Life in Angers has been a little crazy lately with “la grève” (the strike) that’s been going on for about a week now. If you don’t know, it’s for “la retraite” (retirement). Currently French people can retire at 60, but President Sarkozy is pushing a pension plan that would change the age to 62.
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| Strike parade through streets of Angers |
There have already been several one-day strikes in the country since I’ve been here, but none have been very influential on my daily life. The current strike is much more chaotic. In Angers, there’s trash all over the streets because it hasn’t been picked up and most of the fuel stations are closed because there’s a blockade of the country’s largest oil port near Marseille. The gas crisis is causing the most trouble for the French people, because they’ve had to stop using their cars. This inhibits teachers and students to drive in from the country for school and for students to return to their parent’s house for the weekend (which is very common). One of my teachers said she had to start walking to school a few days ago, but at least she lives within walking distance. Madame is a teacher at the largest private high school in Angers and said they might have to close the school. The public schools are already on strike and don’t have any classes. My French little sister Aubery goes to the largest public school in Angers and hasn’t had class for a week, but has been sitting outside the school with her classmates playing music, chanting, making tiny bonfires, etc. They blocked the entrance with trash cans. The other night at dinner, Aubery said she was tired and had to get some sleep because “she had the revolution tomorrow”. Priceless.
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| Angers street full o' trash |
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| ewwww! |
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| Aubery's high school (Lycée David d'Angers) |
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| Other photo of the blockade at Aubery's high school |
As for the French people’s opinion of the situation, they are obviously not happy with the plan for the pension change. Madame and Jean talked about it the other night at dinner, and generally think that a lot of people die between the age of 60 and 62 and that it’s tragic to have to work your whole life. The French have a very different attitude toward work than in the US; a job is not a life, and a person makes time for things that are more important. One small example of this is lunch: everyday Madame and Jean eat lunch together at home, and it’s a prepared meal with several courses. This is common, especially amongst the older generation. They take time to rest in the middle of the day and enjoy a meal. They have this same attitude toward the necessity of retirement and the 2-year change makes a big difference to them.
Other news: classes are in full-swing. It’s less work than in the US, but very draining to spend all of my time studying French, even though that’s the reason I came here. And it’s completely different studying French in France than studying French in the US. I’m actually retaining it! Whereas I don’t think I retained a lot of French during my 8+ years studying in the US…
Today in my grammar class, we watched a video clip and then did a worksheet based on the video—something that could happen in a classroom in the US. However, the video clip was from an old movie where a girl walks to her pool in the backyard, takes off her clothes, and swims naked—only to discover a scuba diver underwater with a camera. It was a normal comedy film, but I was a little shocked to see nudity so casually displayed, and in the classroom! I always hear French people (i.e. Jean) say that America is very “puritan”…this was probably a good example of that and the cultural differences between our two countries.
That's all for now! I love hearing from everyone, so send me a message!
XOXO
P.S. NYTimes article about the senate passing the pension reform bill: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/world/europe/27france.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
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