Home for Easter April 18, 2009

I’m writing this from back home in Cornwall, where I shall be enjoying the next two weeks! The sun is shining and it very much feels like summer already. My journey back went much more to plan than last time (and the diversion via Southampton), so I was home at a sensible time last night and went to town today to stock up on my UK magazines! I did think my luck had run out on me again yesterday though, at the TGV station. Earlier in the day I’d looked at the SNCF info page to make sure there were no problems, and noticed that two of the early morning trains running on the northbound side of the line I use were delayed by up to an hour due to a broken down TGV between Avignon and Aix-en-Provence (in the south). However nothing was listed for my train which was early evening so I didn’t worry too much. I got an earlier coach to the station than normal because I wanted to take some film of the trains passing through at high speed (which I did; see below), so I had about 1 hr instead of 10mins to wait for my train. When I got there I saw that there were two severely delayed trains on the board; both coming up from the south and it was still due to this broken down TGV. There was no delay listed next to my train, but I didn’t want to take any chances. If I found out there was likely to be a delay I still had time to get a taxi down to the airport but if I waited until the train was meant to arrive and then found it was delayed it would be too late, and I’d miss my flight. So, I asked and explained why it was important but it turned out there were no delays southbound, at least before Avignon. So I got to the airport on time with no problems!

And I did take some film of the trains speeding by; it surprised me how often they came through; I filmed 5 in the space of 10 minutes (you can see the clock on the platform) and in the hour I was there at least 15 came through. For those who like facts and figures, the TGV trains average 200mph but the fastest recorded was a test-run modified version which reached 357mph! Although the TGV lines (LGV’s – lignes grande vitesse) allow the maximum speeds to be reached, if necessary TGVs can also run on normal railtrack at a reduced maximum speed of 137mph, which gives them the advantage of being able to serve the old city centre stations. Freight and regular passenger trains can use LGV lines but it is not usual practice, since mixing low- and high-speed traffic can have the obvious consequence of one train catching up a slower one ahead! There are also issues of disturbance and instability due to the wind-turbulence caused by a TGV passing a slower train on an adjacent line. There is a wealth of information about TGVs and other high-speed rail services to be found on Wikipedia should you want to know more!

Anyway if you like keep an eye on my Life in Cornwall blog (link on the right of this page) because I might post something there this fortnight, otherwise see you back in Amiens!

Nothing much to add… April 14, 2009

Not much to write about really, things are winding up for the Easter break. There was another AG today, and the results were predictable. There were two interesting moments during the debate however. The first was from a regular speaker; his name is Alex and he’s always very animated, hopping about and never using the microphone, he just bellows! He always gets people going as well and leaves to massive applause. Today was no exception and I wish I’d had my camera with me today to film his little speech. He came to the floor carrying a huge piece of masonry, which he proceeded to brandish above his head as he made his speech, using it as a prop. He said that it represented the foundations of a new and better university that they are building through fighting the government’s reforms. At one point it dropped it onto the floor (purposefully) and it made such a thud! He also stood on it and used it as a soapbox, in effect. Thereafter it remained on the committee’s desk. The second memorable moment was the president George Fauré’s entrance into the hall. This was about halfway through the debate, and someone else was speaking at the time and didn’t see the president enter (with a suited entourage of about 8), until gradually the audience noticed and began to applaud and shout. They finished their speech and one other person took their turn before Monsieur Fauré was invited to the microphone. He had nothing relevant to say whatsoever, merely reiterating his concerns about the “semestre blanc”, asking once again for classes to resume and barely hinting at the idea that he might also be opposed to the reforms. He was politely applauded as he stepped off to the side. The next person up to the microphone began to speak in reply to what he had said but he and his cohort were already quietly slipping out of the auditorium! This was noticed and people began to shout and boo until he was called back, and told to stay and listen to the student’s responses. He did, until halfway through the next person’s speech when he again began to walk out; this time he was let go but not without an accompanying chant of what I believe was “March to the Scaffold”, a movement from the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz. It is meant to represent the scene of a man who is “convinced that his love is spurned, the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution.”

Here are the votes for today’s motions:

1) Motion to send a delegation to a meeting of educational sector unions from across Europe: passed by visible majority.

2) Motion to send an open letter to the citizens of the Somme region asking for their support and a sympathy strike: passed by visible majority.

3) Continuation of the strike: passed by visible majority (1 against, 24 abstentions)

4) Continuation of occupation: passed by visible majority (45 against, 32 abstentions)

5) Continuation of blocages: passed with 335 votes, 159 against, 27 abstentions.

I have had a response from Keele on the idea of leaving early and their answer is no; but I am not happy with the small amount of reasoning behind their answer and so I’m still debating with them. One thing is now abundantly clear and that is that there will be no assessments in May, and I will have nothing to do that has anything to do with my year here; I can amuse myself, learn a new language, write, start research for my final year dissertations; but all of this I could be doing at home. I am not so desperate to leave as I once was but if I can avoid being cooped up here I will.

Brussels : City of a Thousand Languages April 12, 2009

The Mannekin-Pis, an icon of Brussels

Sonia and I were granted our wish for great weather this weekend; after leaving Amiens in a dull and unpromising grey morning, we arrived in Brussels just before midday to wonderful sunshine and a warm city. It took us a while to find our hotel because the map I had printed from google was wrong. Fortunately Sonia had also written down directions and hers were different, so we tried those and found it! For the price (€30 each for a twin room, 1 night) the hotel St. Anne was amazing; it seemed to be brand new, everything gleaming in a white, minimalist and modern-art style. Breakfast was a generous buffet, included in the price and featuring bacon and eggs as well as the usual continental fare! It was just a short walk from a raft of restaurants, bars, shops and the main old centre of town, so ideally placed for us.

After we had checked in and relaxed for 5 minutes, we headed out to start exploring, deciding to go to the furthest point out and work our way back. So with street map in hand we navigated uphill through the Sablon/Marolles area, to the Palais de Justice and viewing point at Place Poleart for views over the city. On the way back down we wandered through the narrow streets of the old quarter, peering at the old antique shops, and the amazing number of fancy window displays in the chocolate shops, until we reached the bottom and the teeming corner where the Mannekin-Pis stands. This tiny statue/fountain stands barely a foot tall and is constantly surrounded by a melee of tourists having their picture taken with it! Just a short walk into the centre of this area brings you to the Grand Place, surrounded by the magnificent buildings of the Town Hall, King’s House and ornate Guild Houses.

Something we did as we were walking round the town was try to find various comic-strip murals that have been put up as part of the 2009 celebrations of the comic strip. I bought a guidebook including map from the Comic Strip House and in the end we managed to see about half of the murals. Some were too far out of our way to walk to, but most are clustered in the centre of town so it was those that we saw. In keeping our eyes out for them we also came across many other pieces of street art or sculpture, all unusual or of much higher quality than your average graffiti! My favourites out of these were some graffiti sketches of pigs, which now adorn my computer desktop! To round off the afternoon, we decided to go back up the hill to wander through the large Parc de Bruxelles, between the old Palais Royal and the Parliament building; but since our feet were aching we got the metro this time! It was lovely in the early evening sunshine, and the park was full of families and couples who had obviously been enjoying some of the first nice weather of the year.

We chilled at the hotel for an hour or so until it was about time for dinner, and in the process of searching for a good looking place we experienced the multiculturality of Brussels come to life! Anyone who has been in the narrow streets of the St. Germain area of Paris in the evening would recognise the scene; tiny cobbled streets lined with restaurants on both sides, all with tables and menus outside until there is barely room to walk between them, and all with maitre d’s touting for your business, trying to persuade you that theirs is the finest menu or the cheapest price. And also as you find in Paris, the different world cuisines tend to gravitate towards each other; so you have little Italy, Greek street and Chinatown, the German style, French style and the list goes on. In the event, Sonia and I battled our way through all of these to emerge in Place Agora Plein; a blissfully quiet oasis after the noisy, crowded streets we’d just escaped. We picked a small, simple place who didn’t hassle us and had an equally non-fussy dinner of steak-frites. Sonia got her long-awaited bottle of Kriek cherry beer, which I tried and liked, and I chose another beer which turned out to be a success; Lindemann’s Framboise (raspberry) beer. After dinner we went to find Delirium Café, a famous bar which has over 2000 beers on offer. The bar itself was incredible, never mind the beers they serve; it was covered in beer signs, trays, mats, mugs, bottles; all stuck to the ceiling and walls or indeed cemented into them. It was packed and playing lively rock music; the pictures don’t do it justice and in retrospect I should have taken some film! We only stayed just long enough for another beer and to take in the atmosphere, since we didn’t want to be up too late with a full day to take in more of the city in the morning.

We did manage to get up early, had a good breakfast and then checked out, leaving our bags to collect later. First on the agenda was to head back up to Sablon to explore the market that happens on weekends. I had hoped there would be a good book market there but as it was the stalls were mostly brick-a-brack, pictures, jewellery and antiques. Never mind, I still came away with 5 early-1900’s postcards and two pieces of jewellery, so I considered it a success even if there were no books to be had! Again we wandered back down to Grand Place through the myriad streets, admiring the architecture to be found on every corner. And then a treat; the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate! No sooner have you bought your ticket and they give you a tasting; this is my kind of museum! There were displays of everything from the horticulture of the cocoa plant, to processing, manufacture, historical methods, medicinal traditions, chemical properties and even chocolate fashion! There was also a small kitchen where a very friendly lady showed us how individual chocolates are made; from the solid 5kg block of chocolate that is melted, how to know when it is the right consistency; filling the moulds and allowing the excess to run out to leave the shells, and finally once it’s solidified, how to make it into a praline. And yes, we got more tastings! After this it was about time for lunch, but we only grabbed a quick light salad because both Sonia and I were craving chocolate, and more specifically the traditional and famous Belgian waffle! We bought our chocolates for later, but the waffles were for now; I opted for strawberry and chantilly cream whereas Sonia added chocolate sauce too. For the rest of the afternoon we browsed the shops and found some more comic strip murals, but all too soon it was time to fetch our bags from the hotel and metro back to Gare du Midi to catch our TGV back to Lille.

It is a strange experience crossing a border by train; no one checked our passports and it didn’t really feel like we had gone to another country! Part of this I’m sure is to do with the fact that Belgium is also largely French speaking, although of course Dutch and German are equally used. Another factor is that even in Lille, just within the French border and an international hub with trains running between Belgium, France and the UK, the three languages begin to appear on signs, so already the cultures are being mixed and you begin to feel like you’re in an international place rather than one particular country. I titled this post “Brussels: City of thousand languages” because I swear I heard every language known to man and more besides in two days there. Apart from the three “biggies”; French, English and Dutch, there were also German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Greek, Chinese and many other Arabic and Asian languages I couldn’t begin to identify. Evidence of cultural migration was everywhere; in shops, restaurants, services and just in the people walking down the street. It really is a completely international city, and somewhere I would definitely consider spending some time in if ever I needed to improve a particular language. I would say French and English were the two languages I heard most; and even though I spoke to people in French I was often answered in English, at least after a couple of sentences. This irritated me a bit because I don’t think I sound obviously English when I’m speaking French now; indeed I was always either asked “do you speak English?” or the person in question had heard me speaking English to Sonia before the language was switched. I can understand that, just as I try to always improve my French, the people I was speaking to may have been trying to improve their English, but I can’t help feeling that it was the “default-to-English” syndrome again and assumption about my level of French. One incident has stuck in my mind and that was when I was buying my waffle; there were no prices listed so when I got mine I had to wait until the vendor told me how much, which she did whilst turning away into the kitchen so I only caught 4… and not what came after. So I got four euros out and gave that to her, so she repeated how much more was needed. I heard “five”, in English (she’d heard me speaking to Sonia), so I gave her 5 cents, she shook her head and repeated herself; this time I heard what sounded like “five teen”, very badly pronounced, so I queried her; “fifteen? quinze?” in English then French, and she shook her head again, finally giving up on English and told me “cinquante”; fifty. At last! If she had just stuck to French, we would have understood each other perfectly and she could have moved on to the next customer already. The default to English syndrome really annoys me sometimes, especially in cases like this. I realise that for people who can’t speak French (or any other language) well, it is necessary, and I’m sure that I will need it in Dresden later this year; since I don’t speak a word of German. But when you have started speaking to someone in perfectly good French (or any other language) and it’s just a simple transaction why on earth must you switch to English!!

Anyway here are the photo albums: Brussels 1, Brussels 2, Comic strips, statues & other street art

Another AG and Stars sur Glace April 9, 2009

This week has tumbled by fairly quickly it seems, which doesn’t surprise me because there’s been a fair amount to fill it. Today I went to pick up some of my marked literature work from a lecturer who’d organised a rendez-vous at a café in town, and we sat with some of the other students and chatted about the strike and the experience of studying abroad for a while before I left to go to today’s AG back at campus. The results were predictable, and nothing unusual happened. Here’s the summary:

1) Motion to invite Georges Fauré to the next AG to debate the electronic vote: 40 abstentions, 4 against, passed by visible majority.

2) Motion to increase the number of principles/reforms the movement is against (I didn’t entirely catch the details of this motion but it matters little because…): 108 abstentions, 142 against, 25 for, therefore motion refused.

3) Motion to continue the strike: 16 abstentions, 4 against, passed by visible majority.

4) Motion to continue occupation: 35 abstentions, 53 against, passed by visible majority.

5) Motion to continue blocages until next vote Tuesday 14th: 30 abstentions, 141 against, 272 for.

So, there we have it; the movement continues in all its glory for another few days, and the next AG on Tuesday will likely determine the fate of the final days before the Easter break. I am still waiting to hear from Keele but I am definitely moving towards leaving end of this month.

Last night I went to Stars sur Glace; a showcase from members of the French ice skating team that has been touring the country over the last few months; last night it came to Amiens. The headliner was due to be Brian Joubert, a world champion, but unfortunately he sustained an injury over the last week and has decided to cancel his performances in the hopes of recovering in time for the championships he’s due to compete at soon. It was a disappointment not to see him but injury is a hazard of course with a sport like skating, and competing is his priority! As compensation they told us our tickets are valid for any one of next year’s shows, anywhere in France, so I’ll have to keep an eye out to see if I can get to one.  As is tradition with the show, it was kicked off by the local skating club who had three solo performers currently competing at national level; two young girls and a teenage boy who were all excellent – and then the rest of the club came on for a group number. I filmed most of the professional performances and I’ve organised them into video compilations for youtube. Make sure you select the high quality version by clicking the HQ button so it goes red – the standard youtube version really doesn’t do this justice! Oh, and the rink is the same one I’ve been skating on each week.

Tomorrow I’m off to Brussels so I’ll be back with an update on Sunday or Monday!

UPJV falling apart – I’m wrapping up the semester! April 6, 2009

The action surrounding the strike is increasing and having deeper repercussions within the university community than ever. There are demonstrations in Amiens and Paris every week; sometimes evening demonstrations through the town. As in most parts of the country where similar things are happening, the peaceful demonstrations are met with violence from police forces; last Wednesday night there were apparently several arrests of students taking part in the demonstration through Amiens; in other parts of the country the CRS (riot police) are effectively barricading universities to stop students taking control, and anti-riot gear such as tear gas is regularly used on peaceful walking demonstrations. This week 75 lecturers and faculty staff at UPJV “symbolically resigned” from their positions, effectively paralysing any administrative work that would still have continued. All Georges Fauré had to say about it was “I hope they change their minds”, or words to that effect. At today’s student AG a motion was passed to no longer recognise him as president of the university and to petition for his dismissal. Here are the tally’s:

1) Continuation of the strike: 34 abstentions, 11 against, passed by visible majority.

2) Continuation of occupation: 70 abstentions, 85 against, passed by visible majority.

3) Continuation of blocages until Thursday 9th: 50 abstentions, 216 against, 465 for.

4) Motion to petition for dismissal of Georges Fauré: 196 abstentions (it seems a lot of people were uneasy about being seen to vote on this!), 57 against, 295 for.

Things are clearly far from improving, and in fact are just getting more and more radical, so I am firmly wrapping up my semester now. I went to the DAI today to give them my list of courses and explain the differences in how much they’d been affected, and they said they had now accepted the situation and were trying to work with lecturers to obtain some form of assessment for us exchange students. I am also emailing the lecturers I was already in contact with to sort out final assessments of whatever kind, and I’ve finally emailed Keele today as I felt the right moment had come. I haven’t recieved a reply yet but no doubt they will take a day or two to mull it over. I really don’t know what the outcome of the strike will be for UPJV but whatever it is, this semester can already be confidently called a write-off.

EDIT: Having picked up my UPJV email this evening I find that the electronic vote has been made available (despite the fact that those present at last week’s AG voted to boycott it) and it seems some people are using it, assuming that the presidence has not entirely fabricated the results. According to the electronic vote, in which the only question asked was “Independantly of your opinion on the opposition movement, are you in favour of the lifting of blocades?”, of the 4,465 registered students at campus, only 772 voted, of which 8 refused to vote, 51 abstained, 479 voted yes and 234 voted no. So from that the blocages would be lifted – however as I wrote earlier, at today’s AG the figures for yes and no were almost reversed! The comité de mobilisation is firmly entrenched in the university now though, and if they consider that the electronic vote is not valid I can’t see how the presidence can get the blocage lifted.

Jazz and skating April 3, 2009

As promised there is a jazz video in tonight’s installment! I went out with Sonia and an assortment of her friends on Wednesday night; to begin with I got the bus over to Sonia’s accommodation at Castillon – it was further out of town than I thought! We sat around drinking and chatting for a bit and then walked into town to St. Leu. One of the bad things about living in Castillon is that there is no evening bus service and the streets are small, quiet, residential with bad street lighting – not good for walking alone! It’s surprising (or perhaps not, we are in France after all) that the route between town and a major uni accommodation area would be so badly serviced. Anyway jazz at Retroviseur was great, we got there a bit after 10 and left at midnight; me and one of Sonia’s friends were both going to get the last bus back to campus so we walked Sonia most of the way to Castillon and then came back to St. Leu for the bus. Here is the compilation I made of the music:

Yesterday I managed to sleep half the day away and in the afternoon did laundry; nothing more exciting than that! Today I got up a bit earlier and went skating this afternoon with Sonia. It was good, didn’t really work on much but it was a quiet session and above all it was nice to have someone to chat to. After skating we walked into town and stopped by Alice Delice, a fancy cookware shop that sells posh pasta, coffee, chocolate etc as well as cooking utensils. Most days at 4.30 they have a short cooking demonstration in the mini-kitchen downstairs; today it was making banana muffins with blue and yellow lemon icing. It was fun to watch and we got a little taster of the muffins at the end!

I’ve had a couple of emails today from the International Office. The first was asking what courses I had been taking this semester because they apparently didn’t know, and had any of them been affected by the strike. I replied telling them they did have a list which I gave them to send to Keele for me at the beginning of the semester, and that all of my courses had been affected to some extent by the strike, but I could come and explain everything to them on Monday. Then a bit later on someone else in the office sent out a general email to everyone asking for lists of our courses that have been affected by the strike. This struck me as a bit late in the game; it’s like they’ve only just accepted or realised that this has affected us and will impact on exams! Anyway I will fill out this list and go explain it to them on Monday, and hopefully might get some concrete answers at last! Even if they have nothing to say I am still emailing Keele on Monday to outline what has happened, what I have to show for this semester and what I intend to do.

I think you know the drill… April 1, 2009

Yes so this morning brought another AG and I think you know the drill by now. I took my camera but didn’t bother filming since there were nowhere near as many people as on Monday. It was rather more subdued; the debate didn’t go on that long and this time mainly revolved around the possibility of an electronic vote that the presidence is pushing for. The main objections to this are issues of verification, democracy and the fact that the current set up of open debate followed by the vote would be unavailable. However, an electronic vote would potentially open up the vote to everyone, not just those who can make it to the AG. Although as one debater pointed out, if they really care enough about the mobilisation to vote meaningfully they will come to the AG. The motions voted on today were as follows:

1) Motion to boycott any electronic vote:  passed by visible majority

2) Motion to put in place anonymous or secret voting: blocked by visible majority.

3) Motion to send a delegation to a) the CNU (Conseil Nationale des Universités) b) the CNE (Conseil Nationale des Etudiants),  c) both, d) neither: visible majority voted for c) both – but it seemed there were problems getting volunteers to make up the delegation!

4) Continuation of the strike: passed by visible majority

5) Continuation of occupation: passed by visible majority

6) Continuation of the blocage until the next AG Monday 6th: passed by counted majority; 29 abstentions, 170 against, 277 for.

There was also a summary following the seige of la presidence on Monday; I didn’t realise this but for a while there have been “guards” on the door of the presidence building. Other administrative people are in there, such as the International Office who I went to see the other week; and I was asked by a man on the door who I was going to see and then escorted to the office, but since they were doing refurbishing works in the main hall I assumed it was to prevent me straying into that and had no idea it was connected with “protecting” the president from unwanted callers. Anyway, this article from Le Courrier Picard sums it up pretty well; Le president sommé de s’expliquer but since it’s in French I’ll recap.

Georges Fauré speaking to students, image from Courrier Picard

A couple of hundred students went up to the presidence after Monday’s AG to demand that the president Georges Fauré finally explains clearly his position with regard to the strike. They had to wait an hour and a half before he made an appearance and agreed to speak with them. One of the members of the mobilisation committee is quoted as saying “he’s been fleeing us for weeks; in the press he claims to support the movement but in reality he’s trying to undermine it.” Fauré’s main objection to the blocages seems to be that it is the biggest threat to the validation of everyone’s degree – how can you award a degree when it is supposed to be for 6 semesters and you’ve only done 5? One student spoke out and said that he was willing to sacrifice his semester and therefore the year in order to preserve the university for future generations; this was greeted with enormous applause. Fauré didn’t really seem to give a definitive stance one way or the other; obviously he doesn’t want to see his university “marred” by setting all the students back a semester as a result of this strike, however he does not declare himself in support of the reforms and therefore one might conclude he is against them and supports some form of resistance. He said that it was not his place as president to declare himself on strike. And he still seems unable to accept that this is a steam-train of a movement that shows no signs of slowing down; this week he sent an email about the assessments merely asking that classes be resumed from this week. Well, that just isn’t going to happen, so I think it would be better if he took his head out of the sand and made an executive decision, such as putting the exams back until September. That way, those students who are currently in crisis, unsure whether to support the movement and risk their semester or support their degree and go against the movement would perhaps regain a clearer sense of direction, and the movement would be the stronger for it.

I really didn’t intend to write just about the strike for yet another post, but to be honest not much else is going on and it takes up so much space! I had a really great skating session yesterday, tonight I’m going for drinks and jazz at Retroviseur with Sonia et al (expect another video), tomorrow I might go down to Paris for the demonstrations but more likely to leave that til next week. Apart from that just chilling and enjoying the sunshine!