Archive for October, 2006
Sunday, October 29th, 2006
Sinister Sarko
When Nicolas Sarkozy introduced the new ’selective immigration’ policy - it was done in the name of protecting French jobs.
If jobs were the issue then students should have been exempt from any restrictions. However there is a stark contrast this year in Strasbourg compared with last. At Université Populaire student numbers [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart
Friday, October 27th, 2006
Jacques’ legacy
With next year’s presidential elections pending, newspaper editorials have been pontificating over the Chirac years. Most seem to be in agreement: that Jacques has achieved little of note in his two tenures as president of the Republic. The only thing they seem to universally thank him for is not involving France in the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart
Tuesday, October 24th, 2006
High Sewing
That’s the literal translation of ‘haute couture’ - which is a French term that we Anglophones use to refer to dead posh fashion design.
The French too like to steal the odd bit of English to spice up their fashion lines. Here’s a few I have spotted around Strasbourg:
Narkotic Wear - for when you need [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart
Monday, October 23rd, 2006
The hand-held microphone is not dead
While on British television the hand-held microphone might be considered a thing of the distant past - the French seem to have a perpetual obsession with it.
These somewhat phallic (yet colourful) objects feature most prominently during the coverage of live sporting events. Not just on the field of play though; if the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart
Friday, October 20th, 2006
The cabaret channel(s)
As much as we complain in the UK that the quality of television programming has declined beyond all recognition; in France the situation is far worse.
Given that it is the only country in which French-speaking programmes are made - the channels have very little choice in what they air. So there is a heavy [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart
Sunday, October 15th, 2006
EU or UE?
What makes acronyms even more confusing is the French’s habit of referring to every internationally recognised acronym by it’s French equivalent. [EG - in France the killer disease is not 'AIDS' - it's 'SIDA'.]
So when referring to the European Union you have to remember to swap the letters around to UE for L’Union Européen; [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart
Thursday, October 12th, 2006
Mind your acronyms
While setting myself up in France I’ve had to deal with many things, one of which I am still getting to grips with: acronyms.
Not only have I had to inform INSEE, CIPAV and URSSAF of my business practice, but also RSI and CAF for insurance and family allowance. I’ve now have SIRET, SIREN, TVA [...]
