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04/30/2006
May the month of " jour ferie "
In May there seems to be a bank holiday every week and the varoius bands I play in are you usually invited. Today was " deportation day " to remember civilians who were deported in WW2 next week 8 th May we do end of WW2 which is also my wedding aniversary. Todays ceremony went Ok in spite of Rodger the bossman introducing a new sax player , there is an expression " c'est pas terrible " which means its not too bad its worse than that. Its like hearing an echo when you play next to him only delayed so the only alternative is to blast him out.
Max has an interview for the summer job at Super U where he explains how stacking shelves will help his law studies later on in life. The good thing will be they will employ him again at other peak periods if he wants the work. We have moved back into our own house at last we have a 2 week lull and then we will have visiters continuous till the end of September
14:06 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
04/22/2006
Getting a job
The insurrance finally paid on our minibus they wanted to call it 50/50 but Paulien was assertive with them saying we are not paying one centine and would cancell all our policies with them . The problem being we were both with the same assurance company so they thought 50/50 would increase both our premiums + with Max driving we would pay the first 500€. But we won and they gave in after a few hours.
Max is trying to get a summer job a simple task one would think but no he has to produce a CV and for Super u ( local supermarket ) a description of why he wants to work there.What does he have to write " its always been my ambition to stack shelves in a supermarket ". We handed in about 6 CV to the various camp sites ,marie super U and then have to wait, but he does have an interview with super u in 2 weeks time. Its not very encouraging for young people to work hence all the rioting over the CPE which has at last stoped
08:28 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
04/04/2006
It had to happen
Max had his first accident last week I suppose two and half months after the test is good going although it wasn't his fault it was at St Sebastien and an ancient person about 80yr didn't stop at the white line and rammed Max in the middle putting a big dent in our Boxer minibus. Its intirely his fault but at an accident scene you have to exchange " constant" which is your version of the accident + a drawing of the cars and then sign it and give them the duplicate. The other person didn@t agree as he thought he had right of way once he had crossed the white line. Anyway we are the same insurrance company and as long as our premium doesn't go up we are Ok with it . Had first swim of the year pool about 20 but rising each day
09:31 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
How to be a local
To fit in local society the first thing is to speak some french but its not only speaking you have to be part of the community. Having children is great because then you meet lots of other parents and get to know people ( assuming you speak french ) Living in the same area for a long period helps ( we have been here 14yrs now ) but it wasn't until we started regularly going to the bar for a coffee that I really felt local ( I have been playing in the Plestin Fanfare band for a years a joke band it plays 6 times a year for the various memorial days we practise half an hour before the event have 6 numbers we play including the Marsailes but it doesn't make you a local )
Going to the bar you see all parts of the community a big section of "chomeurs " various reasons given allergies or brain deficits then there are artisans passing throughfor a quick cafain fix and a few white collar people usually immobiliers who spend most of the time on their cell phone. By going regularly you soon build up a data base of faces you know. It also keeps us away from the local English mafia the radio 4 G and T brigade who seem to stick together we only have about 3 or 4 English friends and they are all busy doing their own thing but will help out if asked.
i have a good response now to French when quiring my accent I just say I am following a french course run by Jean Birkin!
08:21 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this