My Colts are coming on in five minutes, so I have to make this quick.
This week has been by far the busiest I have been since arriving in the country. I had something to do every night this week, what with the theater on Tuesday, my French language partner exchange on Wednesday night, then my family dinner on Thursday night. I couldn't understand why I felt so exhausted by the time Friday rolled around until I stopped to look at everything I had done during the week.
School should be settling down again this week. I'm done with all of my midterms now. I only have a project due next week, but I don't feel like that will be quite as stressful as my tests were.
I've got some big milestones coming up in my life:
-Over 1000 views to my blog (just passed this, actually)
-Three months in France
-The Harry Potter movie is coming out
-My 21st birthday
-The beginning of my first Christmas season in France
So obviously I'm very excited about all of this, and I will definitely try to take more pictures of everyday life here.
Also, MAJOR UPDATE: I FOUND CANNED PUMPKIN. So I WILL have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I'm happy!!
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Grève Situation
(Grève = Strike)
So. As some of you may know, there have been some pretty serious strikes in France lately. I know I talked about them the first day they happened here. If you thought that that was the end of it--basically, you were wrong. Things have definitely intensified.
Oil workers have gone on strike now, which means that there is a shortage of fuel throughout the country. Which means that buses won't be able to run, and that people can't drive anywhere. Furthermore, the train workers are striking. So... nobody can go anywhere in the country.
Basically, the whole country is in an uproar because the government is changing the age when full retirement benefits kick in. Instead of it being 60 (the lowest in all of Europe), the government is changing it to 62 to save some money for the tons of other government benefits everyone gets here. In case you were wondering, 62 would still be the lowest in all of Europe.
Until today, I hadn't been affected by the strike at all. It was a little disappointing, actually. Everyone else had at least one dramatic story to tell, and I had to sit on the sidelines and listen. Actually, my story really isn't all that dramatic. I had thought that my midterm for one of my classes was this Saturday, so I opted out of a free excursion to Avignon and Les Baux de Provence, which I really wanted to see. But anyway. Lyndsy and I went to class today, and our TA told us that due to the strikes, he won't be able to make it on Saturday, so we won't have to come either. So it turns out that I didn't even need to miss the excursion. (Sad face.) But another little exciting bit of news: parts of the school were blockaded today as part of the student grève. Tables and chairs were stacked against all the entrance doors to the school and at the access points to the stairs into the main hall of the school. I got a picture on my friend's camera, which I will hopefully be able to share with you all soon!
In any case, please pray that the strikes don't escalate too much. There has been talk that only violence gets the attention of government officials, but I'm hoping nothing too terrible will happen.
I would also like to point out that I have added new pictures on the right side of the page. I have been doing this pretty regularly, but I haven't mentioned it in my updates. Check them out!
So. As some of you may know, there have been some pretty serious strikes in France lately. I know I talked about them the first day they happened here. If you thought that that was the end of it--basically, you were wrong. Things have definitely intensified.Oil workers have gone on strike now, which means that there is a shortage of fuel throughout the country. Which means that buses won't be able to run, and that people can't drive anywhere. Furthermore, the train workers are striking. So... nobody can go anywhere in the country.
Basically, the whole country is in an uproar because the government is changing the age when full retirement benefits kick in. Instead of it being 60 (the lowest in all of Europe), the government is changing it to 62 to save some money for the tons of other government benefits everyone gets here. In case you were wondering, 62 would still be the lowest in all of Europe.
Until today, I hadn't been affected by the strike at all. It was a little disappointing, actually. Everyone else had at least one dramatic story to tell, and I had to sit on the sidelines and listen. Actually, my story really isn't all that dramatic. I had thought that my midterm for one of my classes was this Saturday, so I opted out of a free excursion to Avignon and Les Baux de Provence, which I really wanted to see. But anyway. Lyndsy and I went to class today, and our TA told us that due to the strikes, he won't be able to make it on Saturday, so we won't have to come either. So it turns out that I didn't even need to miss the excursion. (Sad face.) But another little exciting bit of news: parts of the school were blockaded today as part of the student grève. Tables and chairs were stacked against all the entrance doors to the school and at the access points to the stairs into the main hall of the school. I got a picture on my friend's camera, which I will hopefully be able to share with you all soon!
In any case, please pray that the strikes don't escalate too much. There has been talk that only violence gets the attention of government officials, but I'm hoping nothing too terrible will happen.
I would also like to point out that I have added new pictures on the right side of the page. I have been doing this pretty regularly, but I haven't mentioned it in my updates. Check them out!
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