Iraq invasion anniversary!
by joon
Let's gather on the waterfront at 1:30 pm. The March is at 2:30 pm!
Posted on March 19, 2006 | Comments (3)
Plus de photos...French protests
by joon
I miss French protests...
The violence coming from the protest are very important this time, but don't make confusions between the riots few months ago and protests. There are protest all year long, every two months sometimes but it has been a while, there was a huge like that! Violence are not always a part of them.
Posted on March 19, 2006 | Comments (1)
Protest in France / Manifestations en France
by joon
"Villepin (our prime minister), t'es foutu, les enfants sont dans la rue"
"Villepin, you are done, children are in the streets"
Et c'est reparti! En France, les manifestations s'accroissent et c'est tant mieux! En revanche, la violence qui a l'air de resulter apres les manifestations, je n'en sais pas assez dessus. J'imagine qu'il y a un peu de tout et n'importe quoi la dedans !
70% of the people are against this project.
If the government are not taking out this project, everyone is called at strike and it will be protests every tuesdays and thursdays.
And here we go! One year before the presidential, French are again in the street and it's good! Apparently, protest are everywhere and successful. Unfortunately, violence are also a part of some of the protest. I don't really know what is going on. It is possible that again, some come to just be violent. Well always the same problem.
But it is good for those protest to happen!
Pour lire un article du monde-If you want some news from the french newspaper "Le Monde"
Why are they protesting, because once more, our dear government is trying to pass a project ( CPE= Contrat premiere embauche) which is gonna " help" reducing unemployment, but once again, it is gonna be the people with nothing and students with no experience who are going to be victims! Once again, they will be used and will be working for nothing until their contract will be done and after we will tell them thank you good bye, sorry we can't keep you!
WEll, back to zero! Again. I have the impression, they just changing few words and they just proposing the same thing again and again!
Check some news and pictures here
Posted on March 19, 2006 | Comments (1)
Links...liens
by joon
Euh, est ce possible internautes, bloggers, bloggeuses de m'aider avec java script? Je veux mettre des liens sur le cote droit de mon blog a cote de mes ecrits! Je veux de l'aide! merci
Dear internet, bloggers, I want to learn how to add links on my blogs! I tried to go on internet and found out but me, no entiendo nada!
I wrote to mike and curt a long time ago and the link mike gave me for that was not working, and doesn't work still!
I actually would like have categories:
- Traditions et differences culturelles / cultural differences
- France : Societe/ society
- Voyages / Travel
- Chamallows
- Litterature, cinema et theatre
- Langues, langages et [fonetik]
- Chez moi, mon travail, ma vie / My home, my job, my life
- En vrac / Miscelleanous : TV, sport...
Posted on March 15, 2006 | Comments (1)
Some facts about homesick / Quelques faits a propos du mal de pays
by joon
When you live abroad, you have time of total no interest in things related with your country. it is not because you ignore it, it is just the fact that your life is here and you don't think about it, that's all.
And you have those moments of obsessions. They are always coming when you don't expect it. They always will be started from a "physical" memory. Like from a taste, or a sensation on your skin or a taste... And you can't stop the invasion of the memory, it is everywhere in you. As soon as you succed to identify the source, the object of nostalgy, that's it, you need to re-live those sensations .... but it is like some things about your childhood, it is lost! So, there are two "after-sensations" : frustration or possibility to make this memory alive again.And here, if it is possible...go for it because it is so good because those memories are often the good childhood ones and anyway it remind you your homecountry and for a little bit your past and present will be together again!
Moments starting the memory: Nice warm temperatures and the light during spring
Makes me want : To be on my balcony in Paris
Moments starting the memory: Drink hot nature milk
Makes me want : Orange flower water that you put in hot milk, crepes, and wheat cream
Moments starting the memory: Mardi gras
Makes me want : to cook and to eat homemade "beignets" with my mum
Quand vous vivez a l'etranger, vous avez des periodes de totale indifference par rapport a ce qui se passe ou ce qui pourrait vous rappeler votre pays. Vous n'en faites pas expres d'ignorer, simplement, vous n'y pensez pas. Votre vie se deroule la ou elle est et c'est tout.
Et puis vous avez des periodes d'obsessions declenchees le plus souvent par une odeur qui vous revient, un souvenir d'odeur, ou un souvenir de gout. Et la ca vous envahit, et des que vous avez reussi a identifier votre sentiment, l'objet de la nostalgie, vous avez besoin de revivre ces sensations... mais c'est comme certaines parties de votre enfance, c'est perdu. Alors, il y a deux apres-sensations: La frustration ou la possibilite de revivre cet instant. La si c'est possible, il faut tout tenter pour revivre ces sensations parce que c'est si bon, parce que c'est souvent des souvenirs d'enfance et de toutes facons ca rappelle votre pays, et ah, vous vous reliez a votre passe!
Instant declencheur: L'arrivee des douces chaleurs, la lumiere printaniere
Desir provoque: Etre sur mon balcon a Paris.
Instant declencheur: Boire du lait chaud nature
Desir provoque : Fleur d'oranger qu'on met dans du lait chaud, dans de la semoule de ble, dans les crepes
Instant declencheur: La chandeleur
Desir provoque: Beignets fait maison avec ma mere
Posted on March 14, 2006 | Comments (4)
Le "schredder" / The "dechiqueteuse"
by joon
Il y a longtemps je parlais francais... maintenant quand je vais en France, mes amis et membres de ma famille se moque de moi car je ressemble a Jean-Claude Vandamme car je cherche mes mots et j'utilise des mots franglais... eh bah oui, je ne me moque plsu de lui dorenavant, enfin pas pour son francais en tout cas meme s'il exagere sacrement.
Perdre ta propre langue est parfois frustrant et paniquant. Ca fait peur de realiser que tu perds un peu de ton identite, de ton passe mais quand tu as choisi de vivre a l'etranger ou / et de vivre avec quelqu'un qui parle une autre langue, tu dois apprendre a vivre avec. D'ailleurs ce ne sont pas les seules choses avec ou sans lesquelles tu dois apprendre a vivre! Enfin, ca c'est une toute autre histoire.
Here we go, I wanted to post this entry a long time ago but well I didn't.
One week ago I was talking to one of my coworker, she has been living here for one year now but live by herself and well speak french 80% of the time. I told her that as soon as you starting losing your french, which means that english is taking over...it is a good sign. It means your english is getting better.
Well, for me and some of those coworkers who are sharing your life with someone whose mother tongue is english, your french is so bad that in France people are making fun of you and call you Jean-Claude Vandamme because you are not speaking french correctly anymore and you have sometimes very very long "pause" to look for your words. I am not making fun of Jean Claude Vandamme anymore. Not true, I am still making fun of him because he is still ridiculous anywhere he goes, but I am not making fun of him because of his french, even though, he exagerates too much.
Losing your own language is sometimes scary, panicking and frustrating. It is hard to realize that you are losing a part of your identity, a part of your past but when you plan on living abroad or/and when you are married to someone who is speaking another language, you have to learn to live with it. Not only things you have to learn to live with or without, anyway, this is a total different chapter.
So I don't speak a good french anymore, it is full of hesitation and english words now. But it doesn't matter at school, because we are all talking this way.
Je ne parle plus un tres bon francais. C'est plein d'hesitation et de mots bizarres maintenant. Mais en fait, a l'ecole, c'est pas tres grave parce que tout le monde fait la meme chose.
So you will find here some of the "frenglish" words used by french people living here. It is time for you to learn a new language...
Un peu de "franglais":
- Qwhat? (mix between "quoi" and "what". I didn't create it on purpose, it arrives in my mouth like that)
- Ce serait bien de "switcher" le planning, non? (it would be good to switch planning)
- Et si on fait "two" fois "eight" (and if we were doing two time eight)
- il faut que j'aille a la "librairie" ("librairie" in french is "bookstore", bibliotheque is "library")
- Si tu fais ca, tu vas etre en probleme ( I translated a sentence litterally from english and it's the worst, it doesn't mean anything said like that...I meant :"If you do that you are gonna be in trouble", which is "si tu fais ca tu vas avoir des problemes")
- N'oublie pas ta "pumpkin" (Don't forget your pumpkin "citrouille")
- Tu sais ca (litterally translated from "you know that", god, it is so wrong to say that. I can't stop though. But it is always after saying it that I realize that it is so wrrroooong! We should say : " Tu le sais", or "tu sais". Worse would be "tu connais ca")
- Pour toi de savoir (litterally translated from "For you to know". We were saying it on purpose because one of our american coworker was saying that all the time. But now, we are actually saying it...we should say "Pour que tu le saches")
- Le "shredder"... Rebecca, one of our front desk person has a little garbage where I always ask her to put some paper to shred. The thing is I say : "Peux tu mettre ca dans le "shredder"?" And you imagine here "shredder" with the beautiful french "RRRRR" and it sounds awesome! But she finally asked me one day..."what is the french word for "shReddeR" and I thought about it a long time and realize, I had no idea, we asked around and no one knew and we bet between her and I that the first one to find out would have some chocolates...
The thing is that, french don't us a "chredeur" (shredder) because we don't have all those Identity theft problems and I am sure some companies use some but it is not that common. So after days, I finally went on internet and it was not easy to find the word because the only time I saw it was on a special site for offices stuffs and even there, the french word was not used. So finally, I found: "dechiqueteuse" which is a great word enjoyable to use but it doesn't even describe the reality of the "dechiqueteuse" job! Conclusion, there is no word in french to describe what a shredder does to paper! Interesting! The french word would be more a description of what my cat did to my mail one day
Ah, francais, francaise, je vous presente le "chredeur" ou "shredder" ou "dechiqueteuse". Qui parmi mes francophones lecteurs a entendu parler de ce mot avant? Parce que pour moi c'est tout nouveau. Je crois que ce concept en France n'existe pas vraiment. "Dechiqueter", mon chat m'a dechiquete mon courrier un jour mais ca ressemble pas a ce que le "shredder" fait!
Here you will find a conversation between two persons living here and whose mothertongue was french 100000000 years ago:
Ci dessous, vous pouvez lire un extrait de ce que peut etre une conversation entre deux francaises lorsqu'elles parlaient francais 1000000000 ans auparavant:
- Alors, tu vois, moi je "freak out".
- Mais j'avais deja fait tout mon "plan" de la semaine.
- Oui, "je sais ca" mais est ce que tu as vu le "schedule".
- Non, peut etre qu'on devrait "switcher", toi, tu vas a la "librairie". Et moi, je reste dans la gym, mais ya encore les "mats".
- What? Enfin, quoi?
- Oh au fait, je change de sujets mais j'ai vu des "shoes" l'autre jour!
- Ou ca, oh bah au croisement de "broadway and fifteen"!
- Classe. Combien ?
- Bah 100 dollars, mais bon je peux pas. Ah, attends ca c'est pour le "shredder"
- Anyway! Je dois y aller.
- Ok. Bye!
Should I translate?
Posted on March 11, 2006 | Comments (2)