.

A few notable differences:

Alcohol is served at the dinner.
Parents don't care if their kids are outside smoking or drinking.
A dinner means dinner: apéro, main dish, cheese, dessert, café.
Songs with vulgar lyrics are not banned. For example, a song about smoking a big joint or touching "la chatte."
There is no prayer before the meal. Church and state do NOT mix here!
The dinner/dance lasts until at least 2am.
Students come not in cars but on scooters.

Autumn Leaves

I've taken a long break from blogging. I really haven't had the time and still don't, but this is another excuse to avoid reality for a few minutes.

The fall months have flown by with the speed of a TGV. Faster even. I feel as if I've just arrived, and yet here it is the end of November. The principal reason for this blur of a season has mostly been due to my work. I've taken on quite a bit more this year than last, so it hasn't been all cafés and clopes like last year. I'm teaching 5 classes and have all of the responsibilities of a lecturer, which means roughly 35 hours a week at work, not counting the grading and prep time. Eh oui! Ca bosse!

My work life has been intense, as has my personal life. I've met new friends, reconnected with friends from last year, and yes, I've even met a boy. A lovely law student who kept me busy and smiling for over a month. Things between us right now are not quite so great. Our collective stress and neurosis have led us to take a break, and I'm not sure what will come of this, but whatever the result, I'm glad he has been around, and I hope he will remain a part of my life here, even if only as a friend.

Thanksgiving is almost here, and I miss my family and friends terribly. It is difficult knowing that they will all be together, having fun, eating my grandma's delicious stuffing, laughing... I'll be home for Christmas at least, so that will make up for missing them this week.

Meanwhile, I've got two Thanksgiving dinners this week: one at the Richter's and the other with a bunch of friends and a few colleagues. They'll both be a blast, but it is going to be a stressful lead-up to the weekend. Cranberry relish, stuffing, pies, cakes, etc. Il y a de quoi faire!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

La lunette

Two weekends ago, I had a bit of an accident in my apartment. Nothing serious, just an inconvenience really. Saturday morning, I got up and made coffee as usual. While the coffee was brewing, I went to the restroom. I was still a bit tired and not fully functioning, so I decided to sit down on the porcelain throne. Not out of necessity, but rather out of laziness. I sat down normally. Well, perhaps with a bit more force than normal. As I came into contact with the seat, I heard a pop and promptly slid off to the left, arms flailing, catching myself before I landed on the floor. I was now wide awake! I had popped the seat right off the toilet, breaking the cheap plastic clasps clean off!

Instead of going to the market, which was my original plan for the morning, I decided I had better head to Leclerc and get a new lunette, which is what the Frenchies call a toilet seat. I rode to the store, wandered around a bit, and finally found the aisle with bathroom furnishings. There were only two choices, both of which were over 35 euros, so I decided to put it off and deal with squatting for a few days.

On Sunday I called my friend Hélène and asked her if it would be possible to go to Leroy Merlin (a kind of Lowe's or Home Depot) at some point in the week. She, as usual, was more than willing to lend a hand, though she couldn't stop laughing at me and how I broke the thing!

On Wednesday, we went and I got a new, sturdier seat for only 10 euros! I was pleased. After we had finished, she dropped me (and my new toilet seat) off at the university. Needless to say, my colleagues asked lots of questions and, naturally, had a nice laugh at my expense. After I was done working, my toilet seat and I took the bus home, receiving strange looks from people along the way. "Why is he getting on the bus at the university with a toilet seat?" "Is that really a toilet seat he's got in the seat next to him?"

After arriving at home, I immediately installed the new seat and took it for a test spin. Solid, roomy, doesn't pinch: perfect!

Two days later, I closed the seat cover to sit down and put on my socks, which I usually do in the living room, but since I had a new, sturdy toilet seat, I thought, "Why not?" I got one sock on and as I bent over to put the other one on, shifting my weight, I heard a creak. A few milliseconds later...pop pop pop!! The effing seat exploded beneath me and into the toilet! So, needless to say, I will soon be taking another trip to Leroy Merlin for yet another toilet seat.

This is all that's left of the lid after my FA got done with it...

Photos

I put photos on my blog from time to time, but I have the rest of my photos on Picasaweb, so if you want to see where I spend my time, what I've seen, etc., feel free to check them out here

L'Administration française

France is a highly centralized country and is often considered to be the birth place of modern bureaucracy. As a foreigner who works for the Ministry of Education (my official employer), I've had the privilege of dealing with lots of administrative agencies.

Today, my carte de séjour, the piece of paper I need to be allowed to live and work in France, expires. As such, I had to renew my card yesterday. I should have gone before, in case there was a problem, but I was waiting for documents to arrive from HR at the university, which was waiting for documents to arrive from the ANAEM (the agency that deals with foreign workers in France). I never received the documents. To be fair, I never knew which documents I actually needed, since every time I asked someone I got a different answer. Oh, the joys of complicated and constantly changing administrative procedures!!

Yesterday morning, I got up early, ran down the street to have identity photos taken in the lobby of a grocery store (a machine, not just a random person who takes photos in the lobby), and then hopped on the bus to go to the Préfecture. I arrived at 9:05 (it opens at 9:00) and found a line out the door. I thought to myself: "If I wait three hours and don't have the right documents, I'm going to kill someone!" Once inside, I took a number, found a seat, and waited. There were people everywhere. I probably heard 10 different languages. Slavic, Asian, Arabic, and random African dialects. Some people were there to renew cards, to get one for the first time, to apply for asylum. Others, French, were there to get titles for their cars, get a driver's license, renew their ID cards. If you think the BMV is chaotic, you should visit a Prefecture.

After about an hour, my number was called and I nervously approached the window. I greeted the woman working very politely and with a big smile. Every little bit helps! I explained that I came with every document I was able to acquire. I was missing the authorization to work, but she told me just to send it as soon as I got it. Lovely woman! She could have refused me, and then that would really have complicated things. But she didn't! I had my provisional card, a récépissé, within 5 minutes (see photo above)! As such, I remain a legal immigrant in France.

Grocery Shopping

I don't own a car in France. I thought about buying a clunker, but decided against it because of the administrative nightmares that buying a car would entail. As such, I have three principal modes of transportation in and around Rennes: Pumas, buses/metro, and my bike. In general, I'm more than happy with my urban, environmentally-friendly modes of transport. There are two situations, however, that lead me to dream of my Versa and how nice it would be if I could have brought it with me: inclimate weather and grocery shopping.

Living in the center of town, I have a few options for food. I can go to small superettes near my house which are convenient, but there is little selection and the prices are high. I can go to larger, high-end supermarkets in-town like Galeries Lafayette, but they are even more expensive and entail schlepping groceries back to my apartment. The other option is to go out of the center to an hypermarché, where the selection is good and the prices low, though schlepping is still involved. For last minute necessities, I'll go to a superette, but for my main shopping, I prefer the hyper outside the center. One problem: the distance.

Before I had a bike, I took the bus to go shopping. I had to walk to the end of my street and hop on, ride for 20 minutes and hop off right in front of the store. Not too bad, except waiting for the bus and the time of travel usually made going to the store at minimum a 2 hour affair. While this was a bit annoying, it allowed me to stock up and get lots of food for little money. Now that I have a bike though, things have changed.

The Leclerc super-store closest to my place is just a 5 minute ride west along the river. No need to wait for the bus and no long ride. Perfect, right? Well almost. There is one obvious problem with grocery shopping and transporting the goods home by bike: the bike. Now I've got a system worked out where I fill up my saddle bags and once they're full, I stop. Normally this allows for a decent amount of groceries, but nowhere near as many as I could get when taking the bus. Every once in a while though, there is a problem with my system. I don't follow the system, and I get too much. This occurred yesterday evening.

I decided to stock up on some staple items since I had nothing in my place and went a bit crazy. I had the saddle bags full as well as a full reusable grocery bag. Oops! I was quite the spectacle in front of the store loading and reloading my bike. I spent about 15 minutes doing that and then spent another 5 minutes securing everything. People walked by, looked curiously, some doubtfully, but said nothing. This is a very French trait, by the way: Look curiously, stare critically, but say nothing. Mutter to yourself or someone you're with, but don't speak loud enough to be heard! I love it. Eventually, I got everything loaded and was on my way, down the dirt path along the river, steady, confident. I arrived without incident, proud of my logistical skills. There was just one problem to resolve: where to put all that toilet paper!

Health Care Reform

Watching the so-called debates on health care reform over the summer made me thankful that, for at least another year, I will be fully insured through the state run French system Assurance maladie.

The advantages of the system are without question: prices are low, everyone is covered, there are no long waits, people choose their doctors, and quality is excellent. The system is not perfect, but it seems to me that Americans could look to France as a model or starting point for a single-payer system in the USA. Opponents of single-payer systems often cite the UK and Canada, which are good systems, as reasons why we should avoid this type of solution because they have more problems with "rationing" and long waits. Are we so anti-French that we cannot admit that, for once, the French have gotten something right and their health care system actually is an example of good "socialized" medicine?

Another advantage of the French system, aside from the aforementioned cost and coverage benefits, is that a state-run system allows health officials to better prepare for pandemics like the H1N1 Flu. Upon arriving in France, posters and announcements greet citizens and tourists alike explaining symptoms and the proper course of action to take if such symptoms occur. These posters and announcements are in airports, train stations, buses, and other public places, as well as on TV and radio. If this really turns into a deadly pandemic, the French have the public health structures in place to rapidly and effectively deal with the problem, and since everyone is insured, people will not hesitate to take the proper steps to be treated. Will this be the case in the US?

This winter could teach Americans a lot about how well our health "system" works and how vulnerable ordinary people really are. Hopefully this is a lesson that can be learned without unnecessary loss of life.

Retour à Rennes

I was in Rennes on Monday, but for less than 24 hours. I went to Dijon on Tuesday morning to go see Julie, Sabine, Stéphane, Julien, and some other people at CIEF. I was a lovely trip. The weather was good, and I got to catch up with old friends.

The first two days I stayed in the dorm with Julie and the OSU students. The students were all scrambling to finish work at the last minute, so I helped Julie answer their questions, edit papers, etc. It was kind of fun to be working with French again, if only for a short while. I got a chance to talk with some students about their experiences: how was it, what do you miss about home, what drives you crazy about the French, etc. It was rather interesting. The biggest complaint for most students was convenience, which comes as no surprise since lots of things close in August. Some students complained about the food, but when I pressed them on this they admitted that they really hadn't tried much. I, of course, lectured them on the importance of diving in and trying new and "weird" things.

The following days were spent at my friend Julien's place, where we did little except watch "How I Met Your Mother" and eat and sleep. I needed to recharge my batteries, and he had had a long week at work, so it worked out well for both of us. He's a very nice guy, and it is always a pleasure to see him.

Throughout the week, I got to hang out with Sabine and Stéphane, who are quite simply two of the coolest people on the planet. We talk politics, culture, food, and usually do all that while eating or drinking. I brought them some micro-brew beers which I hope they'll like. They're both always looking to try a new beer, and I figured this was a good way to show them that not all American beer sucks (They only get Bud in France).

It is Sunday, and so I am doing nothing. I have to get used to everything being closed again. I still have to unpack and organize, so hopefully I'll at least get that done. I have no food, so I may have to bite the bullet and go to the one place that is open (all the way across town) and pay too much for a few basics to get be through tomorrow.

My week should be calm, but I have meetings and things to prepare at the university. We start classes next week, and I'm teaching two, so preparation is in order. I also have to go to the Prefecture to renew my carte de séjour this week. That will hopefully not be too much of a hassle!

Arrival in France

Well I'm back in France. The trip started out wonderfully. I arrived at Port Columbus and there was not a single person in line at the Continental desk, so I checked in with no stress. We arrived in Newark, NJ ahead of schedule and I had lots of time to kill, so I walked around, stepped outside and read some, and then went back through security. From there, I went to the duty-free store and browsed a bit. Totally normal.

We boarded our plane late, but it looked to me like we were going to get out without too much delay. As soon as we started to taxi, I saw a line of planes that must have been at least 15 planes long. We got in line and didn't move for 2 hours. Evidently hurricane Bill had caused the normal path to Europe to be closed, so all of the planes were waiting on a re-route. We eventually got it, but that meant we arrived in Paris over two hours late. Normally that wouldn't bug me too much, except I had booked a non-refundable 62 euro ticket on a train that was to leave at 10:27. By the time I got through immigration and got my bags, my TGV was long gone. Actually, I got to the station at the airport just 10 minutes after it left. Why does SNCF have to be on-time today!? I booked another ticket (59 more euros), and I'm waiting in the gare right now.

My dear friend Hélène was supposed to pick me up at the station in Rennes, but I called her (and woke her up) to let her know I wouldn't be there. Unfortunately, my phone had less battery than I thought, so I was unable to tell her exactly when I arrive. Hopefully she'll be there when I get to Rennes!

I'm surprisingly not that tired, thanks to a little Tylenol PM on the plane. I'm sure the train will rock me to sleep though. It always does. Even when I'm wide awake. I'm getting sleepy just thinking about it. Off to grab a tiny café!

Updates

I know there are millions of people out there just waiting for an update! I'm sorry about my negligence, but I do plan on trying to make a better effort this year about posting more often. Stay tuned!