Ceci n'est pas une endive - Tag - culture - Comments

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!")

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 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...

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)

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.