Determin[D]eD

Elections USA: Pourquoi essayer de nous influencer quand on ne peut meme pas voter?!

2008-10-06T10:29:00.003+01:00

L'Europe votera Barack Obama!
Youpi... sauf que l'Europe ne votera pas, parce que l'Europe n'est pas americaine (oui, je sais ça en soulage plus d'un!).
Depuis plusieurs semaines, à vrai dire depuis la grande tournée europeenne de Obama, l'Europe ne jure plus que par lui, on le voit limite president du monde, ce qui fait tourner la tête aux journalistes et par consequent peut avoir de serieuses consequences en cas de défaite!
On me dira que Obama a déjà gagné, que McCain est trop vieux, trop proche de Bush et trop fier de la guerre en Irak... oui mais voilà... les americains ont (re)voté pour Bush en 2004... et pourtant il presentait les meme characteristiques, bon d'accord la vieillesse etait remplacée par la stupidité et Bush était en fait son pere, Bush Sr.

Mon probléme est que, bien que je me declarerais bien citoyenne des USA juste pour voter Obama, il ne faut pas oublier que l'Europe n'a qu'une influence limitée sur les votes. Pis encore, on pourrait donner des votes a McCain! N'oubliez pas que l'amerique profonde est plus peuplée que les côtes, et que les intellectuels ont un QI superieur mais moins de poid dans les urnes.
Donc si les intellectuels (par là j'entends toute personne qui sait placer l'Europe sur une carte) sont influencés par notre opinion, les rednecks qui mangent encore des Liberty Fries y voient un manque de patriostime de la part de Obama qui cède aux sirenes de l'ouverture d'esprit, une faute passible de la peine du triple double whooper (on te fait manger des hamburgers jusqu'a ce que tu t'ecroules!).

Et le journalisme francais sur ce point est plus que lamentable... si la crise economique ne nous a pas, prions pour que Obama soit president parce que McCain va nous detester!
Simple exemple, croyez-vous vraiment qu'un journaliste serait aussi agressif envers Segolène Royal que ce qu'ils sont envers Sarah Palin?
Sans compter qu'ils demontent systematiquement les argumentaires des republicains en y opposant ceux des democrates, il est où votre travail de journaliste la-dedans?!

Palin accuse Obama de 'copiner' avec un terroriste... l’argument donné par les democrates est qu'Obama n'a aucune sympathie pour les idees de ce Bill Ayers, qu'ils se sont connu au travers d'une fondation. Ca c'est ce qu'on lit dans les journaux americains, avec les guillemets et les sources... dans le Figaro, rien de tout ca, le journaliste cite cela comme si c'était le fruit d'une longue enquete pour rétablir la verité.

Je suis 100% derriere Obama mais si les journalistes francais font de la desinformation, comment peut-on se faire une idee juste de la campagne americaine, et surtout comment reagira McCain si les americains l'elisent?

Accent... grave

2008-09-29T13:50:00.002+01:00

Brève du Figaro:

Distribution gratuite de gilets fluos

[...]

Cette opération de distribution est menée par les assurances MMA et Zérotracas.com, un site internet dédié à la prévention des risques routiers.

Vous avez essayé de taper l'adresse donnée dans l'article... ah bah oui, avec l'accent ça fonctionne pas... combien d'internautes peu au fait de cette limite ne pourront aller se renseigner?

Le Figaro ou comment donner une information sans informer!

Pics of New Lanark, Lanarkshire

2008-09-28T19:41:00.004+01:00

After the horrendous summer we had up here in Scotland, it was with great relief that we saw the sun hanging around for a few hours yesterday! UgzY just took the time to charge the batteries of the camera and was on his way to New Lanark, south of Glasgow.
This wee village is so full of history, both sad and hopeful that it was almost overwhelming.
Cottonmills were the only source of revenue and all families living in this village were working in poor conditions in the late 18th century.
That is, until Robert Owen, which sort of reminds me of Oscar Schindler, took over the cottonmills in the early 19th century. This philantropist decided to improve the working conditions of the families living in New Lanark and working for him. A school was created and all children received an eduction, be it full time or after work. Hygiene was a priority and doctors, called 'bug hunters' made sure clothes and beddings were washed. Even more impressive for this period in History, free health care was offered to workers and their families.
While the village doesn't look like a place you would want to live, considering it all happened over a century ago, it was a major social breakthrough that is very much worth visiting for anyone interested in History and/or Economics.
You will find more about this place on Wikipedia or the Offical Website of the site.

Before you see the pics, here is something to think about...
'There shall be no human slavery, servitude, or inequality of condition, except for the natural inequality of age and experience, which will for ever preserve order and harmony in society' - R. Owen

UgzY is back on the road!

2008-09-28T19:19:00.003+01:00

UgzY was desperate to get back on his feet and start travelling again, problem was that the good ol' UgzYmobile was letting our penguin down more often than not.
We couldn't take it anymore, so off we went and found a new ride!
This almost (not even close but still! ;-) ) brand new Ford Ka means that UgzY will be hitting the road pretty soon and will bring more photos of this wee and yet great country!

UgzY's pics are back!

2008-09-14T13:21:00.004+01:00

For some reason, UgzY's pics never made their way back on this new blog!
This is now done and hopefully new ones will arrive soon as the new soon-to-be UgzY mobile takes the wee penguin to undiscovered places (by penguins that is!).

Urban Legend: French food get exported everywhere in the world

2008-09-08T20:37:00.003+01:00

This is the biggest lie ever!
Being French and all, I ought to love French food and try to eat it wherever I go.
Guess what... wrong!
I love French food, true, but I'm very open to all kind of food and love haggis as much as I love 'mousson de canard' (not sure actually!).
Anyway... my point is, after having lived abroad for over 3 years, I sort of miss some of the stuff I was raised with, I'm not talking about snails or frogs guys, let's face it, French food is not all about these tasty for pretty weird delicatessen (don't get me wrong, I love 'em!).
So, I am currently trying to find these products I miss, but to no avail!
There are about a billion websites selling French products but all are dedicated to fancy food! I don't want to buy foie gras for cryin' out loud, I want French dry sausage Justin Bridou, I want French apple sauce Andros, I want Pepito, Mikado and other Prince sandwich cookies(all French biscuits)!
So far, no luck at all, I can't find a single website that exports all the good ol' French products.
You can find the most refined cheese but no fromage a raclette or reblochon.
No chance with Creme de Marron or Cruly, Peppi's...

I want my French junk food!!!

No USA in 2008...

2008-09-07T11:48:00.003+01:00

I know I said I would be moving to the USA in 2008 but even I quite didn't believe it!
I haven't dropped the idea of going and live there one day, but it's not meant to be at this moment in my life.
Mainly because it's so hard to get these working papers!
But also because I need to work on my career so that I can go there and get a good job and get to enjoy the American dream not starting from the bottom (as in waiting in a country bar in redneck city).

Lastly, well... let's say that there's one big obstacle to me going there, which will fortunately get kicked out of the White House in a couple of months, and will hopefully not be replaced by a man who means well but cannot personify change while being 72 and quite obviously admiring Bush.

So I'll take a rain check on this dream but in the meantime I'll spend a few days in NYC next year, to get to see another part of this huge country and see where exactly Ugzy wants to land when the time is right.

UgzY has been AWOL!

2008-09-07T11:38:00.002+01:00

Hi all... if any is left!

I just realised I hadn't posted anything in close to 6 months!
Real Life has been quite hectic as usual and I sort of lost the desire to write.
I went through some tough times this year and actually resigned and packed my stuff to go back to France!

Well... technically I did resign but I never made it to the packing part! I realised it would have been a knee-jerk reaction and that I wasn't done with the company I work for nor with this beautiful and real wet country.

So I 'unresigned' and I'm happier than ever!
Meaning I will start posting again, more will be in French though, need to keep in touch with my friends that I don't want to leave behind anymore.

See, when you leave outside your country, I think there's a point in your experience when you start thinking about what the heck you think you're doing!
This happened to me a few months ago, I failed to see the point of carrying on the adventure when I had a life in France, but you know what... lately I've discovered that I only had vacation in France, my life was in Scotland!

So I see lots more vacation in France in my future but I'll stay in Scotland for the time being!

First thing I need to do now... buy a better car because Ugzy hasn't been on a trip in a looong time because the Ugzymobile had a mind of her own, which is very frustrating!

Stay tuned for more adventure!

By the way, that's a French word!

2008-02-09T10:49:00.000Z

I've been hanging out a lot with an American girl friend since I arrived in Scotland.
She doesn't mind so much my obvious arrogance, garlic smell and overall annoying joie de vivre. But even her patience has its limits and there's one thing I know unerves her, so I keep on doing it! ;-)

English, be it the traditional language you would find in Webster, or the one you hear on the street, is full of French words, and I just love pointing out that they are stealing our language and would try to insert as many French words in a conversation (oups... this one is a French word as well!) as I could, ending it with a... By the way, that's a French word!

I'm quite sure Native English wouldn't even realise it, just like the French wouldn't realise just how many English words we have in our oh so exceptionnal language. *rolls eyes*

I shall make my duty to report on this blog any word I come across!

I won't be listing all the obivous ones like rendez-vous and deja-vu, we all know these are French and English speakers use them as such, just like façade or even cuisine... all these are a bit cliché! ;-)

I will stick to the less obvious ones, at least from what I can see and hear.

I was pretty suprised to hear this friend was walking her dog on the promenade and that she has the dog on a leash as she doesn't want her German shepperd to wander off near the boulevard .

However I will make a difference between the words that have their origin in the French language (such as lounge) and the ones that have the exact same spelling in both languages.
The reason for this is that once the spelling has been modified, it seems to me that it stops being a French word and starts having a life of its own.

We all might get amazed at just how much modern French influences English speakers in their everyday life.

USA, here I come... hopefully!

2008-01-06T11:06:00.000Z

Howdy folks!

2008 is the year I move to the USA, or so I've decided!
Over the course of a year and a half, I have packed (might not be the word!) this blog with tips on where to go and what to see in Scotland, including information if you want to relocate to this part of the UK.
It is now time I take it a step further, meaning on the other side of the pond!

It should take me ages but in the end I hope I'll find a decent job in the USA without having to marry a guy to get the green card, or just buy it (the green card that, not the guy!).
I'll keep a concise (hopefully!) diairy of my journey from the wee town of Largs to the Big Apple and hopefully by January next year, I'll be writting from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean!

So please, if you have any tip (websites, personal experiences, books, offices...) that could help me, feel free to drop a note!

Pics of Ayr, Ayrshire

2008-01-05T19:04:00.000Z

Ayr, Ayrshire. Capital city of the Ayrshire county, Ayr is a wee city by the sea, as many others in Scotland.
Ayr is a very quiet and peaceful city with a very typical town center and a nice sand beach. That's one very nice city and one of the few ones I could leave Largs for!

Ayr, Ayrshire.Capitale du conté du Aryshire, Ayr est une fois de plus une petite ville côtière... à croire qu'il n'y a que ça en Ecosse!
Dans mon coin de l'Ecosse en tout cas, c'est à peu près tout ce qu'il y a en effet... ça et des iles!
Ayr est une ville très agréable au centre ville typique du pays. Une plage de sable à perte de vue. Encore une ville au charme indéniable et certainement l'une des rares villes pour lesquelles je pourrais quitter Largs!

Pics of Ardrossan, Ayrshire

2008-01-05T18:58:00.000Z

Ardrossan is a wee town by the sea in Ayrshire (South west of Scotland).
With a direct link to the Isle of Arran by ferry, Ardrossan is somehow touristic, and has this amazing beach with this sumptuous view on the Mountain Goat Fell, one of the numerous treasures of the Isle of Arran.

Ardrossan, Ayrshire. Une autre de ces villes côtières de l'ouest de l'Ecosse.
Rien de bien particulier, si ce n'est un ferry qui relie le 'continent' à l'ile d'Arran, certainement l'ile la plus touristique des Lowlands.
De la plage d'Ardrossan on a une vue absolument magnifique de l'ile... bref une petite ville où il fait bon y passer un peu de temps.

New Year's resolutions.

2008-01-04T22:10:00.000Z

Failing to see the point in Christmas (that is, as the non catholic I am), I find this period pretty depressiong. However, there is something magic about the New Year's Eve... almost as if you could bury in the past whatever you did and start afresh.

And of course, among other traditions, we have to come up with resolutions that we will drop after 2 days... or will we?
Most of the people I know have taken the resolution of not taking any resolution, which is funny but at the same time, I think it's passing on a great opportunity, stop thinking about changing and start doing it.

So last year I decided that my 2007 project would be myself. I have a very bad self confidence issue, I don't like the way I look and even though I'm out-going, I always fear what people will think of me. So in 2007, my resolution was to work on this, and because I love taking on new projects, it really worked.
12 months later I've changed my wardrobe, bought more make-up than I ever did, started playing squash twice a week and a month ago I even joined a fitness club!
I have changed so much that I wear skirts!

So yes, resolutions do work!

But now it's time for a new resolution/project, and because I quit smoking 5 weeks ago, I can't take this one, it would be too easy...
So two resolutinos for 2008:

- Stop giving a damn about things I can't change!

I don't like my nose, so what? Ain't gonna change anyway so stop giving a damn!
I hate the time it takes to put a new process in place at work, tons of stuff infuriate me at work but there's nothing I can do anything about, so I need to stop caring!

However, this also means that what I don't like and can change, I have to do the best I can to make it better!

- I will celebrate New Year's Eve 2008 in the USA!

This year is my year, it's high time I move on, Scotland is a great country, I love my work and my teams, but in 12 months I need to be in a different country, with a new job (I wouldn't mind the same company though!).

These are my two projects, as well as keep on working on my 2007 project which is an ongoing project!

UgzY has a new home!

2008-01-04T20:54:00.000Z

I've decided to go public... sort of anyway!
Being a geek, I've always prefered to be in charge of every detail of my blog, choosing an open source application and hosting it and all... but nothing really suited my needs for a bilingual blog whose main purpose is hosting pictures.

After many versions, I've realized that nothing will ever be perfect and that the multiple plugins I had were more of a waste of my time than a real solution.

Being a big fan of the Google concept and already using half of what's available, including the online photo storage and offline tool Picasa, I've decided to go for the easy solution for once... hope this will help me keep this blog up-to-date!

So UgzY is back with a new home... I've lost the comments, not everything is back yet and I'm missing like 400 pics but it will be as good as it can be before long!

So, for those of you who don't know what this blog is all about... I'm a French girl who decided to leave for Scotland back in August 2005 and I'm merely trying to share my journey and whenever possible, tips on where to go if you want to visit or move to Scotland.

FR: Stirling - 2ème essai réussi!

2008-01-04T19:44:00.000Z

Pour ceux qui avaient suivi mes mesaventures il y a un an et demi à Stirling, j'avais reussi a prendre un panorama du chateau et a crasher ma voiture dans la même journée!
Ne m'avouant pas vaincue pour si peu, c'est avec ma seconde voiture que j'y suis retournée!
Cette voiture, au programme visite du chateau ET retour en voiture... c'était pas gagné d'avance mais j'ai réussi!
Ceci dit je n'ai toujours pas été voir le William Wallace Monument mais cette fois par faute de temps, le chateau de Stirling prend quelques heures a visiter.

USA, the final test.

2007-12-15T13:48:00.001Z

Thanks to the French administration, I spent the 8 weeks before my trip to the USA worrying about whether I would get my passport on time or would be prevented from going on my first trip to this country I'm amazed by.
The relief came in the form of a phone call from my embassy 8 days before I left, confirming that my passport had arrived in Edinburgh minutes before!

And after many years of waiting on an opportunity to go the USA not as a tourist but with a native who could share her vision of the country, I was on my way to Sarasota, Florida. Middle-sized town (at least from the European point of view) on the West coast of the state, Sarasota is a nice and quiet place for wealthy retired Americans. Nice white beaches, turquoise water, 30 degrees centigrade in early October, this city is a dream!

But even though I really enjoyed this part of the holidays, I was a woman on a mission! See, I have this crazy idea that the USA is the country I want to live in after Scotland... a tad weird since I had never set foot on Sam's ground!
So I had 7 days to decide whether I really wanted to go live there.

First impression: American people are the nicest guys I've ever met, I have yet to figure out whether it is genuine or part of their culture. I know French people are not overly nice but are genuine, so having so many nice people around me, plain simple and easy-going persons, was a big and welcomed change, that is if it is genuine.

Then, the food! Being French, I do have high expectations, I'm not one to try and eat French food wherever I go and I'm not overly fan of the French cuisine anyway, but I'm used to a high standard of quality and large variety of food.
In that regard, the USA once again score big points! I avoided going to fast food because I dare believe this is a by-product of a modern society choosing money over time, but isn't the true American food.
I had pancakes, omelets, roasted potatoes for breakfast; all you can eat salad buffet or BBQ traditional meals with corn on the rod for lunch and fresh grilled fish for diner.
USA have it all, from the cheap fat hamburger to the refined cuisine, there is something for everyone, which is just as amazing as it is pleasurable.
So food... ok for me!

Culture... the European culture is very different from the US one, but at the same time, we all have been raised with the US one through TV series and movies. What really struck me as odd is that as soon as I had set foot on the US soil, I had this feeling of coming home compared to my life in the UK. To this day I still hate this Victorian style, all these sparkling clothes, their TV soaps and tons of little details like the lack of shutters... on the other hand, the US style is so familiar (I guess I have Extreme Makover: Home Edition to thank for that!), I love the US TV series, the clothes are definitely closer to my personal taste than the UK ones and yes, they do have shutters!
So even though I have now lived in the UK for almost 4 years, I felt more at home in the US than I will ever in the UK!

Knowledge... I like to talk politics, I have pretty strong opinions on a lot of topics and I went to the USA with the idea that US people were ignorant when it came to the outside world (meaning what's not US basically), this is the part I was disappointed the less in and at the same time, the more.
I must admit that during the course of this week, I've met curious people but I can't say I have met people who really impressed me with their knowledge of the World. But then again I was on vacation so I can't say I really got the chance to go into a debate with anyone on the war in Iraq as an example.
But on the other hand, all the people I've talked to were curious of where I was from and could more or less remember that their grand parents had landed on the Beaches of my region, Normandy.
So nope, not really impressed by the knowledge but this is something I can't do anything about, I just have to see whether I can live with that.

To talk about their president, I have met Republicans but I must admit I haven't met anyone who publicly said he liked Bush!

A few things that I remember most... their tea bags have strings; they do have apple sauce; it's cheaper to go to the restaurant than to cook; not all American people are fat but when they are, they really are; everything's cheaper than in the UK; they love Peanut Butter!

My conclusion of this week... I now know for sure that I want to go live there for a year or two, get to know them more and get to experience this crazy American life where everything's bigger than in Europe!

Click on the thumbs to go to the album

Eilean Donan Castle

2007-08-15T14:14:00.000+01:00

Eilean Donan Castle, Lochalsh. This must be the most impressive castle I've seen so far, and I've seen my share over the years!

Although the latest version of the castle has yet to celebrate its 100th years, it seems to have stood there proudly for centuries.

Built on the wee Isle of Donan, the Castle of the Isle of Donan (English translation of its name) has never been as important as the Sitrling Castle or any other castle which witnessed the war between England and Scotland. But due to its unique location, at the meeting point of three Lochs (Loch Long, Loch Duich and Loch Alsh) and its most impressive architecture and bridge, it has become over the years the most visited castle in Scotland.

Many will recognize it from the movie Highlander, although the clan McLeod's castle is actually situated in Dunvengan on the Isle of Skye.

The Eilean Donan Castle is situated on the North West coast of Scotland and I strongly recommend you stop there on your way to the Isle of Skye, another stunning place in Scotland!
I was on a road trip from Ayrshire to the Isle of Skye and had planned on staying overnight on the Isle but when we saw the Eilean Donan Castle we just couldn't leave! We booked a room in a B&B in the wee village of Dornie on the coast and went straight back to the castle... and there are just a sample of the pictures we took.

Eilean Donan Castle, Lochalsh. Ce chateau doit être le plus impressionant qu'il m'ait été donné de voir à ce jour, et croyez-moi, j'en ai vu!

Bien que la plus récente version du chateau n'a pas 100 ans, le chateau donne l'impression d'avoir traversé fièrement les siècles depuis son rocher.

Construit sur l'ile de Donan, le 'Chateau de l'Ile de Donan' (traduction du nom gaelic) n'a pas l'intérêt historique que peut avoir celui de Stirling ou tout autre chateau ecossais ayant joué un rôle dans la bataille entre l'Angleterre et l'Ecosse.

Cependant, du fait de sa situation géographique, au point de rencontre de trois Loch (Loch Long, Loch Duich and Loch Alsh) et son impressionant pont, il est devenu au fil des années le chateau le plus visité d'Ecosse.

Certain se souviendront de l'avoir vu dans le film Highlander, bien que le chateau du clan McLeod soit situé sur l'Ile de Skye, celui-ci appartenant au clan McRae.
Le chateau Eilean Donan est situé sur la côte nord ouest du pays et je ne peux que vous recommander de vous y arrêter.

Personnellement je m'y suis arrêté en chemin vers l'Ile de Skye où je comptais passer la nuit mais devant la beauté du chateau et de ses environs, nous n'avons pas pu partir. Après avoir trouvé un B&B miteux, nous sommes retournés au chateau afin de prendre d'autres photos. Le lendemain nous n'avons pu resister a visiter l'intérieur.

Click on the thumbs to go to the album

French passports delay... a lit bit of France out of France!

2007-08-15T13:39:00.000+01:00

Going to Florida (hopefully!) on vacation in just 7 weeks, I had to have my passport renewed. Any continental person not used to travelling outside of Europe won't have one of those (at least in the countries where an ID card is mandatory), so of course mine was expired by about 5 years!
Anyway... a day off and £23 later (train fee), here I am in Edinburgh looking for my Embassy!
11 Randolph Crescent, just off Princess Street, so far so good, it's right in the middle of the town.

But right then you know you're back in France!
I was feeling like I was back in my ol' university asking for a form or another... jeez I had forgotten just how slow the French administration is.

On top of that, I wasn't feeling too good going to 'France', I mean I left the country for a reason and just going to my embassy was like being back in my country... weird I know, but there you go!

Anyway... the French gouvernment has decided that we had to look stupid on the photos now! No smile, no fringe, a huge head... and if the distance between your headline and your chin is 1mm less than what it should be, your pics get refused!

But still, so far, so good... the person who dealt with my request was a really nice lady and you could see that she was willing to help me (she was Scottish, it might explain!). I've been asked weird questions but hey, you'd do anything to get a passport!

Even though I wasn't overly enjoying myself, it was still pretty ok, until I asked the question whose answer I dreaded... how long will it take to receive my passport? 6 weeks!
And bam, right there I was back in France facing its oh so slow way of dealing with everything!

So now it's fingers crossed, hopefully I will receive it on time to fly to Florida!

May I add that you can apply for a new passport or a replacement ONLINE in the UK... oh and yeah... they do have one of these options where you can get your passport urgently if need be, gotta love these guys!

A couple of tips to speed up the process (I'll let you know if they really work!):

- Pay for your passport (£42) on the day you make your request, otherwise you'll have to send the money at a later time and it will delay the shipment of the request to France where all French passports are made

- Do not hesitate to have your picture taken 2 or 3 times (happened to me), looks like your request could get very easily refused if the format isn't standard

- Specify to the person at the embassy that it's a urgent request and panic, it worked for me, she wrote urgent and the date I'm taking my plane on, on the form! ;-)

If you need more information of the French ambassy in Edinburgh or on passports:

- Official website of the Embassy

FR - La fin du ‘Quel jour sommes-nous’?

2007-07-27T13:00:00.000+01:00

Mon frère a recemment parlé d’un concept très intéressant, qui veut que l’argent donne la liberté de ne pas faire ce qui va à l’encontre nos principes ou de notre choix de vie.

J’avoue en être encore assez loin mais la semaine dernière j’ai eu la surprise d’avoir une pensée qui m’a fait extrêmement plaisir, surement parce que c’était la première fois que je pouvais le dire.

Je parlais avec ma responsable des ressources humaines concernant une promotion que je viens d’avoir et une augmentation qui ne va pas tarder. On attendait une troisième personne et faisions ce que l’on appelle du ’small talk’, en gros on comblait le silence en parlant de la pluie et deu beau temps. A cours d’opinion sur le temps mitigé, elle finit par me dire… vivement mardi. A alors commencé un passage en revue de tout ce qui pouvait se passer mardi 31 juillet et totalement à court d’idées, je finis par lui demander, et elle de me répondre surprise… bah c’est jour de paie!

Et là j’ai réalisé deux choses… d’une le mois est encore passé bien trop vite et les targets sont pas atteintes, et de deux, pour la première fois de ma vie je me fiche de quel jour on est, cela n’a pas de conséquences financières pour moi.

Pour la première fois de ma vie j’ai réussi à équilibrer mes dépenses avec mes revenus et n’avoir en tête que mes objectifs professionnels a l’approche de la fin du mois, et non plus la question de savoir si je pourrais m’acheter à manger ou sortir voir les amis!

FR - On a perçé le mystère Franco-belge!

2007-06-23T13:24:00.000+01:00

Travaillant avec plus de 20 nationalités différentes, on recherche souvent les points communs entre les cultures. L'un des points communs les plus discutés reste les préjugés que chaque pays peut avoir sur ses voisins plus ou moins proches.

Parlant hier avec des belges, on a réussi à percer ce mystère multi-séculaire, voire plus, du: Les français sont arrogants et les belges sont bêtes!
Qui n'a jamais entendu dire ou même cédé à la tentation de dire d'un belge qu'il était bête? Rassurez-vous, ils ne sont pas en reste en nous perçoivent comme arrogants!
Voilà, en fait l'explication est très simple et vient d'une incompréhension, qui en fait vient d'un mauvais usage de la langue française de la part des belges.
Un belge va exprimer la capacité par le verbe 'savoir' quand les français utiliseront le verbe 'pouvoir'.
Imaginez donc une conversation entre un belge et un français:

Le belge: Dis, tu saurais me donner l'heure?
Le français, ne bougeant pas d'un cheveux: oui je saurais...

De là le belge qui pense que le français ne veut pas lui donner l'heure, en conclu que le français est arrogant et se croit supérieur, et le français pense que le belge est bête de lui demander s'il sait lire l'heure!

L'un des préjugés les plus courants en France expliqué en deux minutes par deux belges et deux français autour d'une bière... c'est beau l'expatriation!

Prochain préjugé à expliquer... pourquoi les français pensent que les suisses sont lents? ;-)

UK Council Tax for newbies

2007-06-10T13:26:00.000+01:00

Living in another country has its upsides, you get to rediscover a whole new way of living. But it's got its downsides as well, bills being one of them!
In the UK, on top of paying for the rent, you have to pay the council tax. I've heard many people not knowing exactly what it was or even people moving in a flat because the rent was rather cheap and then being in for a big surprise when receiving the first instalment of the council tax!
Better come prepared... here is a wee guide to the Council Tax for foreigners!

First off, the council tax includes water and sewerage services, so no extra bill to pay for your water consumption. Then you have to learn how it works.
There are 8 'bands', 'A' being the cheapest, 'H' the dearest. The price of the council tax depends on the value of the property, meaning if you have a two bedroom flat with a view on the sea you'll pay more than a one bedroom flat with view on the street, which makes sense.
The amount charged for Council Tax varies from county to county so I can't give exact figures. As an example here are the figures for my own county, North Ayrshire.
As said before, the Council Tax includes the water and sewerage services assessed and charged by Scottish Water. My 'current valuation banding' is 'D' which consists in a charge of £1152 per annum for the council tax part, add to this £171.72 for water charges and £194.13 for wastewater charge, thus a total of £1517.85 per annum.
You can either pay the whole amount once a year or get 10 instalments free of charge.
A band 'A' in my county means a total amount of £1,011.90 and a band 'H' of £3,035.70.

In the UK the fiscal year runs from April to April and the council tax is payable 10 months a year. This means that you have to pay 10 instalments from April to January and then you pay nothing in February and March.

If you share the accomodation, the council tax won't be multiplied but divided so each person will pay only a share of it. On the other hand, if you live on your own, you automatically get a 25% discount.

One last thing to know, just like any governmental charge, it will steadily increase!

What you need to remember when moving in the UK, is that the council tax is just as important as the rent so never signs a lease before checking the council tax band. As far as I know it is not the landlord's responsability to provide you with the band, so always check with the local authorities before agreeing to somehting you can't afford.
Last thing to look out for is whether the rent includes bills. You might find a bedroom in a share flat with a rent of £250 plus bills and go for it as it's pretty cheap considering. However, across the street there might be a bedroom with a rent of £320 all inclusive, and this would be a bargain. The electricity, gas, council tax and sometimes TV licence and others are included in the rent.

Finding a place to live in the UK is no nightmare and everything goes smoothly 9 times out of 10 even for foreigners, but it's always good to know what you'll be facing!

To find out more about the council tax in your county, here are a few links.

- Scottish Assessors: Information regarding the council tax in Scotland
- Valuation Office Agency: Counterpart for England and Wales
- DirectGov: Provides a list of all counties in the UK and the websites addresses.

Oban - Argyll and Bute

2007-06-03T13:17:00.000+01:00

Howdy people!

It's time to get out of Largs and visit a bit around Scotland... the travelling season is back!
First on the list for this year was Oban, a wee town on the west coast of Scotland, right in the West Highlands.
In the great tradition of this country, there's nothing to do in Oban but plenty to see!

Well... there's a distillery so there might be something to do there after all.
If you ever stop in this port, do not hesitate to go and visit it, it's one of the smallest ones but it has this friendly ambiance to it and the guide will tell you everything there is to know about this single malt light whisky.
If you're tempted to go and visit the Sea life center a few miles out of Oban, please refrain from doing so if you expect something entertaining or even interesting... What they do for the sea life conservation is absolutely great and they ought to get money to keep doing what they do, problem is I'd be more enclined to actually make a donation than have to go through endless rooms full of fish tanks.

Although, to give them credit, you can actually feed some kind of sea bass or trout or whatever it was, which is pretty fun.
There have two seals which pretty much do nothing but sleep and eat, as for the otter(s?), well, this was a fun part as it's not very shy.

Needless to say I was less than impressed by this and unless you've never been to this kind of attraction or actually do like living fish, there's no a lot to do and see.

As for Oban itself, well, this is a charming little town, unfortunately packed with tourists, although as it's raining pretty much non stop up there, we had a pretty quiet day.
All in all, I wouldn't travel to Oban just for the sake of it, but taking the west coastal road up to the North of the country might be a very pleasant experience.

And if you ever go to Oban you have to stop by the shop called the Kitchen garne, they have the most amazing continental food I've ever seen in Scotland including some local beverages from Britanny.

However, please be aware of kamikaze sheeps on the road!

Here are a few pictures of the city.

'Quaterly' life crisis.

2007-05-20T13:31:00.000+01:00

Hello people stopping by to visit this weblog.

My life is chaotic at the moment, to say the least. One minute I'm overly happy with my life as it is and the next I could cry over the pathetic turn it's taking...

I'm not one to dwell or look back, but when I look ahead I don't see what I wanted to see... basically I don't see anything, and I don't like at all!

My job is taking its toll on me, I wanted responsabilities, and I like every minute of it... supervising a team of soon to be 16 people, 8 different markets and 7 different nationalities is a blast... but at the same time I have to face so many pointless challenges that I quite don't see the point in continuing it, knowing it's going to get even worse in the near future...

I live in a great town, I have wonderful friends here and back in France, I have a dear friend which lightens up my days and systematically kicks my butt on a weekly basis on a squash court... but my life remains empty.

I might be trying to acheive something that can't be acheived at this point in my life and it's holding me back, preventing me from enjoying what I have by always looking for what I wish I had.

For many years now I've dreamed of going to the USA and eventually settling down in Canada. This, is my dream. For many reasons, including my fear of leaving everything behind, I can't resolve myself to go for it just now. But not going for it means I hate myself for being weak and not fully living my life.

I'm at a crossroad at the moment... I could well decide life's great and could just go ahead, but I would be lying to myself. I could go back the way I came, back to what is safe because devoid of surprises... going back to France. Or I could work as hard as I can to make my dream comes true.

But for all these options there's one thing that I would need... patience. People who know me will smile at this... patience isn't my strong suit. I've never been patient, I want everything right away and then some. Life just doesn't work like this.

So, I guess what I wanted to say is that I don't know what to do or where to go from there.

Everything's moving around me, everybody's getting married, having kids, settling down in a life they've chosen, and here I am, living my life the way I thought I wanted to live it but the sad thing is that I don't feel happy, not as happy as I should be anyway...

Guess I have some thinking to do and maybe my penguin and I will be flying to better skies sooner than later...

Anyway... forget what I said... what's really important right now is that the ending of season 3 of Grey's Anatomy is way too sad... guess that's the reason for my current mood! ;-)

Un impôt pour les expatriés?

2007-03-11T12:32:00.000Z

Je prends enfin le temps de revenir sur un projet proposé par celui que je pensais être l'un des rares à pouvoir devenir président, M. Strauss-Khan, à savoir l'impôt sur les expatriés.

Je n'aime pas ce principe de devoir mettre une étiquette sur une personne et le fait que M. Sarkozy m'appelle une "étrangère en situation régulière" ne me plait pas plus que cela... mais au moins il ne s'agit que de mots vides sans conséquences (du moins si la France se réveille en mai prochain). Mais lorsque j'entends la proposition de M. Strauss-Khan, ça me renforce dans mon opinion que quitter mon pays était sans doute la meilleure chose à faire... mais peut-être pas pour longtemps!

En tant que française vivant à l'étranger, je ne bénéficie d'aucun des privilèges sociaux des français vivant sur le territoire, ce que je conçois tout à fait. Après tout j'ai fait le choix de partir vivre dans un autre pays, je dois assumer ce choix. Mais voilà, je l'assume mon choix, alors pourquoi penser à venir me chercher pour me demander de l'argent pour quelque chose qui ne va pas me bénéficier?

Je paie mes impôts au UK, ma couverture sociale et la TVA... je dépends du système UK pour toutes ces choses, la France ne me donne rien et je ne lui dois rien. Quand bien même je rentrerais dans cette tranche imposable dont parle Strauss-Khan, je ne devrais rien à la France! Est-ce que je gagne mon argent sur le dos de la France? Non, est-ce que j'ai un contrat français? Non. J'ai un contrat UK, je travaille pour une boite UK me mettant au service d'une société américaine qui elle-même m'embauche pour travailler pour une autre société américaine. De plus l'essentiel de mon travail tourne autour de 5 pays et je suis moi-même partiellement en charge du Luxembourg.

Dans ces conditions, comment comprendre qu'il me faille payer un impôt à mon pays d'origine?

Si vous cherchez de l'argent messieurs-dames de gauche, allez le chercher où il est, dans le gaspillage public français, dans ces administrations incompétentes auquelles vous semblez tant tenir, et laissez les français expatriés où ils sont, à l'étranger!

Si en échange de cet impôt vous me proposez de côtiser pour ma retraite en France, vous m'offrez une couverture sociale internationale et tout ces petits plus dont bénéficient les français vivant en France, alors là on reparlera de m'acquitter d'une quelconque dette à mon pays d'origine!

FR - Royal ou Sarko... oubliez, je veux Obama!

2007-02-16T13:38:00.000Z

Le plus gros problème que j'ai avec ces élections, à part le fait de devoir rentrer en France pour m'acquiter de mon devoir de citoyenne, c'est que je ne sais honnêtement pas pour qui voter.

Trop de médiatisation autour de Mme. Royal et M. Sarkozy, pas assez autour des outsiders François Bayrou, Marie-George Buffet... J'avoue que M. Bayrou et moi-même partageons une (seule?) opinion... il faut arrêter de voter pour un parti mais pour des gens.

En fait, moi ce que j'aimerais vraiment, c'est voter aux USA! Déjà parce que la pression de se dire que mon vote compte serait levée comme on a pu le constater en 2000, et surtout parce que je sais pour qui je voterais... ou du moins j'hésiterais moins!

Je l'annonce donc... si je pouvais voter pour des élections qui vont vraiment compter pour les années à venir au niveau planétaire, je voterais Barak Obama!

Démocrate de 45 ans fraichement arrivé en politique (depuis 14 ans), qui ne cache pas avoir fumé de la marijuana au College tout en étant sorti d'Harvard diplômé de droit avec honneurs, qui ne renie pas ses racines mi-africaines (père africain, mère américaine) mais ne mise pas dessus. Barak déplace les foules, et plus important, Barak déplace les jeunes! Un des rares à avoir ouvertement dénoncé la guerre en Irak dès le début (quand c'était pas bien vu de le faire!).

Il veut ouvrir le dialogue avec l'Iran, retirer les troupes d'Iraq, les mettre en Afghanistan, parler sérieusement des problèmes environnementaux...

Honnêtement quand je vois les candidats états-uniens, je me dis qu'une fois de plus la France est en retard! On se bat pour savoir si une femme a vraiment une chance d'être élue Président quand ils ont un candidat femme (en tête dans les sondages) et un candidat métis. Je ne dis pas qu'un des deux sera élu, mais ça pose la question de savoir si la France n'évolue pas un peu trop lentement.

Le problème étant que je reste également persuadée que les français sont bien plus ouverts d'esprit que les américains et que les fans de Nascar/Rednecks vont sans doute tuer cet espoir dans l'oeuf en votant pour un 'mec qui en a'... sans compter que les morts votent apparemment, mais ne sont pas représentés dans les sondages... de même, les noirs sont représentés dans les sondages mais ne votent pas!

Et comme de toute façon je ne peux pas voter pour Barak Obama, je reste sur ma première conclusion... on est mal barrés!