Miss Kolka

Sarkozy hasn't spoken publicly for almost a week. What is going on? Radio commentators I heard this morning wondered what could cause this - now especially in the time of social crisis in France - the transport strike enters its 6th day and no meeting is planned between the government and the unions until Wednesday. In the meanwhile Civil servents such as postal workers and teachers will join the mouvement on tuesday for 24hours - so lots of people the president could try to reason with and I am sure he has a very strong opinion on the matter. The Prime Minister and employment minister consol him of course for the next steps to take but I cannot but wonder how Mr. President manages to keep silent. Maybe he could teach me a lesson...

It wasn't such a good idea to make a little joke at the workplace on a slow newsday apparently... where I asked whether we did plan anything special for the "day without Sarkozy" in the media - a small organisation is calling for the media not to quote or talk about the president the 30th of November. I think the idea is funny - and I would certainly want to know if an american outlet would try to influence the american media not to talk about Bush for one day. With the French "hyper-president" it seems more appropriate however, him being everywhere all the time - I think one day I had 3 stories in a ten minute bulletin where Sarkozy had come to the rescue, Chad, angry fishermen, wrongly accused nurses.. "le Petit Nicolas" is there. So much so that even his prime minister complained about it off-camera (or what he thought was off-camera) the other day: "he is always ahead of me.. I was going to go but he beat me to it". The real question is (and probably the reason why such a joke seems to be quite a sensitive matter) - how is the president going to decide on the future of French television landscape, will the channel survive a re-arrengement of the french media treating international news?

The decision was due in the last days.. so what can one do apart joking around?

I've realised why it is that I dont blog more often - its not the lack of ideas (Always seem to have the greatest ones so far away from a computer and then they simply get forgotten), Or my perfectionism which often hinders me from doing so many other things- or the lack of time - which often gets intertwined with perfection since you need time to get everything right. There is never enough time.

No, it is the hugeness of it all - all the possibilities the virtual world has to offer and all this (dis)information everywhere, with myspace or Facebook (which I continue to resist - for one part because I want to experience something IRL (=in real life),the blog, the photos, msn, google or the countless news websites that dont give you anything more that you already read somewhere else. It is frightening to realise that you could actually spend your whole life on the internet. wou.. I get shivers..

So that's why I blog only sometimes, when I have time to correct the mistakes - where I can gather my thoughts - while I surf on Ratp.fr or watch something on alluc.org.. or read the latest gossip on perezhilton.com

and then I realise I should have done something a long time ago.. in IRL.

The french prepare to strike, yet again. This transport strike is expected to last,
however it is very unlikely that the government will give in to the strikers' demand - this being the first real test for the government of Nicolas Sarkozy (normally you say the government of the prime minister - except that here the PM seems to be completely lost next to the hyper-president). They argue these Pensions reforms were electoral promisses and that the majority of the country has approved them with the election of the president and his government. The most debated point of the reform is that everyone has to work for 40 years before being able to retire. Until now many had "special deals" like train drivers that could retire around 50 years old due to the hard aspect of their job - but these deals were negotiated just after the second world war or even in the time of king Louis fourteen. Now the trend is to make everyone work the same time- regardless from the differences the hours worked or the diffuculties linked to the tasks. Unions claim that these can not be reformed because the workers chose the jobs because of the benefits offered. And now students are joining the striking force.

So the only way this strike doesn't last for days or even weeks is for the unions and the government to decide they have something they can negociate over... or that they want to negociate, not always easy.

Meanwhile thousands of people will be stranded all over - and having difficulties getting to and from work. Thankfully my bike is not on a strike...yet

Near the hot springs, we are having fun.

pictures on flickr

Sitting in a restaurant the other day, I was very involved in a discussion about marriage - why people get married - how life has changed nowadays exc. I have been maybe a bit silly during the years but I've told anyone who want's to hear it that I don't plan to marry when I grow up. Of course I would love a big family and all but since I was a child I didn't really see a point in getting married, It wasn't something I was aiming for personally and I don't consider marriage more of a commitment than having children lets say or a pet. Also I consider that it would be more of a contract between two people today,obvioulsy quite easy to break, that an actual commitment for life  (maybe there I'm wrong) and that in our day and age marriage is not the same it was a only a century ago when it really was "until death do us part". But only stupid people never change their minds...

That evening at the restaurant, there was a stranger sitting at the next table. A good looking man with white hair and a white beard eating by himself with headphones in his ears, maybe listening to music, some news or whatever else people listen to when they eat alone in restaurants, he didn't seem to pay much attention to us. When leaving the table - long after the famous marriage discussion - he pauses for a second and turns to me, adressing me with a perfect american accent:

"young lady, let me tell you something. I was married for 46 years and there is only one reason in the world to get married - you simply are swept away by the other person."

And then he left.

Well, maybe its because I am a child of divorced parents, maybe its because I don't like disappointment (who does?) or maybe I have been so naive to think that I could avoid it by not getting married - I don't know...I sure like wedding parties.. and beautiful white dresses, that's for sure. Whether I will ever have both the same day is another matter...

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