Ophelia's Journal.

stcamp · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:06 am Post subject:

Hi,

I would say Poland was where we were asked the most.

We stayed for 2 weeks in an Apt in Paris. I think perhaps twice. I remember it was asked with a smile. As in "how could we not like it."

Ireland, probably as frequently, perhaps more so, than Poland.

Germany. Never, that I can recall.

Japan. Probably the closest to how an American would ask.

Regards,
Steve

Ophelia · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:33 am Post subject:

stcamp · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:26 am Post subject:

Hi,

Poland. I think they wanted us to rate it. Yet tell them we liked it. They would then start talking about the problems with the infrastructure and the changes that were happening.

Ireland. Ireland has a large population that has been to America and is used to Americans. We stayed in a house in an Irish neighborhood. People were more likely to ask "whats up in the States."

Japan. Somewhat American in that they really wanted to be approved of and at the same time were somewhat disdainful of America.

France. We had a apt. in the Palais Royale and would visit the same market, resturant, etc. Afterwhile, despite my bumbling attemps to speak French they would ask how we liked it. It was more a lead in so they could tell us they liked America and where they had visited. I remember a waiter telling us he would bring us more ice because he knew from his time in America that lots of ice was the way to serve Cocola.

It may be somewhat different for me. I usually try to speak a few words in the language, learn basic customs, and we are somewhat skinny people. I remember a women in France telling me how in America all the young boys (age 13-1 Cool

look alike. Oh, I don't wear a ballcap or T-shirt with printing on it or running shoes.

I got into a long conversation in Normandy that ended up being about French agricultural practices in the 70's and changes since because I started asking about hedgerows.

regards,

Steve

Ophelia · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 12:08 pm Post subject:

I thought at the time that one of the things that made understanding a little difficult with the "What do you like best?" question was that I felt people were divided into either Americans or "immigrant", there wasn't a slot for "European on a one-year exchange programme", even if I told people that this was what I was.

People were used to meeting a lot of immigrants, and of course I understood that if you had suffered from hunger or came from an underdeveloped country you would marvel at huge supermarkets and airplanes, but my perspective was different.

stcamp · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:03 pm Post subject:

Possibly. I am probably not a good person to answer this. I live surrounded by emmigrants. I live outside Washington DC in a county where at least 30% came from faraway places. My daughters school system says there is over 100 languages spoken in the system.

I never thought when I asked or was asked that it was about technology. It has been awhile since America was that advanced. Europe dug out of the ruins years ago. Most Asian cities are huge. Maybe if you are from Mexico or Central America it might be different enough to comment on.

I work with 1 French man, 1 Spanish women, and 1 Italian. Oh, and 1 Mexican. The rest are 3rd or 4th generation American probably. San Diego has a huge military population with most having done duty overseas.

I think you may have misread what was meant. Also, I think part of it was people wanted to make sure you had not been slighted or had a bad time. Americans like to talk and usually are very generous. I told a German not to long ago that it is OK to ask an American anything except how much money they make.

regards,

Steve

Ophelia · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:08 pm Post subject:

stcamp · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:13 pm Post subject:

Hi,

I am not ignoring you. I have to leave on a business trip.

Steve

President Camacho · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:21 pm Post subject:

That's because every parent answers with "a million dollars" when asked that question. So don't feel bad Smile

Ophelia · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject: Loving the USA? Part 3.

Loving the USA? Part 3.

I made the most of my exchange years, both times I arrived two months before school started and left two months after the end of school.

I visited several states in the US, including Colorado and Hawai, but my two best memories are from Northern California. They were from two of my many trips-- the funny thing is I've forgotten which.

Both times I was incredibly lucky in being at the right place in the right time.

One was during a walk along a small body of water that connected with the sea further on.
There was a small whale that was obviously having a rest and playing on its own, in my memory about five meters from where I stood. I had never thought of whales as being little and playful. This was a gift.

During my second summer I visited colleagues from France who were staying in Northern California, near Mount Shasta.

One day they announced that they belonged to a group that was organizing a night walk, and as the moon was full, this was the day.

Everything was perfect. It started with an afternoon walk through a vast natural area-- it's a shame I can't remember what it was called.
Something that made you think of volcanoes or geysers.
At the end of the day we climbed up a mountain or hill, not something difficult. We had our picnic at the top watching the sunset, and we waited for darkness, lit by the moon, to go down.

The atmosphere was magic, I had never seen anything as beautiful or fascinating, no words could describe the exhilaration and the feeling of incredible luck that I had been able to share this experience with those friendly people. You could view the natural scenery of the afternoon for kilometres around.We had torches to see the path, but the moon was so
bright we did not need to look at our feet much.
We had three children with us and I had been asked to hold the youngest son, who was about 7, by the hand.
In the middle of the descent we met another party of American walkers and stopped to share the view and talk to them. We said we were from France, talking in low voices, and before going our separate ways a young woman from this group gave me a torch. I thanked her for her kindness and said I already had a torch. She insisted, and I understood that they wanted to share something with me, give me something, and I took it gratefully.

I have taken quite a few things back from the US, including two beautiful quilts that were hand made in Cape Cod, after a design I had chosen, and then shipped to my home.

However, the object that has the most emotional value is that torch.
I love the other objects for their beauty, and they're in the living room for all to see, but I know that the torch is there, in a small cupboard in my office. I'm not a photo person. I have good memories from many short holidays abroad I had, but the special magic memories are from a few fleeting unplanned moments in the countries where I had come for a long stay.

Ophelia · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 3:44 am Post subject: French universities.

I'm going to write about universities in France.

Before I start I am happy to say that I am no longer the only French person at Booktalk.
Marie (dbooks) was born in France and is now a Swiss citizen, and Celinio lives near Paris (but would love to work in the States).
So Marie and Celinio, if you would like to comment or add something to my descriptions, feel free to do so.

I'll start with a comment from President Camacho and my answer to him in another forum:

Ophelia · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 4:27 am Post subject:

Number of students enrolled in French universities:

60,000 in 1938
300,000 in 1968
1,515,000 in 2001 (Wikipedia).

We still speak of our universities as being "virtually free" because we know how expensive this can be overseas.
I've checked the fees for 2008 (set by Ministry decree, so no variations):

165 euros (per year) for undergraduate students (257 US $)
215 euros for students preparing a master's.
326 euros for PHD students.

When I was a student in the 80's it would have been less than 50 euros per year.

Ophelia · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 5:56 am Post subject:

There is no selection to enter our universities, all you need is a pass mark for our end of school examination , the Baccalauréat. A pass mark is an average of 10/20. I still don't know what the equivalent in the American school system would be: mathematically on a system of A B C D E F the equivalent should be a C but in my experience it didn't work like this.

The way the system gets rid of unmotivated or incapable students is by failing some of them at the end of the first or the second year (again a pass grade is 10/20).
I can't say that it didn't work in the past. The Baccalauréat used to be a serious exam and passing meant something.

Anyway, it was felt that this was fine but you needed to offer something else for people who felt more competitive: and that is our Grandes Ecoles system.

The wikipedia article on this is excellent, and here is the beginning:

Ophelia · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 6:04 am Post subject:

Before we look at the Grandes Ecoles themselves, what is important to understand is the first two years in the "Classes Préparatoires", or "classes prépa". This also works as a parallel system to the first two years at university. They are entirely free, as in zero euro, but there is a selection on the basis of your grades and student reports at the lycée.
The students in classes prépa are automatically enrolled at the university which is nearest to the prépa, and at the end of the two years they get get the credits they would have had if they had studied at university. Then they either go to a Grande Ecole, if they manage that hurdle (the hardest one), or they go to university in third year.
It may sound strange but it works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandes_%C3%A9coles

The French absolutely love prestigious schools and exams, this is seen as something really important in intellectual life.
When I was a student I didn't think much of someone who was just a university professor (although I noticed that the professors thought very highly of themselves), but if you taught at the Ecole Polytechnique, or Sciences Politiques, now that was something.
In short, the equivalent of "I went to Harvard" is not "I went to such and such university" (nobody cares , they'll think that's the least you could do),
but "I went to ENA" or "I went to Polytechnique". This will garantee silent and respectful admiration (as well as immediate job offers).

Most of our policitians went to ENA, my conclusion being that if they make mistakes, it's entirely their own doing, the state did not stint on their education.
Sarkozy is "only" a lawyer (this is felt to be acceptable, and also he does everything differently from everybody else).

Now you can imagine the bewilderment of the good people of France when we heard that people like Ronald Reagan were elected president in the US.

The schools which offer the first two years (classes préparatoires) are graded nationally, the two best ones being Louis-le-Grand and Henri IV in Paris.
The wiki link I have given above shows you a photo of the Lycée Louis-le-Grand.
That will, incidentally, give you an idea of what my school looks like.
My school is, like the two schools above, a secondary school and a Classes Préparatoires lycée. We are one of those "prépas de province" provincial, as opposed to the prestigious Parisian schools. The best pupils from all over France go those Parisian prepas, but in the scientific classes my school does very well-- that is, at provincial level.
When I use "province" it sounds like "outside Paris" but in this context, used by a real Parisian, there's a world of meaning.

Chris OConnor · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 10:33 am Post subject:

It is fascinating hearing about how the academic system works in France.

What beautiful architecture in the photo you shared on the Wiki page...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rue_St_Jacques_Louis_Le_Grand_DSC09 316.jpg

Ophelia · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 11:22 am Post subject:

Thanks for the link to the larger photo.

Now of course one mustn't imagine that all our high schools look like this.
There would be typically one or two such schools in each large town (large by our standards) , and the others are new buildings. Often they were built in the 1960's and 1970's, and they look dreadful.
Many of those lycées were built under Napoleon. In my school there is a plaque which informs you that the school was built by Imperial Decree signed by Napoleon at such and such battlefield... When I walk past it, I sometimes think of Napoleon standing on a hill, watching the battlefield on the plain below while dictating things to ten secretaries. At one stage he would turn to one of them and say "I want a lycée opened in that town. You will call it..."
My school boasts a writer as a former pupil (Balzac) and two writers as teachers (Léopold Senghor and André Gide).

Here is the Wikipedia entry for lycée. The text is for those who really want the details, but the photo of the 19th C lycée is interesting because it's typical. This is a view of the Cour d'Honneur, the official entrance (forbidden to pupils in my school).
The building you see would continue to the right and left and be entirely reserved for the administration. On the right, the secretaries' office and the headmaster and deputy heads. On the left, the bursar's office (possibly the other way round). Between the two, a wide central corridor with marble plaques (marble floors are a possibility) about former students who died in the two world wars, and famous former pupils.
You may also find a marble plaque with the name of all headmasters in gold letters.
Look at the first and second floors: those are the the apartments of the head, his deputies, and the burser. Imagine immense rooms with very high ceilings, everything stately and orderly. Typically they had three stories where we would now fit four.
On the side facing the Cour d'Honneur you hear neither noise from the students or the traffic.

Typically also, there's a clock like the one you see in the photo. The one in my school doesn't work, and some of the local people regularly write to the headmaster to ask about this. They're tried to have it fixed, but it's too ancient, so it's always... five to three.

Past this first building, you will find the school yard and some other buildings (usually not in the photos) where some 1500 pupils and staff are sharing the rest of the space (the original school not having been planned for so many people).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyc%C3%A9e#Lyc.C3.A9e


	FORUMS	ABOUT	BOOKS	VIDEOS	TRANSCRIPTS	LINKS	BLOGS	DONATE	CONTACT