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I've always known that I have good French, especially considering that I didn't start studying the language until I was 15 1/2. It was no secret that I had the best written French of all the students in my B.A. program, and I think that most people would agree that I have the best written French of the students in my M.A. program. (Oral French is another story -- many of my fellow students speak French as well as, if not slightly better, than I do.) And yet I still wonder how I measure up to other non-native speakers, so when I saw some expat groups post a variety of online French tests, I had to take the bait and test them out. It was reassuring to get a perfect score on them all, as I haven't had any formal instruction in French grammar since I graduated high school at age 17.
Two other things made me feel pretty good yesterday, too, both of which happened over the course of a detailed explanation I gave of the American primary system and of school funding problems to two of my francophone friends here (in French!) The first happened during the explanation of the differences between les primaires and les caucus. One of my friends said, "I hate the word caucus. It reminds me of cocu. ... Oh, sorry, you probably haven't heard that word before."
"Actually, I have," I replied. "It's a word referring to a man who has been cheated on by his wife."
"How did you know that?!"
"Well, I have seen a couple of Georges Feydeau's plays..."
"Um... who is that? ... Oh, well, nevermind."
The second came while constructing a sentence with the subjunctive (native English speakers are notorious for having subjunctive issues). I started a sentence with, "Bien que je sache..." at which point they both interrupted me and said, "Yes!!!"
I have to admit, it felt good. Now, if only Spanish came to me as easily...
Friday, February 8, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
La franchise
I am a very candid person and I generally say exactly what pops into my head without sending it through a propriety filter first, much to my mother's chagrin. Luckily for her, this doesn't usually happen during conversations in French, seeing as the majority of the off-the-cuff comments that pop into my head occur to me in English, and by the time I've got them translated into beautiful French prose, the conversation has moved on.
There was one such comment that I wrote this week during an online conversation about Abercrombie & Fitch's controversial new ad campaign, which apparently shows some partially exposed breasts. This was my response (which garnered more attention than I thought it would):
"The ads wouldn't bother me.
But, of course, every morning I catch the bus next to a life-sized ad depicting a stone statue made in the image of Woody Allen masturbating a disproportionately large penis. So it's all about perspective."
People seem to think that I make this stuff up, but really I don't...
There was one such comment that I wrote this week during an online conversation about Abercrombie & Fitch's controversial new ad campaign, which apparently shows some partially exposed breasts. This was my response (which garnered more attention than I thought it would):
"The ads wouldn't bother me.
But, of course, every morning I catch the bus next to a life-sized ad depicting a stone statue made in the image of Woody Allen masturbating a disproportionately large penis. So it's all about perspective."
People seem to think that I make this stuff up, but really I don't...
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Super Tuesday
Yesterday was Super Tuesday, the day in which nearly half the nation cast their vote to help determine the Democratic and Republican nominees for President. We all know by now how the voting turned out, but do you know how your vote and the nomination process works?
The rules that dictate how voting works differ from state to state. First, states work in conjunction with the Republican and Democratic national conventions to determine the election schedule. A select few states are authorized to hold elections before February, but most are not. This is what led to Florida and Michigan being stripped of their delegates to the national conventions this year -- a scheduling disagreement with the DNC and RNC.
Some states choose to hold primaries, while other states choose to hold caucuses. States holding primaries can choose between an open primary and a closed primary. In an open primary, a registered voter may vote for the candidate of his choice, regardless of party affiliation. In a closed primary, registered Democrats must vote for a Democratic candidate and registered Republicans must vote for a Republican candidate. Voters may arrive at any time during the hours that their polling place is open on election day, and they cast a secret ballot.
Caucuses work a little bit differently, and I'm not 100% clear on what happens because I've never voted in a caucus before. From what I've been able to glean from my research, caucus procedures differ between the Democratic and Republican parties. It seems that voters all gather at their assigned polling place at a specific time of day. Republican caucuses take a straw poll amongst the voters present, sometimes done by a show of hands or by having voters break up into groups based on which candidate they support, and sometimes by giving all voters a blank piece of paper and having them write down the name of their candidate of choice and place the paper in the ballot box. Unlike Democratic caucuses, Republican caucuses do not use rounds of voting and do not require candidates to attain at least a specified minimum percentage of the vote. At Democratic caucuses, voters break up into groups depending on which candidates they support. If a group for any given candidate holds less than 15% of the caucus-goers, those voters must either choose to support another voter, join an uncommitted group, or choose not to vote.
Presidential nominees are not actually selected by the popular vote. When an American votes in a primary or a caucus, he is not actually voting for the candidate of his choice but rather for a group of delegates who, in turn, pledge to support his candidate. In order for a candidate to become the party nominee, he or she must receive the vote of 50% + 1 of the party's delegates. There are 4,049 delegates for the Democratic party, and a candidate must receive votes from 2,025 of them to be nominated. The Republican party has fewer delegates -- 2,380, with 1,191 needed to secure the nomination.
The manner in which delegates are allocated to the candidates differs from state to state and between the two parties. In most states, Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally to candidates who receive at least 15% of the vote. The Republican delegates of most states, on the other hand, are usually awarded exclusively to the candidate who wins the state (but some states allocate delegates proportionally and some states adopt a winner-take-all system by congressional district). In states where delegates are awarded by congressional district, it is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote statewide but receive fewer delegates than the second-place candidate -- this has already occurred within a few states during this year's primaries.
The delegates won by candidates in both parties during primaries and caucuses are called "pledged delegates". Within the Republican Party, these pledged delegates may be bound or unbound, depending on their state's election rules. Bound delegates are required to vote for the candidate they are assigned to, whereas unbound delegates are not required to vote for their assigned candidate, but usually do. Within the Democratic Party, pledged delegates are not legally bound to vote for the candidate for whom they are pledged, but they generally do because candidates may remove their pledged delegates if they feel that they will not be loyal.
Each party also has a certain number of "unpledged delegates," or "superdelegates," who are determined according to its own rules. Superdelegates for the Democrats include the Democratic House and Senate members, Democratic state and territorial governers, DNC members and distinguished party leaders. 796 of the 4,049, or about 20%, of Democratic delegates are superdelegates. These delegates vote for the candidate of their own choosing, and are not bound by any election results. Unpledged delegates for the Republican party are chosen according to slightly different rules, and 463 of the 2,380 Republican delegates are unpledged delegates (also about 20%). As a result of the unpledged delegate system, 0.000007% of the voting population holds 19.6% of the voting power in the 2008 primaries.
If none of the candidates from a given party win a majority of their party's delegates, then the party nominee is chosen by means of a brokered convention.
Now let's take a break from the facts so that I may air my personal opinion. It's a pretty plain and simple opinion: I don't like our primary system. Here's why:
1. Nationwide voting does not take place on one specific date. I think that the outcome of the primary election might be different if everybody had to vote on the same day -- namely because the media would have less time to publicize one candidate as the front-runner while neglecting to report on other candidates. I think our current system encourages people to jump on the bandwagon without researching the position taken by each and every candidate on the issues central to the election. It also gives a lot of influence to small states holding a minority of voters.
2. Nominees are not selected solely by the popular vote. Granted, the President is not elected by the popular vote, either, but I'd like to change that, too!
3. The rules governing the distribution of delegates to each candidate vary not only between the two main parties, but also amongst all the states! I think that we need a uniform, transparent voting process.
4. Pledged delegates are not legally bound to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged. In other words, if a delegate decides to go off on a wild hair and disregard the popular vote, he is free to do so.
5. The DNC and RNC are able to strip individual states of all of their delegates if they so choose, disenfranchising a significant percentage of the American population.
Off my soapbox now.
The rules that dictate how voting works differ from state to state. First, states work in conjunction with the Republican and Democratic national conventions to determine the election schedule. A select few states are authorized to hold elections before February, but most are not. This is what led to Florida and Michigan being stripped of their delegates to the national conventions this year -- a scheduling disagreement with the DNC and RNC.
Some states choose to hold primaries, while other states choose to hold caucuses. States holding primaries can choose between an open primary and a closed primary. In an open primary, a registered voter may vote for the candidate of his choice, regardless of party affiliation. In a closed primary, registered Democrats must vote for a Democratic candidate and registered Republicans must vote for a Republican candidate. Voters may arrive at any time during the hours that their polling place is open on election day, and they cast a secret ballot.
Caucuses work a little bit differently, and I'm not 100% clear on what happens because I've never voted in a caucus before. From what I've been able to glean from my research, caucus procedures differ between the Democratic and Republican parties. It seems that voters all gather at their assigned polling place at a specific time of day. Republican caucuses take a straw poll amongst the voters present, sometimes done by a show of hands or by having voters break up into groups based on which candidate they support, and sometimes by giving all voters a blank piece of paper and having them write down the name of their candidate of choice and place the paper in the ballot box. Unlike Democratic caucuses, Republican caucuses do not use rounds of voting and do not require candidates to attain at least a specified minimum percentage of the vote. At Democratic caucuses, voters break up into groups depending on which candidates they support. If a group for any given candidate holds less than 15% of the caucus-goers, those voters must either choose to support another voter, join an uncommitted group, or choose not to vote.
Presidential nominees are not actually selected by the popular vote. When an American votes in a primary or a caucus, he is not actually voting for the candidate of his choice but rather for a group of delegates who, in turn, pledge to support his candidate. In order for a candidate to become the party nominee, he or she must receive the vote of 50% + 1 of the party's delegates. There are 4,049 delegates for the Democratic party, and a candidate must receive votes from 2,025 of them to be nominated. The Republican party has fewer delegates -- 2,380, with 1,191 needed to secure the nomination.
The manner in which delegates are allocated to the candidates differs from state to state and between the two parties. In most states, Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally to candidates who receive at least 15% of the vote. The Republican delegates of most states, on the other hand, are usually awarded exclusively to the candidate who wins the state (but some states allocate delegates proportionally and some states adopt a winner-take-all system by congressional district). In states where delegates are awarded by congressional district, it is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote statewide but receive fewer delegates than the second-place candidate -- this has already occurred within a few states during this year's primaries.
The delegates won by candidates in both parties during primaries and caucuses are called "pledged delegates". Within the Republican Party, these pledged delegates may be bound or unbound, depending on their state's election rules. Bound delegates are required to vote for the candidate they are assigned to, whereas unbound delegates are not required to vote for their assigned candidate, but usually do. Within the Democratic Party, pledged delegates are not legally bound to vote for the candidate for whom they are pledged, but they generally do because candidates may remove their pledged delegates if they feel that they will not be loyal.
Each party also has a certain number of "unpledged delegates," or "superdelegates," who are determined according to its own rules. Superdelegates for the Democrats include the Democratic House and Senate members, Democratic state and territorial governers, DNC members and distinguished party leaders. 796 of the 4,049, or about 20%, of Democratic delegates are superdelegates. These delegates vote for the candidate of their own choosing, and are not bound by any election results. Unpledged delegates for the Republican party are chosen according to slightly different rules, and 463 of the 2,380 Republican delegates are unpledged delegates (also about 20%). As a result of the unpledged delegate system, 0.000007% of the voting population holds 19.6% of the voting power in the 2008 primaries.
If none of the candidates from a given party win a majority of their party's delegates, then the party nominee is chosen by means of a brokered convention.
Now let's take a break from the facts so that I may air my personal opinion. It's a pretty plain and simple opinion: I don't like our primary system. Here's why:
1. Nationwide voting does not take place on one specific date. I think that the outcome of the primary election might be different if everybody had to vote on the same day -- namely because the media would have less time to publicize one candidate as the front-runner while neglecting to report on other candidates. I think our current system encourages people to jump on the bandwagon without researching the position taken by each and every candidate on the issues central to the election. It also gives a lot of influence to small states holding a minority of voters.
2. Nominees are not selected solely by the popular vote. Granted, the President is not elected by the popular vote, either, but I'd like to change that, too!
3. The rules governing the distribution of delegates to each candidate vary not only between the two main parties, but also amongst all the states! I think that we need a uniform, transparent voting process.
4. Pledged delegates are not legally bound to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged. In other words, if a delegate decides to go off on a wild hair and disregard the popular vote, he is free to do so.
5. The DNC and RNC are able to strip individual states of all of their delegates if they so choose, disenfranchising a significant percentage of the American population.
Off my soapbox now.
They still scare my socks off
When I was a little kid, we lived right outside of Dallas. Tornadoes were a big concern for us come springtime -- we were put under tornado watches and warnings pretty often, and we knew several people at church who had lost their homes to tornadoes.
The scariest tornado experience that Mom and I ever had scared each of us for very different reasons. We were in Dallas proper, listening to the weather report while driving home, when the tornado sirens went off. Everybody knows that when you hear the sirens go off, you get the hell off the road. But we got stuck with a flat tire and nowhere to go, and since cell phones didn't exist back then, we had no way to call for help (and besides, who would we have called?) Mom managed to park the car in a nearby parking lot, and then we got out and walked to the neighboring bus stop.
Meanwhile, my seven-year-old self was freaking out about the tornado siren -- I knew that the safest place to be was inside an interior bathroom, in the bathtub with blankets and a mattress over you. But there we were, standing around in the middle of the street in Dallas.
Shortly thereafter, a bus pulled up and a young, rough-looking man got off. Mom went up to him and said, "I'll give you twenty dollars to change my tire." He agreed, followed us back to the parking lot, and proceeded to change the tire. Once he was done, Mom thanked and paid him, and then we got back in the car and finished driving home.
Me -- still freaked out because the tornado sirens were still going off. Mom -- freaked out because she saw the knives in the young man's waistband when he bent over to work on the tire.
When I was 12 we moved south of Tornado Alley, so the school drills and radio reports and sirens all faded away into the murky depths of memory. Then I moved to New England for college, and while we had an earthquake one night at school, we never had to worry about tornadoes.
Then I moved to France for a year when I was 19. I had just finished a very culturally eye-opening physical at the doctor's along with two other friends, and we were walking back to the university campus. Suddenly, a tornado siren went off. "C'mon, we have to get inside!" I hollered at the others, sprinting for the nearest building.
"Um, Kitty? What are you doing?" they asked.
"That's a tornado siren! Hurry up!" I said.
"No, it isn't. It's the German Invasion Siren."
"The what?!"
Apparently Poitiers installed a siren system after WWI (I think?) Its purpose was to warn the city of a German invasion should one occur. Even though there's no longer a threat of a potential invasion by the Germans, the siren is still tested every first Wednesday of the month at noon for ten minutes. Ten very loud, very frightening minutes.
Fast forward to today... I woke up to news of tornadoes tearing through several states in the South yesterday evening. I was downtown this afternoon, waiting to catch a bus back home, when a tornado-like siren went off.
Yep. Even today, those sirens still scare my socks off.
The scariest tornado experience that Mom and I ever had scared each of us for very different reasons. We were in Dallas proper, listening to the weather report while driving home, when the tornado sirens went off. Everybody knows that when you hear the sirens go off, you get the hell off the road. But we got stuck with a flat tire and nowhere to go, and since cell phones didn't exist back then, we had no way to call for help (and besides, who would we have called?) Mom managed to park the car in a nearby parking lot, and then we got out and walked to the neighboring bus stop.
Meanwhile, my seven-year-old self was freaking out about the tornado siren -- I knew that the safest place to be was inside an interior bathroom, in the bathtub with blankets and a mattress over you. But there we were, standing around in the middle of the street in Dallas.
Shortly thereafter, a bus pulled up and a young, rough-looking man got off. Mom went up to him and said, "I'll give you twenty dollars to change my tire." He agreed, followed us back to the parking lot, and proceeded to change the tire. Once he was done, Mom thanked and paid him, and then we got back in the car and finished driving home.
Me -- still freaked out because the tornado sirens were still going off. Mom -- freaked out because she saw the knives in the young man's waistband when he bent over to work on the tire.
When I was 12 we moved south of Tornado Alley, so the school drills and radio reports and sirens all faded away into the murky depths of memory. Then I moved to New England for college, and while we had an earthquake one night at school, we never had to worry about tornadoes.
Then I moved to France for a year when I was 19. I had just finished a very culturally eye-opening physical at the doctor's along with two other friends, and we were walking back to the university campus. Suddenly, a tornado siren went off. "C'mon, we have to get inside!" I hollered at the others, sprinting for the nearest building.
"Um, Kitty? What are you doing?" they asked.
"That's a tornado siren! Hurry up!" I said.
"No, it isn't. It's the German Invasion Siren."
"The what?!"
Apparently Poitiers installed a siren system after WWI (I think?) Its purpose was to warn the city of a German invasion should one occur. Even though there's no longer a threat of a potential invasion by the Germans, the siren is still tested every first Wednesday of the month at noon for ten minutes. Ten very loud, very frightening minutes.
Fast forward to today... I woke up to news of tornadoes tearing through several states in the South yesterday evening. I was downtown this afternoon, waiting to catch a bus back home, when a tornado-like siren went off.
Yep. Even today, those sirens still scare my socks off.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Music finds
I have never watched American Idol in the States. My mom tried to get me to watch it once, and I think the five minutes that I ended up seeing must have been tryout footage or something, because the people being featured were not particularly good singers. That turned me off of American Idol for good.
I try to watch as much television as possible in French here -- not dubbed programs that were originally written in English, but programs written in French that are intended principally for a French-speaking audience. My comprehension of French on the television is excellent, but there are always cultural references to be learned and subtle nuances to pick up. But with so much of the programming here imported from America (Bewitched, 7th Heaven, Boston Legal, CSI, NCIS, Without a Trace, Shark, House, The Bold and the Beautiful, Ugly Betty, ER, My Name is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, Spongebob Squarepants, Prison Break, Deadwood, Grey's Anatomy, Dora the Explorer, Dawson's Creek, Malcolm in the Middle, The King of Queens, 24, The Simpson's, and many others have been broadcast on Swiss TV just this week), original programming in French is somewhat limited. The majority of French-language programming on Swiss TV comes in the form of the evening news, sports commentary, documentaries, game shows and reality TV.
That is how I came to start watching Star Academy. And surprise... once I started watching, I was hooked. I liked the contestants and thought they were talented, and I also liked discovering new music that is popular in Europe but not in America. Here is a short selection of some of the songs and artists I've discovered that I like:
Christophe Willem, "Jacques a dit" (with Maureen from Star Ac):
Olivia Ruiz, "J'traîne des pieds":
Yael Naim, "New Soul"
Enjoy!
I try to watch as much television as possible in French here -- not dubbed programs that were originally written in English, but programs written in French that are intended principally for a French-speaking audience. My comprehension of French on the television is excellent, but there are always cultural references to be learned and subtle nuances to pick up. But with so much of the programming here imported from America (Bewitched, 7th Heaven, Boston Legal, CSI, NCIS, Without a Trace, Shark, House, The Bold and the Beautiful, Ugly Betty, ER, My Name is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, Spongebob Squarepants, Prison Break, Deadwood, Grey's Anatomy, Dora the Explorer, Dawson's Creek, Malcolm in the Middle, The King of Queens, 24, The Simpson's, and many others have been broadcast on Swiss TV just this week), original programming in French is somewhat limited. The majority of French-language programming on Swiss TV comes in the form of the evening news, sports commentary, documentaries, game shows and reality TV.
That is how I came to start watching Star Academy. And surprise... once I started watching, I was hooked. I liked the contestants and thought they were talented, and I also liked discovering new music that is popular in Europe but not in America. Here is a short selection of some of the songs and artists I've discovered that I like:
Christophe Willem, "Jacques a dit" (with Maureen from Star Ac):
Olivia Ruiz, "J'traîne des pieds":
Yael Naim, "New Soul"
Enjoy!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Silly, silly boys
I went for a 1 1/2-hour-long walk in the park near my apartment today to get some exercise. I like walking in the park because there are lots of cute little kids running around with their parents, and that always puts a smile on my face. Unfortunately, there are also groups of unsupervised boys who sometimes enjoy bugging women exercising by themselves.
Well, today I was the woman they picked to bug. There were five or six boys, probably ranging in age from 11 to 14, all on bikes. I first figured out that something was up when a couple of them rode up alongside me, passed me, then turned around and rode back to the rest of their group. But I just kept walking.
I couldn't hear everything they were saying, but I heard enough to know that the older boys were daring the little one to do something to me. Sure enough, here came the little one on his bike, riding as slowly as possible so as to keep pace with me. It was pretty comical... he was going so slowly that he could hardly keep the bike upright. But I ignored him and kept on walking.
He dropped back pretty quickly -- it was obvious he was pretty nervous. I heard the older boys whispering to him and snickering, and then he rode back up alongside me. This time, he swerved at me a couple of times, trying to force me off the sidewalk. It didn't work -- I could tell he was too scared to actually do it, and even if he had tried, he was going so slowly that it wouldn't have hurt me at all and he would have ended up falling off his bike. So I kept on ignoring him and continued on my walk.
He dropped back again. More whispering and snickering from the older boys. They definitely weren't ready to give up. I heard a bike coming up on me pretty quickly, and before I knew what had happened, the little one had smacked me on the butt and sped off like a bat out of hell.
I didn't miss a beat. I just kept on walking, not even turning to look at the kid who hit me or the older boys who were still behind me. If you hadn't seen him hit me, you wouldn't have known that anything had happened.
The older boys were so disappointed. Eventually they rode off, not brave enough to try what they had dared the little one to do.
Silly, silly boys.
Well, today I was the woman they picked to bug. There were five or six boys, probably ranging in age from 11 to 14, all on bikes. I first figured out that something was up when a couple of them rode up alongside me, passed me, then turned around and rode back to the rest of their group. But I just kept walking.
I couldn't hear everything they were saying, but I heard enough to know that the older boys were daring the little one to do something to me. Sure enough, here came the little one on his bike, riding as slowly as possible so as to keep pace with me. It was pretty comical... he was going so slowly that he could hardly keep the bike upright. But I ignored him and kept on walking.
He dropped back pretty quickly -- it was obvious he was pretty nervous. I heard the older boys whispering to him and snickering, and then he rode back up alongside me. This time, he swerved at me a couple of times, trying to force me off the sidewalk. It didn't work -- I could tell he was too scared to actually do it, and even if he had tried, he was going so slowly that it wouldn't have hurt me at all and he would have ended up falling off his bike. So I kept on ignoring him and continued on my walk.
He dropped back again. More whispering and snickering from the older boys. They definitely weren't ready to give up. I heard a bike coming up on me pretty quickly, and before I knew what had happened, the little one had smacked me on the butt and sped off like a bat out of hell.
I didn't miss a beat. I just kept on walking, not even turning to look at the kid who hit me or the older boys who were still behind me. If you hadn't seen him hit me, you wouldn't have known that anything had happened.
The older boys were so disappointed. Eventually they rode off, not brave enough to try what they had dared the little one to do.
Silly, silly boys.
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