Second Strike of 2009

Protesting puppets at the March 20th strike in Valence.

This morning, I woke up to find a scorpion lurking outside my door. I didn’t want to risk a scorpion in my room, so I’m sorry to say it was killed by my giant French dictionary. I hope that this will not happen often. As much as I love animals, I prefer it when the ones that could sting me in my sleep stay outside my living space.

Yesterday I spent a lovely day in Aix-en-Provence, but I will get to that in another post. This Thursday there was another strike in France, this one claiming to be bigger than the January 29th “grève.” I didn’t have to go into work due to the disruptions with the buses and the fact that only two of the teachers I usually work with would be there. So after running the errands that I could on a day when most public buildings were closed, I walked to the park to see the strikers gathering. The umbrella issue was the economic crisis, with most believing President Nicolas Sarkozy is not doing enough to slow the recession. Even though this strike had a little more of a serious vibe than the January strike, there were still people walking on stilts and the giant puppets in the photograph above. I’m going to assume they represent people in the DOM-TOMs, although they could just as easily be leftovers from Carnaval. They kind of scared me, because when they walked their giant hands reached in front of them like they were trying to grab people in the crowd and their necks bobbed up and down. They also danced to the music, which ranged from drum groups to solo bongo players to U2 blasted out of a car stereo to a guy with a megaphone doing a version of Gavroche’s song in Les Misérables. He just substituted “Sarko” (short for Sarkozy) for Rousseau, which I guess was clever. Ex: “Misère est mon trousseau/C’est la faute à Sarko.”

Strike going down the boulevard in Valence.

I saw a couple of my students who screamed “ALLEESOON.” The kids are always shocked that I actually live in France and don’t fly home to the States every night. I guess their spatial reasoning is still being formed. I also ran into some other assistants lounging in the park, and we enjoyed a couple bottles of Clairette while watching the strike pass by. I’m still not sure about the strike culture here. It’s fantastic that people are so attentive to what their government is doing and are willing to express their opinions. However, it happens so frequently that it seems like it would lose some of its effect.

I taught a short lesson on American music in my private lessons this week, introducing the five main genres of the 20th century: jazz, country, rock and roll, hip hop, and pop. I showed a short video for each, using Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, The Roots, and Feist (I know, technically Canadian) respectively. The least favorite for all the kids was The Roots, alas. Anyway, I bring this up because there was a moment when we were talking about other types of music related to these. One of the kids said punk, so I played a short clip of The Misfits and their grandma, who was in the other room, shouts: “What is going on? Is everything okay???” I guess the punks are still making the older generation uncomfortable.

En Grève!

Strikers at the kiosque on the Champ de Mars in Valence.

Last Thursday, January 29, I didn’t have to work because the teachers, along with over a million other French citizens, were on strike. Despite having attended the Valence demonstration and having asked several French people about the strike, I still can’t name one thing as the cause. To the best of my understanding, the nationwide strike was aggravated by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s policies in regards to the economic crisis. However, the teachers I talked to were mostly concerned about jobs being cut in education and low wages. Reports showed that this strike was even bigger than the one against the CPE that took place while I was studying in Clermont-Ferrand in 2006.

Stilt ninjas at the Valence protest.

With all of this in mind, I was expecting to find an angry crowd at the Champ de Mars in Valence. But this was far from it. It was like being at a parade and I saw more smiling faces than raised fists. A French woman heard me speaking English and asked what I thought about the demonstration, and I said it was more of a “spectacle” than a “manifestation.” As you can see from the people on stilts above, there was even a carnival touch. Although the stilt ninja on the right was yelling at those people for some reason. So I guess someone was angry. But if Sarkozy watched the Valence protest on TV I would be surprised if he felt threatened by it. However, I’m coming at this from an American perspective and I realize that strikes are a big part of French politics. I’m still trying to understand how they bring about change. It seems like back in the States most protests concern big idea issues like abortion, the death penalty, the environment, or the war in Iraq. France is much more about protests and strikes in response to policies.

Strikers in Valence.

I watched the strike with the other Valence assistants. We’re from the USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. I think it’s also hard for us to feel strongly about the strike because we all have our own economic crisis back home. The economy in the States worries me much more than that of France because that’s where my future is, at least for May and June. There were tons of children at the strike and it’s obvious that they grow up with this system of public demonstrating. It’s great that they are able to express themselves politically and even leave work without fear of losing their jobs, although I think it is sometimes overdone. But maybe it isn’t done enough in the States.

A guy in a white mask climbs on a sign at the strike in Valence.

I enjoyed the music blasting from the back of trucks and the enthusiastic flag wavers who managed to energetically dance for about an hour straight. However, I didn’t stay for the whole day as it was obvious that it was going to last until dusk. This is the second strike that has caused me to not work since I started being an assistant in France. If the government doesn’t please the unions, it may not be the last. I’m not sure if the union leaders can agree on any solution to the economic crisis or if they can only be unified against Sarkozy. I’ll be interested to see what happens in the coming months.

à bâtons rompus

I finally got my Titre de Sejour today. Hopefully this means my Carte de Sejour will be given to me eventually. I’ve also been submitting Fools and Specters, my only complete novel to date, to literary agents, although it terrifies me. I can handle rejection, it just seems so much more personal with fiction than with my journalism work. Hopefully something will turn up, even though when I read my plot synopsis it looks like something that would make a good (as in bad) Sci-Fi Pictures Original. Maybe I should just send it to them directly.

This scary "Christmas Dragon," or whatever you want to call it, haunts the Avenue Victor Hugo. It clicks its creepy mouth together when you walk by. Another one has turned up on another street...

Last weekend was pretty eventful. Friday night there was a big assistant gathering in the high school where a few assistants live. I can’t believe I’m still meeting Valence assistants, although I guess I was grouped with only the primary school assistants during orientation and there are a lot more Spanish, German, and Italian assistants in the high schools. I spent most of the party playing Ping-Pong and Foosball, both of which I am rather awful at. I’m “maladroit,” as they say here, although I had a few decent hits at Ping-Pong. I will blame the vin chaud. Saturday I went to the market for fruits and vegetables and also got some surprisingly strong Tomme de Savoie cheese. It looked so tame, like Gouda. Crafty cheese.

Snow on a Statue in Parc Jouvet. We've gotten a lot, but none of it stays around.

Saturday night I met up with Lisa, an English au pair, and we rode in a tiny car with three French guys down to La Tour d’Aigues in Provence for a party. Helen, an English girl who lives in Valence, was throwing the party with her boyfriend as a surprise for one of her friends. Luckily I’d met this friend before, so I didn’t feel awkward. This makes the second surprise party I’ve been to in France that’s been for someone I’d only met once before. Anyway, it was fun. I guess in France the thing to do is DJ your own dance party in a house, so there were lots of techno beats and even some random didgeridoo. And there was trance music, which is apparently very popular around here, although it still makes me feel like I could start walking into walls. Most important, I learned that in trance dancing you must put up your hood, if you are wearing one, and wave your arms manically while kicking your legs in the air. Now I will never embarrass myself! Oh, and did I mention Père Noël (Santa Claus) made an appearance at the party? I should have asked for a Nabaztag! I missed my chance. Anyway, it was a fun time and I got to meet new people. I noticed that we passed a sign for Digne on the way, and that Toulon was down the highway. Being the French literature nerd that I am, I totally wanted to shout out “The bishop of Digne!! The prison in Toulon!! We’re on the path of Jean Valjean!” But I respected the sensibilities of the other four passengers and did not.

Snow in the Parc Jouvet in Valence.

This evening, I went with Pauline, a girl who lives in the foyer and is a radio journalist, to interview parents, teachers, and students who are having a “sleep in” protest at a high school. Well, I didn’t do any interviewing, just accompanied. Anyway, most of the high schools are blocked off by the strikes right now because the government is making some major changes to the education system that are not going over well. I can’t imagine a strike like this happening in the States, but they happen all the time in France.

I got my first gift for Christmas from my Uncle Phil: a certificate to make a loan on Kiva! If you haven’t heard of Kiva, you should check it out. Basically, its a way to make loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. For example, I made my loan to Phal Samoeun in Cambodia to help with her beauty salon. I like that Kiva makes small amounts count, so that people like me who can’t give high dollar amounts can still directly support an individual. I also like that it doesn’t just throw money like a fire blanket to help people, but actually targets a need. Anyway, if you are freaking out about last-minute gifts, it would be a good choice.

I’m now going to finish preparing my last lessons before Christmas Vacation!