Renewing French Visas

An important question former teaching assistants and international students in France ask me concerns the renewal of French visas. So long as your reason to renew the visa is of the same nature of your visa, the renewal process should be a breeze; if you're changing the nature of your stay in France, things are more complicated--but it is possible.

As Americans possessing a French visa, we must register with our local OFII and obtain the vignette OFII as soon as we come to France. Chances are you've already completed this process, but did you know that the combination of your visa and vignette OFII serves as a titre de séjour? This is an important idea for understanding the visa renewal process.

To be legal in France, you are required to have a titre de séjour, which is typically an identity card communicating information about you to relevant French authorities. As first year Americans, we don't receive this card and instead receive a use the combination of our visa and the vignette OFII to form an equivalent titre de séjour. I suppose the reason is to reduce administrative tasks surrounding the titre de séjour, but, let's be honest: the administrative tasks are probably more tedious for French civil servants, mais bon.

Prolonging your stay beyond your visa end-date is possible and simple if your reason for staying is of the same nature as your visa. A teaching assistant who came on a work visa, for example, and who plans on renewing a work contract with his or her school; a student with a student visa who wishes to continue his or her studies into a second year: these are reasons to stay that are of the same nature of the visas with which they came. In this case, to renew the titre de séjour, you need to go to your local préfecture or sous-préfecture (if your department is organized as such) and provide them with the documents they require.

If you would like to stay in France but change your reason for staying, this process is more complicated, more expensive, and more time-consuming--but it is possible. Personally, I did the teaching assistant program while beginning a master's degree at a French university in Paris, so, when I wanted to renew my titre de séjour, I was told that I couldn't. I couldn't because I had a work visa and my reason for staying was to continue my studies--i.e., the nature of my stay had changed. (An exception to this rule: students graduating from a French institution of higher education have the right to look for work after their studies.) The solution to this problem is to return to the US with your grades and an admission note and apply for a student visa at your local consulate. Then, when you return to France, you make an appointment with the OFII--and you're already familiar with the rest! You'll be good for another year.

A good piece of advise from anyone who has gone through the agony of French administrative tasks is to be aware of the requirements, to bring everything (as well as copies) plus anything else you might have. It just helps to be overly prepared.

Parlez-moi de vous: A French Film Review

Melinda, an incredibly popular radio celebrity, resolves relationship problems and family issues with grace, humor and uninhibited honesty on her popular radio show in France. Everyone recognizes her voice, but her face is kept secret to guard her anonymity. Parlez-moi de vous is a film that unmasks the troubled life of a woman who earns a living by helping women from all walks of life--but who cannot seem to help herself overcome the abandonment she felt as a child.

Melinda lives in the 7th arrondissement of Paris; it's a luxurious, expensive location in a beautiful Haussmann building. She's successful, but lives alone with her only companion, a small, well-behaved dog. Antisocial and an OCD case, the film slowly unveils the multiple characters of this woman: her warm, caring radio personality, her unpleasing perfectionist persona and her dark, inner self. At 40, she's a complicated woman, none the less made more complicated by the fact that she has recently discovered, for the first time, who her mother is and where she lives.

I will not spoil the story for you. I recognize that it would be much more enjoyable to go to the cinema yourself to watch this film peal away layer after layer of this woman's personality. It's not judgmental, happy or as positive in the end; it is sad, realistic and deeply profound.

Appreciating Roquefort Cheese

My humble Wisconsin origins have not sufficiently prepared me for the smell and the taste of some of the sharpest, most pungent of French cheeses. Sure,  I've tasted ash-lined and algae-layered varieties; I didn't regret eating the raw milk cheeses, nor has the odor that comes with nearly all French cheeses stopped me from enjoying the dietary richness of such cheeses as the Camembert de Normandie.

Roquefort is another story: it is literally moldy. The cheese owes its existence to a boy leaving cheese in a cave only to return some months later to find it "deliciously" moldy (read the Wikipedia article). It has a distinguishing look, a strong taste and, not surprisingly, a pungent odor beyond any of the other cheeses I've tasted. 

Enjoying cheese is an essential part of French culture, I've observed; the French really enjoy the nearly 300 varieties of cheese for which their country is known, so I cannot live here without at least appreciating a cheese that I have until know avoided eating at dinner parties, at family gatherings, etc. 

My new year's resolution is to... appreciate Roquefort cheese. I will probably never love it, but the least I can do is eat it from time to time.

Laws Against Foreign Students in France

A series of new laws aimed at foreign workers in France will also affect international students trying to transition from institutions of higher education to the professional world. 

These new laws will not only limit the number of visas given to workers in most domains, but they will also make it very difficult for students--even those who already have jobs lined up--to work in France after having studied in French universities. 

For those assistants who would like to stay in France a little while longer, the laws will also affect you. Finding jobs outside of the Teaching Assistant Program in France will be more and more difficult. And a French education might not even help. 

There might be some hope, however, that the laws will take competitiveness into consideration. If the need is high, or the skills of the foreign worker important, the laws might be a bit more flexible. I'm just hoping that the my master's degree in rédaction technique will be competitive enough to be considered important...

Epiphany Cake of the Kings

After the rich celebrations of the Réveillon de Noël, Noël, Réveillon du Jour de l'an, and the Jour de l'an... we're ready for the delicious Galette des rois !

We celebrated with great French food, but it's not Christmas or New Year's day that make France's holidays stand out as culturally unique. Sure, there was plenty of foie gras, champagne, farce, raw oysters--which I love--but the rest of the holiday meals is nothing incredibly different from what we eat in the States. The Galette des rois, however, is a tradition that I am not aware of in the US.

Essentially, the Galette des rois is a crispy, frangipane-filled cake that is baked with a small figuring hidden inside. The "frangipane" is a delicious, sweetened almond filling. It's a unique flavor during the holiday season, and a tradition that is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, known as the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) in order to celebrate the biblical three kings. In honor of these kings, the person who discovers the figurine in his cake is crowned the "king" for the day. 

It's a fun, traditionally French holiday and the final one of the season. In Paris, most people will simply buy the cake from a local patisserie, but if you're not in Paris and you would still like to celebrate this holiday, please click this link for a recipe. 

Les Cadeaux de Noël

The Ritz

I wasn't the only non Francophone for Christmas this year. In years past, I spent traditional Christmas nights in Germany and in France, but this year I learned a bit about Italian culture while partaking in a traditional French Christmas ripe with froie gras and champagne.

In Germany, I discovered red sauerkraut, a delicious surprise that I find very little of in France. The family with which I dined on that Christmas day served a simple, satisfying meal. In France, there's the famous farce, froie gras, smoked salmon, perfectly cooked poultry, plenty of wine and champagne and, of course, an abundance of conversation (above all, politics, society and culture) and cheese.

Language had previously been a barrier. I speak French and know a lot more about French politics this year, so the entire evening's conversation was open to me. We talked political strategies, who will vote for whom, why and under what conditions... It was interesting, something I think we do very little of in the US.

When Adrian, the son of Anthénaume's mother's paramour brought his Italian girlfriend over to introduce the family, the spell was broken: we had to speak in English. She had lived in London for three years and thus had been forced to learn English; she spoke very little French.

I might have been disappointed, but we continued to speak French throughout most of the evening, as Anthénaume and Adrian were the only others who could speak English. Needless to say, there was a lot of confusion in between Adrian and his Girlfriend and even Anthénaume (I never said that they spoke English well) and among all of the strictly francophone guests, but we nevertheless managed to produce a beautiful exchange on Culture.

In Italy, I learned, each of the regions have kept their particular language and culture--especially the cities front Rome and southward, where men still treat women as inferior objects. Adrian's girlfriend explained a lot about the divisions between north and South, between Sardinia and the continent, etc. Having heard this, I am really glad we chose to book a flight to Rome in order to see the Italian capital. France has a strong, centralized culture that does not tolerate very many culture divisions between regions... and Germany simple seemed a bit too globalized. Italy will be more of a cultural experience that I had imagined!

We exchanged gifts (bottles of wine, books, chocolates and perfumes for the ladies), and ended the night at roughly 3 in the morning! A night of lively conversation, polite company and a lot of cheese and champagne--my Christmas 2011 in France was above all a pleasant experience.

Les Intouchables: The Underachievers

The recent success of the French film Les Intouchables is perplexing to say the least. The French media is promulgating this simple  story as one of France's most important cinematic event in all of history, and everyone seems to be okay with that. The newspapers have been publishing the number of cinema goers; they predict that sales might even exceed that of the charming film Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain. An incredible feat if this is accomplished by newbie actors. I recently read an article that briefly lists how much money the film's director, Olivier Nakache, is expected to earn not only from the French version, but from any English-language remake. French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited the cast to dine at the Elysée. When I finally caved in and went to the UGC cinema to see for myself what all the hype was about, I was surprised to see just how many people were in line to see the same film. Were the movie critics right?

The story follows Driss (Omar Sy), a young, unemployed black man who lives in a poor Parisian banlieue, who eventually builds a strong relationship with his eventual employer, Philippe (François Cluzet). Philippe is white, extremely wealthy and paralyzed from the neck down. In search of a new employee to take care of his fragile self, Philippe chooses Driss out of all the other more qualified applicants. Driss, he says, might not be an intelligent, caring or conscientious worker, but he has a brain and treats Philippe as he would anyone else. And he does.

It's obvious that this film was intended to "examine" the racial relationship between the two of persons. Sometimes the director is successful in depicting the struggles of life inside the poor banlieues, but the majority of the film really only accomplishes to make racial stereotypes, especially of Driss. Driss plays an Eddie Murphie-type: an unintelligent, babbling, uncultured minority who somehow manages to be charming even while he is violently teaching a lesson to a man who has parked in a no-parking zone. In contrast, Philippe represents the cultured, sophisticated and intelligent man, who is physically limited and who therefore needs someone to do his manual work.

Driss and Philippe both profit from the relationship. In the end, Philippe wins the girl of his dreams and lives a beautiful life with her... and Driss is able to impress a potential employer with his new-found ability to identify works of art. Figuratively speaking, Philippe gains a spine and Driss, a brain.

Despite the fact that the film is a bit racist, the story a bit cliche, it's technical aspects are moderately good. There are some positive things to say, for example, on the film's portrayal of French suburban life, which is different from American suburban life and in the way it really does manage to demonstrate how two different personalities can indeed be compatible.

It is believable, and it should be: it is based on a true story. And racial tensions still do exist.  Whether or not it is believable, Les Intouchables does not strike a unique chord, nor does it deserve to go down in history as towering over classics such as Jules et Jim. 


See my Review of Parlez-moi de vous here.

Difficult First Week of School

My first week at the University of Paris Diderot was quite disheartening. All week, I was coming home stressed and critical of the college's complete lack of organization. I didn't want to socialize with other students, I didn't have time to lunch and my biggest accomplishment during the week was to have been able to find all of my classes on time. I'm serious.

The Universities of Pairs Sorbonne-Nouvelle, Nanterre and Saint-Denis all have architectural flaws. Paris 8, for example, is constructed with huge glass walls and ceiling, almost like a Greenhouse, which let in so much light into a building that has no circulating air to begin with that we were forced to open the windows in February to get a little air. But I never could have imagined that simple design flaws could be the root of so much stress.

Paris 7 is literally a labyrinth of stairs that lead nowhere but to concrete walls, where floor numbers change depending on where you are in the building (sometimes it's 1, 2, 3, 3, 4; sometimes it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. Both in the same building! ...and I was trying to find floor 5!), where it seemed fine to the architect that one should divide a single building that serves one purpose into three incommunicable sections with randomly assigned room numbers. The cafeteria meant to serve 25 thousand students is large enough for maybe 200 max, while one can clearly see that the gardens serve only an aesthetic purpose and do not even provide outside seating.

Other than that, I think I will seriously enjoy my classes. My instructors all seemed serious and the course contents seemed exactly what I wanted... with perhaps a bit more translation work than I was hoping for, but at least my technical writing class is taught be an actual professional technical writer!

...I just hope that Lycée Michelet will not be inflexible with the hours that they're proposed.

Orientation Details

Today, orientation details have been released, so check your emails! The information is not more informative than what we were given in our acceptance packets earlier this year, but it is a nice reminder that we must indeed go to our schools on the 03 October to begin working.

In any case, we should have contacted our coordinators by now so that he or she could plan our schedules. I have met the English faculty and the English coordinator at my Lycée should have my schedule completed by tonight. I can only hope he is flexible with my university class schedule. If he is not, I will be very disappointed, considering we work for very little pay that we won't even begin seeing this money until December.

Réunion d'information pour le Master 1

Halle aux Farines at Paris 7

Yesterday was the meeting for all of the Master students in my degree program. It took place in the Halle aux Farines and was almost a waste of time.

It was nice to see who some of my professors will be, who the secretary is and who my fellow classmates are, but almost all of the information that we listened to was information that we could have easily found on the website. In fact, all of the information that they gave us was the information I used to select this particular Master's degree program in the first place; it's what sets this degree apart from the numerous other universities in Paris that offer an applied languages degree. (At Paris 7, they focus on technical writing and translation as opposed to marketing and translation like the majority of other schools in France.)

Regardless, the school year is beginning. I am newly nervous that my teaching schedule will conflict with my school schedule, but, as Anthénaume has assured me, we can only wait to find out. My teaching schedule should be set by the end of today!

Emplois du temps 1° semestre

University of Paris Diderot, Paris 7

The Université Paris Diderot has finally issued my student course schedule... five days before my classes begin. In the US, I would have known five months ago what courses would be offered; in France, despite the fact that there is almost no choice in the courses that you are going to take under a specific academic track, making it easy for the administration know exactly what courses are going to be taught, this is a normal administrative delay.

My courses are exactly as outlined in the tronc commun aux trois parcours (the trois parcours being the specializations, mine of which is conception de documentation):

1. Rédaction de documents techniques
2. Langues IL: initiation aux outils de constitution et d'exploitation de corpus
3. Conception de documents
4. Outils IL-HTML
5. Traduction scientifique et technique
6. Traduction économique
7. Introduction à la linguistique de corpus
8. Terminologie appliquée
9. Méthodologie...
10. Corpus appliqué...

I am very excited and nervous about starting on the path to completing a degree in France. I worry that my job can be rather flexible with regard to my course schedule, but I still have to send my coordinator my obligations. It will definitely be complicated to work and study in France; I will definitely stress a lot, but it will be worth it in the long-run. At least I can count on Anthénaume for emotional support!

Bœuf bourguignon

I wanted to try my hand so to speak at classic French cuisine the other night. After hearing from my new colleagues at Lycée Michelet talk about the dreadful cafeteria food, I decided that I would add French cuisine to my to-learn list in France. That way, I would know whether what they were saying was just or not.

 Thus far, I'm committed to learning about cheese and classic French cuisine, like the bœuf bourguignon that I made last night. It was cheap (requires tough cuts of meat), simple to make and incredibly delicious. I would recommend that everyone, including those people who are on budgets, try to make this dish.

By the way, the above photo is mine; I took it just before devouring the delicious stew in this dish.

Lunching at Lycée Michelet

I was invited by the English professors' coordinator to have lunch with them tomorrow afternoon at Lycée Michelet in Vanves. It's a small ride for me by tram, and I'm looking forward to meeting those with whom I will soon be working.

Les eaux bleues et les sables d'or de Travers

Yesterday, Anthénaume and I went on a small geological excursion to les eaux bleues and les sables d'or (blue water and golden sand). In reality, the golden sand is quicksand and the blue water is water redirected by an impermeable solid at the water table.

The town of Travers is situated not far from Beaugency, France. It's a very small, very normal French town.

 

The water is known to be blue here. My camera wasn't picking up on the blue, because there were already so many colors.

The 'golden sand' is really a quicksand that is in constant movement. 

Water from below surfaces and creates this pool of water. 

We drove from Paris to Travers by car, ate our sandwiches next to the Loire and then visited this park. It's a lovely little place to visit. The walking trail was very short, but it was very calm and cool; a nice refreshing stop on an otherwise hot day. 

« Pays des 300 fromages »

I found a small booklet entitled "Prenez la route des fromages" in my apartment today. Inside, there is a list of cheeses from important regions such as Normandie and Auvergne, two regions I enjoy very much. I know nothing about their cheeses, even after having eaten them.

In our refrigerator, we have some Tomme Noir, a smooth cheese originating in the Alps. It is good on toast, in sandwiches or even alone. The fact is that I know so little about cheese after having lived in France for over a year is now starting to bother me. I must now be resolved to learn how to distinguish between the 350-400 cheeses comprising 8 or so categories. I must eat more cheese.