Bead

Thank you so much 5-element, I was begining to feel that saying anything that wasn't nice nice was totally unacceptable. Just a word of aggrement here and there leaves one feeling that one is not losing their mind compleatly.

Yes I was aware of my cats death when my first post was posted, I didn't want it to overshadow the other problems. As I stated, my reason for being here is to see my son through his first year at film school, the school is highly rated and lives up to its name, although it is an international school. Well, I think the fact that my neighbour couldn't keep her story straight is kind of a hint. When I spoke to her she was going out to walk her dog, after I spoke to her she turned around and went to speak to her husband, was the news of my cat so traumatic that she had to go home or was she saying "they caught us?". And finally the cat was found in their driveway, that's kind of a big hint. I have lived in England, New York for two years, California for oneyear, Ireland and a few months in Canada. Yes all places have their ups and downs it is true, but none compare to this. In a bar in New York I always got my drinks served to me, not thrown at me. In markets in Ireland they have no problem with me lifting the fruit, in fact they find it helpful because it means they don't have to do all the lifting and moving. Canada is a very quite country but people show respect. The markets in England are more than happy to serve people, and with a smile. In California the people are relaxed and sometimes vain, but when asked to do something they are more than helpful. In regards my own attitude, I feel that I smile more than anyone here I have encountered, sometimes to make up for my limited French I make it a point to always be polite and say Bonjour, Merci and aurevoir along with anything else I can manage to get into a conversation. Sometimes I think that may be the problem. I detest racism in all its forms, but I do believe in statistics. Statistically speaking someone who is Jewish is more likely to be a carrier for Tay-Sachs disease. I don't think it is racist to say that, it is simply a statistic. I have met some nice people in france, but I have met a much higher percentage of rude people. Is it wrong to say this, can I not express how I feel after my neighbour slaughtered my cat, didn't knock my door, didn't move him out of their driveway, left him out there until frost covered his fur and then lied to me? ErnieY I have to say you have very strange friends. I'm not a great fan of anacondas but I would not socialise with someone who boasted about slaughtering them. Cruelty to animals is one of the potential markers for antisocial personality disorder.

Well it seems you all have lovely neighbours and I consider that to be a lovely thing. However my neighbour backed out and killed my cat last night. I found it lying at the side of the pavements, not because it had been lifted there, but because that's where it was hit. This morning I approached my neighbours and asked did they notice anything or accidentally hit my cat last night, at first she was shocked, horrified and asked if my cat was all right. She must have been winging it because then she contradicted herself and said her sister saw the cat last night, she didn't hit it but when she was leaving she did notice him lying there. Of course she couldn't knock the door and tell me, I guess that must be the french way. So sorry I can't be on the same page as you all today. Yet I still say if I was advising anyone on a move to france, I would tell them that they need their head examined. They have a beautiful country, it's just sad what else they produce. The moderators have deleted part of this post because it broke the following part of the Code of Conduct. Users must not post messages which: Are insulting, abusive, racist, sexist, or derogatory in any way to others, whether they are individuals or companies, users of the Forum or not. This includes material sent via personal e-mails through this forum. Contain explicit language or vulgarities (whether written in French, English or any other language) Forum Admin and the Moderators would like to remind you that "By entering and posting on the forum you agree to abide by the code of conduct." If you have any concerns about this post please do not post them in the forum (they will be deleted without warning) but simply use the report button attached to THIS POST.

Hello. I moved to France for my sons higher level education. Completed all of their red tapes in all of its various forms. Banks, leases etc etc etc. I have come to find that while the French expect manners from everyone, they seem to give precious few to any outsider, each week we go to the market, last week I went to buy a dozen oranges and as I put my hand on one of the oranges I was greeted with screams of Non and told on no uncertain terms not to handle my fruit. In the supermarket they virtually throw the food at me as I am trying to pack it into bags. In the bar/cafe they almost throw the drink or coffee at me or whatever has been ordered and their impatience is vastly on display. I speak to them in French. I have been ripped off on taxis on more than one occasion, but you must bear in mind that this is my fault because my French is not fluent (although I am sure that no matter how strong my accent, Chantilly and Gouvieux are not interchangeable). Last week my son was threatened with the police. He was getting on a bus at the train station to bring him home. He was told by one bus driver that his student card would allow him to ride the bus, then another driver told him that the card was not valid and he would get the police. I phoned to complain and I found one English speaking guy who gave me his email address, which bounced back, so then I wrote a letter to the company to complain, still no response. How come a country which prides itself on its manners, feels it has the right to behave in such a manner to people coming in to live here for limited or long periods of time. We hear so much about the French and their good manners, but it seems we see little of it. If you are buying something which costs a vast quantity of money, they are very capable of bowing and scraping. Not that I wish to see anyone bowing and scraping, but a little common courtesy would be nice once in awhile. The key word being common. I treat them with respect, has anyone else found this to be a problem. The taxi driver we usually use stated in the first week of our arrival that we would speak fluent French in three months. Two weeks later she said she would not speak to us in English at all and proceeded to give us unwanted French lessons while the meter spun unnaturally fast. Am I the only one who has had these experiences, or are there others?

Hi all. I am happy to report that the plumber came yesterday. He was able to sort out the washing machine problem and I happily paid him (and made sure he wrote it down so I have something to send to the agency). As for the boiler, he said there was very little he could do about that because the pipes were running too close together in the cellar. He could get a €280 part that might help to regulate the water a little bit, although he really doubted it. He assured me that it is not dangerous, so good enough. He was very pleasant and I was more than happy to have an operational washing machine at last. I'm enjoying getting used to the area, everyone here is nice (except for the serial killer at the bottom of the road, last time I saw him he was oiling his chainsaw, singing Huey Lewis songs badly and feeding his dog. I try to avoid him :) ) and pretty helpful. I think the bureaucracy is difficult to take, there is just so much of it. J.R. I agree, a problem is a problem weather you are male or female, gender shouldn't make a difference. Harry Enfield had his moments of wit, there is no doubt. So I hope you don't feel excluded, when I posted this thread any gendered words of advice were more than welcome. Thank you all so much for your help, it's nice to be a member on a supportive board like this to communicate on, I'm sure I'll post often, but hopefully not always with a problem Bon Nuit - Sharon.

Thank you both for your kind replies. The independent plumber said he would be out tomorrow between nine and ten. I was hoping to get him to fix the problem with the washing machine, but I'll see if he knows anything about boilers. I'll make sure he writes down a bill and then I'll check out that website and find the relevant page. Print it out and bring them both to the agency. I can't tell you how thankful I am for people who have a real concern for problems that may seem tedious but can be a real concern. Sharon.

Hello Georgina. Since you seem to enjoy hand washing, would you mind coming over and doing it for me? :) In fact I am a single mother with a son of eighteen who I am putting through film school at the moment at the cost of eleven thousand euros, not counting buses, books and all those other little things, I'm sure you will understand. Before that I home educated him until he reached the age for O-Levels. In fact I work a 56 hour week as a translator, not French unfortunately, that's one language I don't know yet. I have been divorced for eight years, my husband had very little commitment to marriage, parenting or even work for that matter which meant I had to double up as mum, dad, housekeeper and worker. Sorry I couldn't keep up with you on the three children, but the instability of the marriage loaned itself to only one child. My boss is upset at the moment because of a problem, his computer isn't receiving emails, so of course it is my fault. Well what is a girl to do. On the subject of shirts, blouses are something I have had to leave behind a long time ago, t-shirts and jeans are handy when falling out of bed to begin another day of work. Foundation and high heel shoes aren't quite the first thing I am looking for in the morning. So you see Georgina, I have been coping very well on my own for the past eight years, so I have not quite been unable to cope as you put it :) sorry for the misunderstanding, perhaps it is the way I wrote the original post LOL. Thanks for all the help - Sharon.

Hello. Could someone please help with this situation I'm caught up in. I am renting a house in France, I moved in about three weeks ago. The first day was fun and magical, looking around the new house. Then I tried to turn the heating on. Nothing happened. So I contacted the agency I'm renting off and they assured me that someone would be out tomorrow. Then it was the next day, then the day after that. Finally one of them managed to get the heat on but now it has a constant drip, it's like there is a tap under the boiler. He told me he would be back with a part to fix that in three days, that was two weeks ago. The other problem is, I bought a washing machine, but before it arrived I spotted another leaking pipe. After three days of calling the agency someone finally came out and decided to cut the water off to that pipe and said he would be back in two days with a part. That was also two weeks ago. So now I'm down to my last clean shirt, I have a new washing machine installed that I can't use. It all makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Funny how they forgot to mention all of these little problems during the inventory. They have sent out four separate plumbers, they all look at it, make a strange "Hmmm" noise and then tell me that it is a big problem and they need a part. Then they vanish and the agency forgets about it until my next call, and they get annoyed that I'm calling to ask them to actually do what they are supposed to be doing. I wouldn't put up with this at home and I'll be damned if I'll put up with it here. I contacted an independent plumber to fix the washing machine, he should be out on Tuesday (but I wouldn't bet on it), is there anyway I can pay him and be reimbursed by the agency? Even if it is only one euro, I still want it back. Can anyone tell me what to do, I've been phoning the agency daily and that's going nowhere. Any help or advice would be very welcome, I don't think I can take another week of this nonsense.

Ooo, greed. I like that idea :) ::packs both::

Hi. I'm packing right now so I don't have a lot of time. I have the Sky and Sky Plus box here, which one should I pack? Thanks again. Bead.

Hi. Once again thanks for all the help. The house already has a dish installed (the previous owners were from the UK) so I'm not too worried about that, though I had no idea rain and trees could effect the signal like that. I would have though sending the signal from space would be the hard part. Thanks for the tip about Freeview Fridgeman, but there are too many channels that freeview dosn't recieve (and I'm addicted to Lost). Will you mentioned that a normal sky box would be better because it dosn't need to be connected by a phone line. Well I already have the box (long story...one that dosn't even involve ebay) so will it refuse to work at all without a phone connection, or will it work but lack the interactive features and tv guide? I've never used them anyway. If not I can easily get a normal sky box.

Hi. Thanks for all the help. Almost every site I looked at said I had to create the account in the UK, but one site talked about setting the account up in France and it threw me off. I can't take my old dish because I actually use cable at home, but I purchased a sky box because the cable might not stretch. I can try though :) So I'm going to get my sky account set up for a UK address today or tomorrow. About the phone. Yes I noticed a phone line on the back of the Sky box. Do I have to keep that plugged in? Permanently or just during the installation? The adapter plugs work. Yay, guess it's time to go out and buy a bunch of them. Oh and I'm moving to Chantilly. Thanks again for all the help. Bead.

Hello. I'm moving to France soon from the UK. I've looked around for an answer to this question, but it's one of those things, ask ten people the same question and get twenty different answers. I know I need to take a Sky box over with me, and I need to have a Sky account. Is it better to set up the account in France or to set it up in the UK before I leave and pay for it through my UK account? The house I am moving into has a sky dish and cables, I have a Sky Plus box. Someone mentioned that the cables for plus and normal sky might be different, but I'm lost on that one. Also about plugs. While on Holiday I use an adapter plug, but is that suitable for long term use, or can I rewire the plug or swap over or some other more permanent solution? Thanks in advance for any help. Sorry about the tall order of barely coherent questions, but I've been trying to find the answer myself and have just ended up even more confused.