Monday, September 24, 2007
Zut Alors!
French. So we went out with a whole bunch of Americans the other night. It was a really good time, but it was striking how few of the people actually spoke French. They sort of just did what I've been doing - rely on the goodwill of people walking around with you. For some reason this annoyed me. This is totally hypocritical; I've been doing this since I arrived in France. Maybe it was the idea that they weren't even trying despite the fact that everyone around them was speaking French. Maybe it was scary to see the stereotypical American in the context of a foreign culture. I don't know. Anyway, I'm now pretty determined to learn this damn language.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Random Sunday Morning Thoughts.
Wow. It's been awhile since I've written anything. My bad. But back to my bullet point method of talking about stuff...
USA. So Ashley and I went to Nyon the other day, which is this little beach town east of Geneva right on the lake. We were walking with the pups and came across a couple little kids who took a liking to our dogs. Ashley started speaking to them immediately, always enjoying talking about Beulah and Kody. Anyway, midway through the conversation, Ashley paused to say something to me in our native tongue. The little kids were surprised that she spoke English and asked if we were from the U.K. She said, "No... we're actually from the United States." The kids had a blank look on their face and responded, "You mean England?" Ashley tried again, "No, I mean America; have you ever heard of America?" The kids shook their heads. I don't like to think that the U.S. is the center of the world, but it's funny to imagine a ten-year-old would not have heard of us. Our culture is everywhere around here - from Friends, to Coca Cola, to McDonald's. Our President is one of the more controversial figures in the world. Our companies are stocking French stores with goods and services. Perhaps they thought that Joey just always spoke in French.
Dryer. So we don't have a clothes dryer. Why? Well, first of all, one didn't come with the apartment. Secondly, they're crazy expensive... especially in light of the fact that the dollar is now on par with the Canadian dollar (!??) Third, it's not the custom over here. You see people living in really nice houses with really nice cars in the driveway, but also with drying racks on their terrace and clotheslines in their back yard. I think it has something to do with conservation. Dryers use up a *ton* of energy and perhaps this is a way for people to reduce their environmental footprint. (It should also be noted that we don't have air conditioning. In fact, central AC is now prohibited in the Geneva building code.) Anyway, so we now have our clothes hanging on drying racks on our terrace.
Mont Blanc. So I don't know if I've conveyed just how impressive this mountain is. It tops out at a little over 15,000 feet, which makes it taller than any of the mountains in the lower 48 States. But more than that, it's surrounded by land that's barely above sea level. That means you can see it from many miles away - from our terrace, for instance. (See photo to the right.) You can also see it while you're driving... and it's super distracting - sort of like that situation where the stereotypical guy sees a really attractive woman walking down the street and he rear-ends the car in front of him. What makes it more striking is that there are many days when you can't see it. (The mountain is about 60 miles away, so it's often obscured by clouds or haze.) You forget that it's there, and then all of a sudden, BAM!, you have this ginormous mountain right in front of you.
UDC. So there's this political party in Switzerland called the UDC and it's running largely on a platform calling for limited immigration. Those sorts of movements seem to exist all over western Europe now... but few of them have been so blatant to as to call out those immigrants with darker skin. The image on the right was plastered all over Geneva when we first arrived and it's created enormous backlash among the more liberal and centrist Swiss citizens. Shortly after they were posted, you'd stuggle to find one without graffiti all over it. That's a good sign. Still, Geneva (and the French speaking Swiss minority) is much more liberal than the rest of the country... so it scares me that such hateful and discriminatory policy has come into the mainstream. The most hilarious thing - juxtapose the image on the right with the little smiling sunshine logo that carries the name of the party. Sort of says, "just kick out the darkies and then it will be sunshine and rainbows for all of us." How ridiculous.
Oh, and before I let you go, just a short video to prove that I'm alive and well.
USA. So Ashley and I went to Nyon the other day, which is this little beach town east of Geneva right on the lake. We were walking with the pups and came across a couple little kids who took a liking to our dogs. Ashley started speaking to them immediately, always enjoying talking about Beulah and Kody. Anyway, midway through the conversation, Ashley paused to say something to me in our native tongue. The little kids were surprised that she spoke English and asked if we were from the U.K. She said, "No... we're actually from the United States." The kids had a blank look on their face and responded, "You mean England?" Ashley tried again, "No, I mean America; have you ever heard of America?" The kids shook their heads. I don't like to think that the U.S. is the center of the world, but it's funny to imagine a ten-year-old would not have heard of us. Our culture is everywhere around here - from Friends, to Coca Cola, to McDonald's. Our President is one of the more controversial figures in the world. Our companies are stocking French stores with goods and services. Perhaps they thought that Joey just always spoke in French.
Dryer. So we don't have a clothes dryer. Why? Well, first of all, one didn't come with the apartment. Secondly, they're crazy expensive... especially in light of the fact that the dollar is now on par with the Canadian dollar (!??) Third, it's not the custom over here. You see people living in really nice houses with really nice cars in the driveway, but also with drying racks on their terrace and clotheslines in their back yard. I think it has something to do with conservation. Dryers use up a *ton* of energy and perhaps this is a way for people to reduce their environmental footprint. (It should also be noted that we don't have air conditioning. In fact, central AC is now prohibited in the Geneva building code.) Anyway, so we now have our clothes hanging on drying racks on our terrace.
Mont Blanc. So I don't know if I've conveyed just how impressive this mountain is. It tops out at a little over 15,000 feet, which makes it taller than any of the mountains in the lower 48 States. But more than that, it's surrounded by land that's barely above sea level. That means you can see it from many miles away - from our terrace, for instance. (See photo to the right.) You can also see it while you're driving... and it's super distracting - sort of like that situation where the stereotypical guy sees a really attractive woman walking down the street and he rear-ends the car in front of him. What makes it more striking is that there are many days when you can't see it. (The mountain is about 60 miles away, so it's often obscured by clouds or haze.) You forget that it's there, and then all of a sudden, BAM!, you have this ginormous mountain right in front of you.
UDC. So there's this political party in Switzerland called the UDC and it's running largely on a platform calling for limited immigration. Those sorts of movements seem to exist all over western Europe now... but few of them have been so blatant to as to call out those immigrants with darker skin. The image on the right was plastered all over Geneva when we first arrived and it's created enormous backlash among the more liberal and centrist Swiss citizens. Shortly after they were posted, you'd stuggle to find one without graffiti all over it. That's a good sign. Still, Geneva (and the French speaking Swiss minority) is much more liberal than the rest of the country... so it scares me that such hateful and discriminatory policy has come into the mainstream. The most hilarious thing - juxtapose the image on the right with the little smiling sunshine logo that carries the name of the party. Sort of says, "just kick out the darkies and then it will be sunshine and rainbows for all of us." How ridiculous.Oh, and before I let you go, just a short video to prove that I'm alive and well.
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