Ceci n'est pas une endive - Comments

Why Is Your French So Good? - Eugene Eric Kim

Eugene Eric Kim — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:23:09 +0200

You should go with the proud side. You have some serious language skills, and I am bitterly jealous. :-)

Hello from this side of the world!

Why Is Your French So Good? - Sourisdansroquefort

Sourisdansroquefort — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:47:59 +0200

Oh, I never heard that one! Hugs from another expatriate in Hessen (and french) (and, by the way, my supervisor is the son-in-law of the bookshop owner in your little town) (world is small). Go on writing, it's always a pleasure to read impressions so near to mine.

My Very First Culture Shock - witty lama

witty lama — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:12:42 +0200

I remember the first time I met the other students in my class when I went to a french high school. I knew about the "bise" and was prepared for that, but I didn't know that in the area that I was (northern Ardeche) people cheek-kiss three times, not two. Furthermore, I didn't know which direction to start with.

In the end I looked very foolish doing a sort of stop-go-stop dance with the other students. They were standing in a circle and I was on the inside working my way around one person at a time. A very threatening position to be in in a new school and culture when you're in "Troiseme" (junior high)!

When it comes to roots - Anirudh Bhati

Anirudh Bhati — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:43:30 +0200

Lovely post. If you liked Egypt, you will love India. Come, my friend, Taj Mahal awaits... :)

Holy state! the Church got me (again) - Fabien

Fabien — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:40:54 +0200

Well... next time you're asked "are your a catholic?", you know what to say... ("f**k you!")

Music to a Dance With Death - Xero

Xero — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:51:16 +0200

away from our state of art driving rituals :D, how do you like the city itself ?

Truly multilingual - PrincessH

PrincessH — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:37:43 +0200

Maybe she won't think anything of it before your asking, because
till that point, it's just her normal way to be.

(Princess who needs to study some grammar and tenses !)

The language before the language - princessH

princessH — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:16:58 +0200

Commentaire hors -sujet mais pas totalement :
Diiiis, je peux avoir ton adresse postale, hein dis hein ?.... Parce que j'en ai une partie, mais pas tout.

About "Ceci n'est pas une endive" - princessH

princessH — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:40:09 +0200

Ici se glisse un petit commentaire hors sujet, parce que je ne trouve pas ton e-mail... Il me faudrait ton adresse postale ! ;-)

The Credit Card Hell - soylentyellow

soylentyellow — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:39:27 +0100

Each McDonald's franchise decides independently wether it will accept plastic money or not. Usually they do, but some don't.

However, if you want to fill up your car on a French self service petrol station (without an attendant, there are lots of those especially after hours) and you happen to have a non-French credit card you are out of luck because you won't get a single drop of petrol. You either drive on and look for a staffed petrol station or pay a French person cash so they use their card to fill up your car.

Same with the machine in the ski resort that sells ski passes - if your credit card is not from France it won't sell you a ski pass - you have to use a staffed window.

The Credit Card Hell - Hégésippe Cormier

Hégésippe Cormier — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:54:20 +0100

J'adore l'image de la personne voyageant en Allemagne et éprouvant le ***besoin urgent d'acheter le dernier iPod aussitôt après sa sortie*** et se retrouvant grosjean comme devant parce que le Mediamarkt n'accepte pas les cartes de crédit.

The Toilet in the Bathroom - Guillaume

Guillaume — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:47:50 +0100

« A bathroom without a toilet is not a bathroom ». Well, he didn't say someone had to actually use it :). You can probably find some shelves and a heavy cupboard...

Put your money where your mind is, not where we tell you to - mike

mike — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:50:47 +0100

Hi,

I just came across this via the wikipedia fundraising site. I think its really interesting and worthwhile as a blog post, and certainly changed my perceptions about wikipedia.

However, I think I should correct, some uses of grammer, and I know you aren't a native english speaker, so please don't be offended. Anyway, here are the corrections:

"make light on" should be "make light of"

"Trick is" should be "Problem is" in the context you use it.

"some kind of a guilt feeling about it" should be "some kind of guilt about it" or "some kind of guilty feeling about it".

"I am one of the strongest advocates that the Wikimedia organisations worldwide need to focus on education" should be "I am one of the strongest advocates of the idea that the Wikimedia organisations worldwide need to focus on education".

About "Ceci n'est pas une endive" - eumedemito

eumedemito — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:37:47 +0100

I'm a native Portuguese speaker and, though I use the English Wikipedia more than the Portuguese one, I've been noticing there are several "Endives and Chicons" out there in Portuguese articles (being Brazil and Portugal the "France and Belgium" here). I wonder if there could be a solution for this. (That would include changing the way articles are named, of course)

German punctuality is overrated - notafish

notafish — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 11:38:40 +0100

Actually, I suppose that French doctors suffer the same problems. The difference is, the French are rather late by nature, so there's nothing weird about that, whereas the Germans are *really* rather on time.

German punctuality is overrated - Blorg

Blorg — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:39:31 +0100

This is pretty standard behaviour from doctors in Ireland- is it any different in France? They book up a pile and see them at their leisure. First in first out is generally the rule irrespective of appointment time.

I have had extensive pleasure of working with Germans- German efficiency is much overrated... indeed the only efficient Germans I have encountered have not been employed in Germany ;-)

Holy shit! The Church got me. - Olaf

Olaf — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:27:03 +0100

The BBC article about the roots of French secularism you linked too also says that "all obvious religious symbols from schools - including headscarves, Christian crosses and Jewish skullcaps" are banned.

In Germany, there is no issue about what school children wear to school (imagine the state forbade Jews their kipa (scullcap)! Gulp!).

However, there has been an issue with German teachers wearing a headscarf and whether this was legal or not. The conclusion some states (such as Baden Würtemberg) reached was, that the headscarf was illegal for teachers - but NOT the nun habit (the Christian version of a headscarf and modest clothes). (There are some schools run by monasteries)

Weird, isn't it?

And the weird thing was, that the courts even uphold this rule, even though it clearly favors one religion over another...and even though this runs against the German constitution ("no one may be discriminated against because of their religion")

Holy shit! The Church got me. - Olaf

Olaf — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:53:12 +0100

In order to get "out" of the church, you simply go to your local "Bürgerbüro" (office that deals with anything going on between the city and you, the citizen. The place they issue passports as well as parking permits. The place they sell you a trash bag if you have more trash than your alloted quota/than fits into your trash can) and state that you want to leave the church ("Ich möchte aus der Kirche austreten"). You pay a (steep! for that little administrative effort at least) fee, which differs between cities, get a piece of paper which states that you left church and take that paper as well as your "Lohnsteuerkarte" (colored income tax piece of cardboard) to another person in the same office and they will cross out your religious affiliation and then you won't have to pay tax on your (non existing) religious affiliation.

If you try to argue that you never "joined" the church in Germany good luck. Most Germans were joined by being born by parents associated to a Christian church and I had to pay, even though *I* never joined anything.

You have to prove that you are not a member of the church, NOT the other way around - even though it *should* be the other way around. But I never understood German logic either.