Could real off a whole load of similar situations in the UK, French friends that weren't happy in the UK, Brits who are, me included and yes I work here, went to uni here, other half is french, kids are french etc. etc. at the end of the day you're happier in the UK and I'm happier in France let's leave it that way as I wouldn't go back to the UK for all the tea in China, to such an extent that I'll be applying for naturalisation once I find the time to fill in all the various forms as my life is here not there, this is home warts and all ;-)
disagree Brian...I seem to have enjoyed good service in the UK...sans shrug, pout and pfff!
hate to disagree...but it doesnt always work...thats the point...we didnt get a phone line connected for 5 months! I asked a thousand times, in French...why...what I got was...there is a problem...what problem...cue for pout and shrug...it took a French neighbour, a teacher to go in to their office...and swear at them...threatening all sorts to get us a phone line...! ditto with my roof builders...who took off half the roof then disappeared for weeks! the ability of the French to squash business ideas and to thwart those with business acumen is depressing...and it is true that the bright young French kids are flooding into London...they want to be able to earn according to effort...and not have to be treated like just another chess piece...French friends I have who have left France and reside in the UK are disappointed to see that their country doesnt seem to change with time, but maintains a somewhat dated attitude. The Brits that move to France may cheer the fact that France is laid back and not breaking new ground...but obviously not everyone brought up in France feels the same...
Alan: BlackBoard as I use it, is a software on to which one dumps lecture notes, handouts, uneaten sandwiches (I joke - but it seems that way), and all else that makes everything accessible for students to the point that, in fact, they do not even need to attend lectures, etc or even be at the university very often at all if they are clever, hence my point e) above. There was even a new ordinance obliging lecturers to use it, which because I was teaching that particular course for the last time I naturally ignored.
Unless you have contacts with the local chasse, it is almost impossible to find game here in Southern Burgundy. I was given a leg of young wild boar by one of the vignerons we buy from, but otherwise it is pay through the nose. I will put a diary date in for next november.
What brought you to France? We love this part of Southern Burgundy the Clunysois, and, living in the Cotswolds, we could not afford a house like ours back in the UK.
Although we live in the countryside, we do not have the contacts with the farmers, hunts, etc that we had in UK. I also miss my polo!
nobody bite, please!
just see previous comments ;-)
ah the dreaded powerpoint - great tool but takes hours of preparation!
School teachers eh, I ended up doing a PGCE and still do some teaching but French to foreign students here rather than to school kids bac in the UK - not really sut out for that! and I ended up with a teacher too, purely by chance, who I met out here in France...all's well that ends well ;-)
All sounds a bit communist to me, Brian!
I went as a mature student to Leicester from 1988 -1991, and my experiences were the same as yours Andrew. I then did my Phd at Aberdeen, and lectured at Derby and Sheffield Hallam, where I lectured in Sociology and Religious Studies. I never saw, or used, a Blackboard, it was all Powerpoint. I encouraged students to observe, think and research. And taught the golden rule, do'nt become a school teacher, and just regurgitate the work and thoughts of others. Guess what, I married a school teacher. Well she was one of my students, although she is only five years younger than me.
And no doubt your equivalents here in France work equally hard. That is not our point, we are discussing the desk officers who are often indeed workshy. However, it is again a diversion away from Glen's question.
Contact me next November. I still have a couple of Pheasants in the freezer, but I need them for training the young dogs. Can not get Vension, which is a pain as I love Venison sausages.
As a retired Civil Servant, I have to disagree. In 29 years of service I undertook 20 different jobs, all vastly different and not all of my choosing. I regularly did not have a lunch break because a Minister's Private office would ring at 11.45 and ask for a briefing for a meeting at 14.00hrs. Or I had to attend a lunchtime meeting because that was the only time everyone was free. I attended evening meetings.Some days I traveled across the UK and got up at 5.00am and home at 21.00pm I am not complaining. My brief was to serve Ministers and the public and I accepted that willingly. Please don't knock all Civil/Public Services unless you have worked there.
Re all the issue about pensions - in the last 15 years of my career my pay rises were significantly below the rate of inflation. A friend in the private sector complained last year that his bonus was only £9,000! What bonus for me? Yes, I have a pension but I believe it was earned.
Sorry for the moan.
And I meant the UK, but from Andrew's response it might well be here too!
;-D
Oh surprise, surprise. Whenever at the tax office or similar I have always wondered how big their loos are because the vast majority of them are invisible when one arrives and the standard excuse when they arrive back late for the appointment was "Just went to the loo"!
The UK civil servants who have been made redundant will have a harder time than most because, according to an employer's spokesman yesterday, most of them are workshy!!!
Sorry for going off the plot - just answering somebody else's point which was quite valid but htat's another story, Yes it's near on impossible, my BIL has taken years getting rid of an old secretary who was in the wrong but who faught her dismissal. In France, as I'm sure you know only too well, everything in life is based on stability and NO change - Nobody here can believe the number of career changes I've had and say that I should be over 100 years old judging from my CV! If there isn't stability then life simply doesn't work here, you can't borrow money, you can't do anything but it also means that some people don't lift a finger because they know they're protected. But isn't it better to motivate people in the workplace with incentives rather than the threat of being sacked...? Also French workers may work less than others but they are the most productive in Europe when they do work! It is precisely the idea of having a job for life that you know you're in it for the long run and so can invest in what you're doing which they target, wrongly or rightly, and having stability means being confident about long term plans=spending + investment... I'm not saying it's a better system, just different and not worth fighting against if you plan to stay here, just adapt and go with the flow ;-)
We have left that Glen. The point on sacking is very important too, but not the key to resolved your original quandry I suspect - unless we sack all politicians and bankers and put a large number of very experienced housewives (and husbands) in their place.
Very nice of you indeed, whoops there I go another 10 centimes work lost!
You do that :)