calle-france

The third man

2007-04-20T14:06:00.000+02:00

Everything in France right now is about the presidential election. If just the smallest thing happen, the candidates have to make a statement about it and declare that with their politics the incendent would never have happend.

The first round of the elections will take place this Sunday (22nd of April) and there are 12 candidates to vote for. If one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the votes this candicate will be the new president. -However, this will not happen. None of the candidates are even near to get those 50%. So the elections will go into the second round which will take place on the 6th of May.

Due to the large number of candidates in the first round, many of the candidates with only a small percentage (between 0.5-4%) will take a lot of votes from the candidates with higher percentage numbers which has a higher chance of getting elected. I some difficulties to understand why people bother to put their votes on a candidate which anyway doesn't have a chance (and even harder to understand why someone would candidate to become a president if s/he will get less than 1%). I have, however, understod that a lot of people use the first round to show their disapointment of the "etablissement". During the last election this disapointment led to that the nationalistic candidate Le Pen went to the second round - where he lost towards Chirac. The main reason to this was more or less that the socialist/communist voters where spreading out there votes on several candidates. Allthough, this year there is still a lot of communist candidates that battles of being - la gauche de la gauche (more left than the others). However, none of them gets especially high percentage, and the only left candidate with a chance seems to be Ségolène Royal (Ségo). The other two candidates which still stand a chance is Nicolas Sarkozy (Sarko), which is probably the most unpopular candidate, but his party UMP (conservatives) can a lot of support from the French, and the last candidate François Bayrou which accord to the French media is a "extrème centrist" from the UDF. All three of them have between 20% and 30%. Theoretically Le Pen still have chance, but I rather think nor hope that he will go to the second round, and if he does he will not stand a chance against the other candidates.

The elections have much to do about which candidate people don't support, rather than who they do support. An intresting scenario is if Bayrou who is the third candidate (the Third man) in most polls would go to the second round. Although Sarkozy and Ségolène have the highest percentage there are probably more people that wouldn't like to seem them as presidents than would, so probably noone of them would stand a chance against Bayrou in the last round - who is not as popular but also not as impopular as both of them. The most likely would however be that Sarkozy and Ségolène will go to the second round - and according to the polls Sarkozy will be the new president. However, is it something French people know is it not to trust "les sondages".

An intressting note about Le Pen has gotten as much media attention in French media as the other candidates. For a long time in Sweden the Swedish nationalistic party almost never got any attention - it seems however as if it going to change. Although in Sweden luckily Sverige Demokraterna still only has around 2% which support them towards Le Pens front national which has about 13%.

The fastest train on rail

2007-04-04T16:12:00.000+02:00

Since I start writing this blog, I've mostly concentrated on the negative aspects of living in France. Of course there is not only negative thing - otherwise I wouldn't live here :)
I guess I more easily see all the negative when I am here - and when I'm back in Sweden I complain about the Swedes... :)

On the contrary I will write about one of the best things with France this time: the TGV. Yesterday's headlines in all French newpappers was the new speed record made by a train: 574.8 km/h. The news even reached Swedish Media (DN and SvD) - a B-nation in high-speed train technology.

The current high-speed train record set by a Japanese MagLev train (magnetic levitation) is 581 km/h. But as the PDG (CEO) of SNCF (the French railways systems) proudly claims -MagLev is not a real train. What he means is that since TGV runs on rails which already are in use, for using the MagLev trains expensive magnetic tracks are needed. In fact the only MagLev trains in use today is the Shanghai Airport Express (built by the German MagLev consortium). Except for airport lines and between two dense city I think it will be hard to finance building MagLev trainlines - at least during the following 10 years. However the MagLev trains have a good potential of reaching speeds over 1000 km/h so I believe it could be the transport system of the future. Until then I gladly cross "la hexagone" from Grenoble to Paris under 3 hours (in 320 km/h which is the actual maximum speed today in France). Considering the actual (average) speed between TGV and MagLev also talks in favour of the TGV - 260 km/h vs 245 km/h.

So how about the Swedish "high speed train" X2000. Comparing the line Paris-Lyon (460 km), which takes less than 2 hours (1h55) with TGV, with Stockholm-Gothembourg (465 km), which takes less than 3 hours (2h57) with X2000. One hour - and I quite important one. Whereas a business man in Stockholm still considers to take the flight to Gothembourg, noone from Paris is even thinking about taking the plane to Lyon (there are even a direct line between the airport in Paris and the airpot in Lyon).

X2000 has a top speed at 276 km/h, however Swedish regulations limit the maximum speed to 200 km/h which gives an avarage travel speed at 150 km/h. The problem is that in Sweden, in contrast to most other EU15 countries, no high-speed rails are built. And no high-speed rails are planned before 2015. However, going from Stockholm to Gothenburg with X2000 you get some advantages. You can have nice small pauses at the wonderful metropols: Alingsås, Skövde and Katrinholm. Aka Ingvar Carlsson-land, Bert Karlsson-land and Göran Persson-land. You don't get that with the TGV.

Cheques and recommended letters

2007-03-30T11:00:00.000+02:00

After a small pause in writting here, I've decided to continue my blogging. Since a year and half I now live in Grenoble where I persue my PhD with the French-Italian company STMicroelectornics.

The reason why I continue is because I want to share my experiences with the French system of using payable cheques and recommended letters which differs quite much from what I experience in any other country where I've been.

At my arrival in France, as I started a bank account at BNP Paribas, I was asked if I wanted a cheque book. I remember my father having a cheque note when I was 5, but I can't recall him ever using it. Actually as he bought a Ford Escort in the mid-80s I remember that he payed it cash. Since I though also in France cheques were something belonging to the past, I told the bank that I wouldn't need the cheque book.

Actually I managed six months in Paris without using any cheques. However, when I moved to Grenoble I directly discovered how indispensible the cheques are in France. The agent who helped me finding and installing my apartment asked for them, but I managed without. Worse was when I went to buy furnitures. I bought to armchairs at the furniture resale Fly and was promised that I could borrow a van for free since the armchair costed more than a certain amount. However, when I wanted to pick out the van, the ask me to leave a cheque as deposit. Since I didn't have any they refuse to give me the van, although I offered to leave a deposit in both with my credit card and cash. Since I've discovered how often people are using cheques. Although everyone have credit cards it seems that French rather use cheques while they are doing their shopping.

In Sweden when you want to quit a contract you simply go to the place where you signed the contract, and tell them that you want to quit it, or even simplier you can do it over phone or rarely by fax. In France often a "lettre recommandée" - a recommended letter - is required. My neighbours are moving - they need to send a letter to the rental agency. I want to quite my contract with the fitness gym where I'm going; I first went there told them I want to quite; they told me that I need to write a signed letter; I wrote a letter and gave it to them directly; they told me no, you need to send it by the post and it need to be recommended. I am afraid for the day I am going away from France, I will need to send a recommended letter to: the telephone company, the electricity company, the rental agency, the insurance company, the internet provider, my job, my school, my bank...

Talking about bank; a small advice if you are going to France don't choose BNP Paribas - I paid €8.50/month for having my bank account in their bank. Now I have LCL and pay €1.50. My bank account in Sweden is still for free.

The future already today

2005-05-11T15:57:00.000+02:00

For a while now, I have tried to read and understand France leading newspaper 'Le Monde'. What astonish me the most about it is not that the content is different, but that the you can reading tomorrows newspaper already today. As an example the newspaper that is given out today (11th of March) is dated 12th of March.
Talk about being ahead of time.

2005-04-21T22:40:00.000+02:00

me in front of the Moulin Rouge

We shall over come - part 2

2005-04-19T14:05:00.000+02:00

Background
In the '90s Swedish Immigration Minister made her self infamous by singing "We shall over come" at a meeting with a group immegrants, as she started to lose control of the attenders which complained more and more. The resultat was distasterous, and she lost her credability as politician many years afterwards.

Story
This weekend I went to Belgium by bus. The bus driver was a Dutchman with lacking French knowledge, which he tried to compensate by making bad jokes. Well, arriving in Brussels, the bus drivers must have lost his orientation, because one of the passengers had to help him find the bus terminal.
Anyway, the weekend passed by - rainy and gloumy - and on Sunday I had to take the bus back to Paris again. And... yipiee (ironic) the same bus driver. Even before the bus trip started, the bus driver made him self impopular by not allow a women have her tiny bag as hand luggage on the bus. The woman protested loud, but at last she had to give in. On the bus, I had to stand the same joke again, but besides that the journey went well, until we stopped for a 10 minutes break just an hour and a half before Paris. The bus driver clearly said "no pizza in the bus", before letting of us passengers. Ten minutes later he wanted to continue to drive the bus again, but not all passengers were there. The two last passengers came running five minutes later, with a bag filled with hamburgers. The bus driver started to verbaly attack one of the two late comers, first that they arrived lived, and secondly because they have brought hamburgers on the bus. The passenger defend himself: This is not a pizza - this is an 'amburger'. Some of the other bus passengers started after a while to defend the bus driver, probably because they were obset, because the man arrived to late back to the bus. Among the defenders were also the woman which wasn't allowed to bring her bag on the bus. Soon the discussion became more aggressive among the passenger, and the man became furious. After discussion wildly about 30 minutes, and other passengers had to keep the opponents apart, to avoid that a fight would arrise, the bus driver started to sing. He sang "We shall over come", probably not knowing the result Birgit Friggebo had a little more than a decade ago. At first the argument started to calm down, but then it became even worse. It didn't stop until one of the other passengers went up telling the man to sit down and take it easy. The man calm down, but he still had problem to relax for the rest of the journey. Also the bus driver must have been feeling quite tense, because back in Paris, he took the wrong way, and started to drive over payments, and with high speed through small street.

Consensus: "We shall over come" might be a good song, but use it prudently, and at the right moments.

Time acceptance

2005-04-05T08:52:00.000+02:00

So on Thursday last week, I moved to the Swedish house, and although I
just live in the guest room for the first month, it feels so good,
after the room at the American house. It is not the thing that is
Swedish, it is only the fact that it is so calm and quite in the
house, and that the atmosphere is nice. It is only 36 persons
leaving here (compared with a couple of hundreds in the American
house), and after just some days in the house it feels I have better
contact with the people here than where I lived before, both the
Swedes and the others that live here (I was told that 40 percent in
the house are from Sweden).
Regarding small and big environment. I have thought a little bit about
what the size of the environment effect the accaptence of time you
have. When I was living in my home town Mora (13.000 inhabitans) I was
always counting to get to a place in 15 minutes. If it would take
more than 15 minutes to walk, I would take my bicycle instead. And if
it would take more than 15 minutes with the bicycle, I would go by car
instead. When I was living in Vienna, my time acceptence was instead
in the same way 25 minutes, whereas in Stockholm I am always counting
30 minutes where ever I am going. Here in Paris (which has 10 Million
inhabitants) I always counting in being around 45 minutes at the place
where I am going.
Another thing with time, it seems like it doesn't matter when I wake
up in the morning, or when I get on the comuter train. I always arrive
at work at 8.50 p.m. Time is strange!

A bad week

2005-03-31T11:44:00.000+02:00

This week has so far been one of the worst since I came here. It started on Tuesday when bad supervisor didn't come and pick me up for lunch as he promised. Maybe not the worst things that came happen, since I could go alone to eat lunch. Yesterday I was suppose to meet a girl, which with whom I studied together with in Vienna, but after waiting 40 minutes I reckon she wouldn't show up. Since I didn't have enough sleep the previous nights of the week I decided to go to bed early (around 11 p.m.), but my neighbour stayed up chatting with a friend until four o'clock in the morning, so I didn't manage to sleep that well, however since I could sleep a little longer today, till 9 a.m. I thought I still would get some sleep. But then, this morning they started to drill in the street for the tramway at 7.
This morning I managed to move out of the American house (something good at least), but I was not allowed to move into my new room in the Swedish house, since the old room owner didn't move out yet.
Also I finally manage to get my bank card this morning. I tested it and it worked :), which was been proved to be a good thing it would show later. Because getting off the underground station nearby work, I was stop by the underground staff. I thought it would be no problem since I got a valid ticket for March. But no. It showed up that I didn't have the valid ID card for the underground !? Luckily, since I just withdraw some money I could pay the 35 € directly, otherwise it would have been much more expensive.
Well on work, my tests that I am running still runs on the computer and until they are ready I can't do that much at the moment. The computer is really slow; they tried to put in more RAM memory on Tuesday, but the computer seemed to old, so the RAM memory they have, don't seem to fit in the slops on it.

Different things – things that are different

2005-03-27T11:22:00.000+02:00

When you first come to a country, you might be very impressed by all the new things, but then before you start to enjoy the new country fully, you feel slightly disturbed on all things that are different. I am in that kind of period right now, weather I want it or not. My only comfort is that I know that it will pass.

What I thought was something that almost all have within, was that when you meet someone on the street, you’re suppose to pass them on the right side. This seems that it doesn’t work in Paris. Maybe the inhabitants have get use to behaviour of the tourists that invade the city during the summer and spring. Anyway it is quite unpractical. Only today, I almost bumped into four or five people on the street. Maybe there is a system how to pass someone, but I haven’t found it yet.

Another thing, what I discovered already in Austria, is how people act when going on the bus or the underground. People getting on the bus do not wait for the people that want to go off. When going off the bus your really have to fight. Normally the off going passengers win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is on every train stop at least one passenger who isn’t able to get off.

One of the most difficult things to learn in France is not the language, it is the computer keyboard. During my travels in Europe, I have had the opportunity to deal with a lot of different keyboards, but I have to say: the French one is the hardest to learn so far. Obviously do not French think that the letters A, M, the signs . and , are important as well as the numbers. It is impossible to write something right.

At last I want to complain on the 1 and 2 cent coins. Please, get ride of them, they don’t make anyone happy.

Paris March 10 – The Strike

2005-03-10T13:59:00.000+01:00

Today was they day I just was waiting for to come. No, it wasn't the French National Day (it occurs on July 14). No, it wasn't the snail eating day (I don't expect there is one, but if there is of course it would be in France). It was the first striking day since I have arrived. It took me more than a week too experience it, I would expecting just a three or four days ;)
No one seems to know they are striking, but almost all buses, all underground lines and trains are cut of by this. Not all bus/train drivers are striking, which I don't understand, but since I don't understand the reason why there is strike, I don't bother too much, and take it is as a Parisian: an extra day of experience and than just complaint about it all together with the colleagues.
The biggest irony however about this day however, is that this is the second day when the Olympic committee is in Paris, to see how suitable Paris would be as host of the Olympics 2012, where Paris is one of the candidate cities. Paris has made great effort for this, invested a lot of money on commercial ads on the buses. Buses that aren't running today, and showing the commercial. On tonight there will be a spectacular show along the Seine, however it will be very hard for people to get there and see the show. It is to "throwing money in the lake" as the Swedish saying is, or maybe they say throwing money in the Seine here… I will ask ;)
By the way this week there is a Japanese-Swedish film festival at the Cité U. So if I get home in time I will watch "Mitt liv som hund/Ma vie du chien".

Paris Day 6 – Overcast - My birthdayDay 6 – Overcast - My birthday

2005-03-08T21:23:00.001+01:00

Hm. It maybe wasn’t the best birthday I ever have had…

Yesterday it was a fairly nice day; sunny but very cold still. I took a walk around the area. It is very nice here actually, at least the exterior. I also discover the restaurant, where I can eat for €2.75 as a student. And of course I am student... ;) Now I can actually eat for less the €7 a day. This is a great country :D. And the food is great.

Today I went back to work again, but I left at 2:30 p.m. since I wanted to managing open a bank account… But in the meantime I manage to delete all programming files I will work with for the next six months, restore them again, and develop a much more effective programme.

So in the afternoon I went to Maison des Étudiants Suédois, to register as a resident there, so I could get the proper documents for opening a bank account. However registering as a resident was much harder than I thought, a lot of documents only in French (once again I have to learn the language), that I had to fill in. However, I managed to get the documents for the bank before handing in the residence registration, which I intend to take to work tomorrow, in order to get help from one of my colleagues. At the bank, however I wasn’t allowed to open a bank account today. I have to come back tomorrow, although I had all the required documents. I more and more believe in the rumour of

France

being the burocratic country on earth (although I heared

Belgium

is even worse).

Paris Day 6 – Overcast - My birthdayDay 6 – Overcast - My birthday

2005-03-08T21:23:00.000+01:00

Hm. It maybe wasn’t the best birthday I ever have had…

France

being the burocratic country on earth (although I heared

Belgium

is even worse).

Paris Day 4 – just a little snow – first day of the weekend

2005-03-05T18:01:00.000+01:00

I tried to sleep quite long this morning. Unfortunately it did not work out. In the last complaint about noises I forgot to mention the neighbours. Although the walls seem to be made of concrete, I am sure they are just made of paper. You can hear load and clear right through them. With other words there is no problem to hear the alarm clock in the morning, even when you don’t want to hear it.

Since my arrival I couldn’t use internet yet (the former days’ reviews were uploaded just today). This ‘cause internet at work didn’t work yet, and in the dormitory it is just supported in the library, and their you got to have a wlan-card (a card for using wireless internet). So I went in to the city to buy the card. I found a fnac-store where I find one for roughly €50. I hope it was a good deal, since I don’t know what they otherwise costs.

Anyway, well at home, eager to install my new “access-point-to-the-world-product”, I discovered that I got the wrong installation cd!? I ignored the sign on the card, “install cd first”, attached the card to my laptop, but of course it didn’t work. So back to the city, entering fnac. At first the cashier told me to go to the computer department, the computer department asked me to go to the information desk, the information desk asked me to go to the retail desk, the retail desk ask me to go the the service office. At the service office I finally managed to get some help, although the service clerk did not believe for a long time. I get a refunding receipt for a new product from the service clerk, I went back to the computer department, got a new product, to the cashier and back home. And “voila”, it works! And here I am online on internet.

Paris Day 3 sun in the morning then even more snow in the afternoon.s

2005-03-04T17:26:00.000+01:00

Paris in snow is like Slush Puppy – the flavoured ice drink that existed in the middle of the 80s – it maybe still exists? When the snow reach the ground it turns in to a mix of ice, snow, water, and dirt – not the best ice drink one can imagine.

The day went on without any dramatic happenings. Neither Laurence nor Cedric were at the job today. I started of researching the computer programme I am going to work on, until it stopped working anymore. So the rest of the day I read, some papers that I was given. During lunch I meet Adam and a Greek guy, who both have been working with Robust Optimization, as I will do. They both seem very nice. What I like best with France so far are the French people. All I meet so far has been very friendly, interested about me, helpful and they seem to funny to be with; making jokes with each other. The only problem is that they speak French with each other; however that’s understandable, and it also motivates me to learn more French.

Paris Day 2 – more snow – First day at work

2005-03-04T07:24:00.000+01:00

Getting out of the US student housing was harder then getting in. Isn’t it what I always have meant - the Americans do let people enter their country; they just don’t want to get out them selves. The door was looked, and I could find any way to open it. A woman came entering towards me, I asked her if she could help me, but she started speaking to me in French, I had real problem understanding here, but at last she had got the information from me, that my name was Calle (why did she so desperately want to know that?) and that I was new in the building (as if she didn’t already knew that). Then there came an American girl who knew where the door opener was located at – the French woman turned to me again: Voila!

The bad language experience with the woman in the morning, changed when entering a café ordering a breakfast without any problem at all. The only bad thing with that was the price for the breakfast: tea, juice, and bread with butter and jam for 8 euros!

So I find my way to French Telecom where I will spend the next six months. A huge building, but not that modern, that you would think that a R&D department building of telecom Company would be. Well at least the people seem really nice. Laurence who is my supervisor, is really pedagogic and she really has prepared all the information good. Also Cedric, which I am going to work with, is really helpful and friendly. I am in the same room as sweat Natalie and I guy who’s name I haven’t learnt yet – perhaps it is not a coincident that I learn the girl’s name first… The most conversation today was in French, however since my French isn’t that good yet, in the end it ended with that Natalie showed my pictures from France in snow, which I think her friends has sent her during the day. Snow in France must really be a big thing for the Frenchmen. And the comments from the guy, without a name, were a repeatedly “que la Suède”. Otherwise the day consisted of administrational things – however, relatively little for being France (but I think it will continue next week) – and studying some more about the problem I will deal with. I got a computer which I am going to work with, and as usual as coming to another country, learning the keyboard was harder then learning the menus in another language. I even think French keyboards are extra hard to learn, compared to other I have worked with (such as the Slovenian and German). Anyway the day working day ended at 7 p.m. quite tired I went back after buying a card for the month of March in the underground/metro, and then I bought a pizza – again very expensive food (however, the lunch was incredibly cheap). Back at the Cube I finally meet some of my neighbours. Actually I meet a neighbour already the first day. I heard a knock on the door, just before I was going to bed. Outside the door was a guy called David, I have no clue what he wanted me, since I was the one who mainly did the conversation, and he just answered: yes, no, David. Anyway the people I was talking to this evening seemed to be quite nice.

Paris Day 1, snow, The Spartan Cube

2005-03-03T07:21:00.000+01:00

After missing my flight at Arlanda/Stockholm airport to Charles de Gaulle/Paris airport, I managed to rebook the ticket to a later flight the same afternoon. I have to admit that the thought “nothing can stop me know” run threw my head; whatever will meet me in Paris, I will take it for what it is. This was proven to be easier said than done.

After getting my luggage – last of all as usual – I finally manage to find my self out of the Charles de Gaulle terminal 1 maze, but to find the commuter trains was even harder. As I arrived quite late, there wasn’t that much people left at the airport, but at last I found a French woman who could express her clear enough, that I had to take bus 2 in order to reach the train station. I went out in the heavy snowy weather, and after a while I fetched the bus. After a considerably long bus trip I arrived at the train station – between the lines I can admit that I had great difficulties to finding the trains even though the bus stopped just outside the train station, at last I found my way, due to the gigantic queue to the one and only open ticket counter (is that something typically French?). After queuing some 30 minutes, I had my ticket, and after some shivering in the coldness I sat on the commuter train. – zero degrees in Paris definitely feels colder than minus five degrees in Stockholm. One good thing with the train is that it goes directly from the airport to Cité Universitaire where I am living. Around 10 p.m. I arrived at the Foundation des Etats-Unis – the US student housing where I am going to spend my first month. At the reception it went very smoothly – too smoothly? – I just got the key to my room, without paying anything or registering or getting any kind of information. Stepping out of the elevator, full with expectation, I find to my joy my room rather quickly. It was just across the elevator. Now afterwards I cannot remember why, but I thought: Great! that’s a good thing being near to the elevator and the flight of stairs.

I opened the door and there it was: the Cube. I don’t know if you’ve seen the film with the same name – I am sure it was recorded in this room. Three meters wide, three meters broad and three meters high. The door was marked 442 – does this mean I can pass to this room? (You have to have seen the film in order to understand that joke!) Living in a cube is not a bad thing though. Living in a Cube with Spartan interior, with stone floor, ceiling and walls, warmed up to 31 degrees Celsius (without possibility to turn down the heating. Also I quite fast recognized that living near to the elevators and stairs is a really bad thing, when people starts to running outside, especially when people wear high heals, especially noisy it becomes if you have a 2 centimetres gap under your door. However, the worst thing was not the noise outside the door, even worse was the noise for traffic on the boulevard outside the window, and worst of all was the noise from the railway across the boulevard.

After opening the balcony doors for 2 minutes (no I don’t have a balcony, just balcony doors – a so called French balcony) letting in some colder air, I fell a sleep exhausted, and woke up five hours later again, when the train started moving again.