Posted by: PJ Heslin in Uncategorised on
Aug 30, 2010
Finished four weeks of intensive French at the Alliance Française on Friday and cannot believe how quickly the time went. Close to the final day our class was given a general assessment test (a longer and more intensive one than the one we took prior to classes). According to that test my oral comprehension needed work which was a surprise to me
Posted by: PJ Heslin in Uncategorised on
Aug 24, 2010
Our class started out with 15 students and we're down to 5. Some were just taking French for two weeks but most were young students whose attendance started out spotty and has become non-existent.
For those of us left, it's quite an advantage. We cover more in class with the smaller number of students; it's also impossible to hide in the class so
Posted by: PJ Heslin in Uncategorised on
Aug 14, 2010
`No effort you make is more important or will count more for your fun and triumph in France than learning French. A few words are better than none. The effort itself will go to the French heart and change the way they perceive you. Understanding them will make the difference between uncertainty and frustration, and not only coping but managing,
Posted by: PJ Heslin in Uncategorised on
Aug 14, 2010
Since coming here almost five months ago, I`ve realized my French needs a kickstart.
Before moving to France I thought my French was not bad. My professional self-diagnosis was based on a six week French immersion course I took twenty years ago. In the past two decades the only effort I`ve made to keep up with my French studies was watching one
Posted by: Reece in Uncategorised on
Aug 02, 2010
Expat Summer Tip
You can mix Gazpacho with vodka and it's like drinking a chunky Bloody Mary - delicious.
New Summer iphone App
I've found that my iphone comes with a new summer App that I wasn't aware of. It's called isweat. Here's how it works. A phone call comes through. You answer it. After answering it you look at your iphone screen and you can
Posted by: Letters to Editor in Uncategorised on
Aug 02, 2010
I would like to know why French men feel it's their given right to urinate anywhere they so choose. The other day, my bus driver peed outside in front of the bus, for all of us to see. Then he casually resumed his position, giving change and administering tickets. I simply don’t witness this behaviour in other countries and have developed a
Posted by: Letters to Editor in Uncategorised on
Aug 02, 2010
We saw the disruption caused by the recent AC/DC concert in Nice, then the havoc of the Franco-African summit when even bicycle paths were banned. Now we’re promised that the next G8 will happen here, no doubt with extreme security measures everywhere while inconveniencing millions of locals. That will mean serious hassle for residents and nothing
Posted by: Letters to Editor in Uncategorised on
Aug 01, 2010
Low-cost airlines always advertise their prices as "from".
Even if I travel without baggage and meet all the other conditions to get the cheapest price, these "from" prices never seem available to me. I don’t know of anyone who gets those prices so it must be a con.
Chris Malden, by
Posted by: Letters to Editor in Uncategorised on
Jul 31, 2010
I’m British but I’ve wandered the world a lot and finally decided that the Riviera is the place I’d like to settle. Never having been in one place long enough to call myself a resident I am now wondering in which country I should put down as my official "home". I presume I could choose Britain or France at will. Any guidelines?
Name withheld by RR,
Posted by: Letters to Editor in Uncategorised on
Jul 31, 2010
Being sarco about Sarko
Forgive my obvious sarcasm but as it’s pretty obvious that the Reporter backed Sarkozy for President, how do you feel about that monumental error now? He’s shown himself to be guilty of outright nepotism and - in a lesser way - despotism. He started his "reign" (think Napoleon) by giving himself a massive pay rise while
Posted by: Reece in Uncategorised on
Jul 07, 2010
Summer`s here in the south of France. It seemed to come all of a sudden on the last Sunday of June. The weather changed abruptly from pleasant to dirty, summer hot almost as though somebody threw a switch.
I like it but I`ve got to admit the humidity is cutting into my cigar smoking time. The hot sticky weather makes them a little soggy so I
Posted by: Reece in Uncategorised on
Jun 15, 2010
I'm starting to get on board with the way things are done here.
I don't know if it's true for all of France but when you're in this part of the country you've got to know that a meeting or an errand that would take an hour or so back home takes up a much larger part of your day.
Example: I've been wanting to join the AVF (Accueil des Villes
Posted by: Reece in Uncategorised on
May 16, 2010
When I saw I wasn't on the schedule for the next week I was pretty sure my days were numbered at the Pub.
Sure enough... the job ended. The owner phoned me and told me that he really liked me but that I just wasn't up to speed. When I worked he lost money. I was a little disappointed to lose the cash coming in but not surprised. Even at the height
Posted by: Reece in Uncategorised on
Apr 18, 2010
Jobs that you're qualified for if you have a neck tattoo:
- cool bartender at a hip bar
- 1990's web designer
- junkie with a heart of gold in a Keanu Reeves movie who tips Keanu off that the Japanese mob is looking for him and then is found dead a few scenes later killed Japanese mob style
- cliched rock star
- the annoying guy on a reality show
Thought about
Posted by: Reece in Uncategorised on
Apr 05, 2010
Found out today that some French change rooms are communal or at least the one at Jean Bouin Complexe is. The entrance for the men and women is separate and there are separate toilets for each but then each opens up into a larger change area with lockers and that's the part I didn't know about. Coming out of the pool I walked back into the Men's
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