And there are French people outside London, too...an interesting blog

[YCCMB]

I have stumbled upon an interesting blog, and thought some others might enjoy it. It claims there are somewhere between 3 and 4 thousand French people living in Birmingham, and tells some of their stories. It's very interesting to get a French take on life in England. And funny how many seem to find that the things Brits often claim don't exist in the UK seem, for the French, to be very real...

"Partout où elle va, Sandrine emmène sa petite fille Lili, 10 mois. Quand

elle rentre en France, elle est toujours surprise de trouver des cafés

ou des restaurants sans chaises hautes, table à langer ou aire de jeux

pour les enfants. «Ici les families sont toujours welcome, en France j’ai l’impression que les gens restent plus chez eux… »"

« Il y a énormément de communautés étrangères à Birmingham. C’est

vrai aussi pour Manchester ou même pour beaucoup d’agglomérations

anglaises mais ici les ratios sont plus importants. Surtout les Indiens

et les Pakistanais. Toutes les nationalités sont présentes. Surtout, ils

sont complètement intégrés. Je suis content par exemple de voir mes

enfants à l’école avec autant de camarades différents d’eux. »

« Leur système éducatif est par exemple excellent. L’uniforme c’est

génial. Les professeurs sont très compétents. Tout est didactique. Ils

rentrent grand sourire à la maison en disant « mamam, j’ai appris ça,ça,

ça .. c’est super… »

Funny, innit?

[url]http://frenchinbrum.wordpress.com/[/url]

[NormanH]

Rose-tinted spectacles,  and for the same reason: a fear that one has made a mistake, so one over-insists on the positive. It usually doesn't last very long..

[YCCMB]

Oddly, Norman, I have a feeling that the rose tinted specs long fell off for the 3examples I picked. The first lady had been in Birmingham for so long that I think she is pretty well a fixture. The second quote is from a bloke who actually says he preferred living in Manchester because the people were more welcoming, and the third woman says she sees her 3 year stint in Birmingham ( due to her husbands job) as a "prison sentence" but can still find some positives - and specifically the education system.

But hey, if you see it like that, who am I to argue?

[Almost There]

I believe it's only when stepping back a few steps that you can take in and appreciate the full view.   [:)

I do believe that was my maiden post...[:$]

[Chancer]

Excellent blog Betty, I enjoyed reading it.

They were wise to choose Solihull in my very limited experience, its the one place up there where I said to myself "I would like to live here"

I am hoping the same thing will happen here in France!

[NormanH]

[quote user="Almost There"]I believe it's only when stepping back a few steps that you can take in and appreciate the full view.   [:)

I do believe that was my maiden post...[:$]

[/quote]

So Welcome to the Forum [:D]

[NormanH]

Pour la présidentielle française, je me suis quand même inscrite au

Consulat, ici je ne peux voter que pour les locales. C’est dommage, je

paye mes impôts comme tout le monde, et je m’intéresse plus à ce qui se

passe ici… mais bon je n’ai pas la nationalité.»

But at least France hasn't taken away her vote....

[NormanH]

Pour la présidentielle française, je me suis quand même inscrite au

Consulat, ici je ne peux voter que pour les locales. C’est dommage, je

paye mes impôts comme tout le monde, et je m’intéresse plus à ce qui se

passe ici… mais bon je n’ai pas la nationalité.»

But at least France hasn't taken away her vote....

And English education is so good that they have set up une petite école Francaise..

[Almost There]

[quote user="NormanH"]

So Welcome to the Forum [:D]

[/quote]

Thank you Norman [:D] .

[Chancer]

Norman you definitely dont exhibit the normal form of rose tinted glasses.

After all these years you love France, or at least when it has a socialist government [;-)] which I think is great but I get the impression that the longer you are away from Britain the more you dislike it, the polar opposite in fact of what happens to most wearers of rose tinted specs.

I definitely wore them for a couple of years and I dont know if I ran down the UK during that time (probably I would guess) but I definitely see good things in the UK that I didnt before appreciate, I think its because I can now view the country through the eyes of an immigrant.

Didnt they start the French school as an extra to the English education system to allow the children born and growing up in the UK to maintain a link with their country (I assume that they will have dual nationality) and to learn/maintain the French language?

It seems a very good idea to me as otherwise in the future if they go to work in France which is quite possible being bi-lingual, they would feel like a fish out of water.

I really didnt see anything in the blog that suggested that the Saturday school was created because of percieved deficiencies in the English education system, but then maybe I wasnt looking to show the UK in a bad light.

[Anton Redman]

Must be a few in Hereford, two of whom work at M. & S.  Le Monde and a couple of other French Newspapersa are for sale on the day in Sainsburys.

[NormanH]

[quote user="Chancer"]

Norman you definitely dont exhibit the normal form of rose tinted glasses.

After all these years you love France, or at least when it has a socialist government [;-)] which I think is great but I get the impression that the longer you are away from Britain the more you dislike it, the polar opposite in fact of what happens to most wearers of rose tinted specs.

I definitely wore them for a couple of years and I dont know if I ran down the UK during that time (probably I would guess) but I definitely see good things in the UK that I didn’t before appreciate, I think its because I can now view the country through the eyes of an immigrant.

[/quote]

Not quite. I hated the UK when I left

because of the damage done to the nature of its Society by the

Thatcherite spiv culture which was geared up to take other countries

wealth and then trade it, privileging speculators rather than makers

and removing created wealth from our economy. For example, there is a

prevalent concept amongst the UK rich that that their wealth is

better off held in offshore tax havens, where it will never, ever,

'trickle down' or build national infrastructure.

In particular I

hated the way that selfishness and greed became respectable rather

than shameful.

When Blair got in I thought that there was a

possibility to repair the damage, but of course NuLabour were just

the Trojan Horse of the City, but at least some useful social

projects and progress saw the light, so I was less anti for a

while.

Now I am back to the same virulent contempt both of the

Nasty party and even more of their yellow collaborators.

As

for France I can see as well as the rest many of the things that

could be improved.

Unfortunately Sarkozy who was voted in on a

wave of desire to place a stent  in the atherosclerosis  of

the system turned out just to be another placeman there to line the

pockets of his backers rather than to modernise the country. Where

one hoped for social progress from Blair one hoped for economic

liberalisation from Sarkozy, and both were a disappointment.

[Loiseau]

Now then, Norman, just because I am away for a few days you dont need to have a ittle rant and get out of hand. Thatcher began a process which Blair failed to finish. Both recognized the worn out nature of theBritish model. Justas the present lot are trying to do the same, impeded by the looney ravers they are in coalition with.

(Woolybanana is piggybacking Loiseaus iplod for a few days)

[NormanH]

[quote user="Loiseau"]Now then, Norman, just because I am away for a few days you dont need to have a ittle rant and get out of hand. Thatcher began a process which Blair failed to finish. Both recognized the worn out nature of theBritish model. Justas the present lot are trying to do the same, impeded by the looney ravers they are in coalition with.

(Woolybanana is piggybacking Loiseaus iplod for a few days)[/quote]

What an image!

[Loiseau]

Thought that would appeal. Now to Monreale

(Woolybanana is piggybacking Loiseaus iplod for a few days)