Provence was a 5 day "vacation" from classes with my program. Though sick, it was a fabulous weekend. I had no idea how much influence the Romans had on southern France until I was there. I saw the biggest Roman aqueduct (Pont du Gard), Roman amphitheater, and chariot race circus ruins in Arles. The country side in Provence was breath-taking. Olive trees and lavender even though the lavender wasn't in season. Lavender and santans are the big things there. Santans are little (or big) hand-painted china/ceramic-ish dolls. You can google image them -- I didn't take a photo. I just bought some for my family's santan nativity scene for Christmas. I had some great regional food and one restaurant I went to twice. The second time I was there, they gave my friend and I free drinks. Overall, I think the most astonishing difference was the weather and roman influence.
This past weekend I went to Venise with my sister. It was absolutely wonderful and my first time in Italy. To throw it out there -- I cannot speak Italian. My sister taught me words but when it came time to talk, French words would come out. Liesl and I speak French when we travel so that didn't help. I'll preempt the question and tell you what I found different there. First, most restaurants charge a bread or service charge even if they don't serve you bread. And they don't eat butter on their bread. Venise is ridiculously tourist -- in the really touristy places of the city a Coke would cost 5 euro (about $7). If you stay to eat somewhere you have to pay even more than you do in the states because space is so limited. There are a lot of great food places -- Liesl and I ate at a place with an appetizer, 2 main dishes, a pre-dessert, dessert, and post-dessert. Delicious food and not too bad of a price.
We went on a gondola ride through the canals as well. The gondoliers wear dark pants and a white and blue horizontal striped shirt and a little straw-like hat with a blue or red ribbon. The gondolas are traditional and made in Vense and have secret production so that they will not be copied or will not leave Venise. We learned a lot from the gondolier. Gondoliers are typically jobs kept in the family -- our gondolier was the son and grandson of a gondolier. They must go to school to learn languages and the history of Venice. One must take swimming lessons because gondoliers can easily fall off the boat. Finally, one must pass a driver's test with 6 people on the gondolier. The city is sinking 1mm every year which seems like not a lot but it makes a difference. No one can live on the first floor because water just comes into the house. The sea rises at night and water is in huge puddles all over the streets. The city sets up tables like bridges to cross the water. You have to use the gondola and canals to get around because there are not many sidewalks but quite a few bridges.
To cover some other random facts, Venice is known for its carnival masks. (By the way, I wrote this and you know it's good when you write "its" and cross it out to write the French word) They are numerous and gorgeous! THere were tons of people and it wasn't even high season. I can't imagine. There were a lot of tourist kiosks -- a ton selling the same thing. And I've never seen so many people selling fake purses and sunglasses in my life, all who say things like "nice lady" or "you know how much?" Liesl and I pretended like we only spoke French. Oh and you know you can speak quite a lot of a language when you can argue in the language. :) There are no cars in Venice and no pollution. We took a water bus to the island from the airport. We also had a waiter who called us "America" and I just loved us and talked about Obama. (Normal) But it was cute.
We've been discussing a lot more things about cultures in the past few weeks in my class. First, divorce in France is very common. In the Paris region, every 1 of 2 marriage ends in divorce. Elsewhere is every 1 of 3. Also, taxation is different here. Some money comes directly from the salary -- money for health insurance, for the unemployed, and for those who are widows or widowers. They have two main tax days like we do -- the first in May which is the income tax and the second in November when they pay money to the region in which they live.
Today in class we learned about organizations and retirement. The French consider 35 hours a week full-time and they have 5 weeks of vacation. One can retire after 40 years total of work and used to not be allowed to work after this. However, one can now work after with restrictions. For a woman who has children, a child counts for 2 years (each) for the 40 years. In terms of money and retirement, the French have not lost that much with the current crisis. And the French is suffering from a baby boom generation as we are. Their population is overall much older than ours.
I found the organization structure very interesting. They group small enterprises in one group and big ones in another. However, they are organized as a bureaucracy triangle -- nothing else. My prof had never heard of a circular org, virtual org, etc. I kept thinking of Lead 103. This knowledge makes me realize as I thought, leadership here is very different. It seems more uniform here than in the states. I kind of like it.
The last thing for today is the huge problems with the FAC (university) here. One of the FACs is still blocked by students. The grad students from my program don't even have classes. Saturday night, though I wasn't here, a riot broke out in the main evening square. A "Facebook Party" was hosted and things got out of hand. Students started a bonfire in the middle of the square which is not allowed (interdit) so the firemen and police came. The police had the large shields, were arresting people, and even dropping tear gas. The head of the university is considering calling in the military to open the FAC and clear the entrances. However, this will cause more problems. Schools here originated with religion and since the state could not and cannot mix with religion, the state did not enter the school. Although the school is now separate from religion, the tradition is still that the state cannot enter the school. (since 1912) I doubt the problem will be solved before I leave here.
Top Ten this week: Top Ten things people ask/say to me as an American
1. Obama! Yes we can!
2. Do Americans like Obama?
3. What is the stereotype for the French in America?
4. Do Americans eat the good food the French do? (when answer no, they are shocked!)
5. WHat sports are the most popular in the states?
6. We love American accents!
7. Where is Ohio? Close to NY? Texas?
8. Why do most Americans here only speak English and hang out with other Americans?
9. What's the hardest part of the French language?
10. Do you miss the US or is France better?
Questions tomorrow. It's late and I just wanted to get this posted. :)
Pictures: Castle ruins at Baux (Provence) looking out at olive tree fields, in front of the filed in Gordes (Provence), Amphitheatre in Arles (Provence), Me in front of the Rhone (Provence), view of some of Venice from the Tour, Liesl and me with our Gondolier, view of the sea from the Tour, me on one the Grand Canal.
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