Yesterday I experienced a 'first ever' moment in my life. I had my first ever real fire alarm!! That's right, yesterday at 4.58pm the familiar sound of a fire alarm went off in the offices at work. As normal, we thought it was a fire drill or a false alarm - although we soon realised that they wouldn't do a fire drill 2 mins before the live news bulletin, so it was obviously the latter conclusion - a false alarm. However, as we exited quietly using the fire escape we soon smelt the most pungent stench of smoke. As we walked outside we noticed that there was indeed smoke coming out of the roof of our offices.
The news presenters insisted that there couldn't be a worse time for a fire alarm - there was breaking news of an attack in Lebanon and they were determined to go to air at 5pm - we practically had to drag them kicking and screaming from the set, explaining that the building was in fact on fire, and if they didn't leave, soon they might be the very subject of a new 'breaking news'. Though you have to admire my colleagues dedication and commitment to informing the world.
So, after assembling on the footpath for a while, it became evident that as the fire was in the roof, no one had been injured - very good news! The French fire brigade was surprisingly efficient for a French organisation and quickly put the fire out which meant that within an hour we were back to work. I never thought I'd be annoyed by a fire alarm because I still had things to do in the office and it was interrupting my working day - my God I'm becoming a professional working woman - somebody help me!
mercredi 19 septembre 2007
J'entends un petit accent
Living in a non-english speaking country means that I hear the sentence 'j'entends un petit accent' several times a month. Literally translated as 'I hear a little accent' this is the polite way of the French asking 'Where the hell do you come from? You are clearly not French!', or in some circumstances it's an attempt at a marvelous pick-up line. Apparently my accent is mignon (cute), charmant (charming) - whatever! I'd prefer not to have an accent and prove to myself that I can speak this language properly. All in good time perhaps. However, if this should never happen, which I'm almost certain it won't, I am quite happy to accept my imperfect French given the fact that I'm NOT French. The thing which is more difficult to accept is the problem people seem to have with my accent in ENGLISH!
So, when I'm speaking English, I'm not one to kick up a fuss if a French person doesn't know where I come from - the fact that they can distinguish the language as English is a big enough step, they don't need to be able to hear the subtle (or glaringly obvious) difference between accents from various english-speaking countries. I was slightly offended when some students guessed that I was from Sweden before suggesting Australia, given that I don't look at all Swedish (unfortunately!) and that the first language of Swedes is of course Swedish and not English. Apparently it doesn't even sound like I'm speaking my mother tongue to some of my students. Moving on though to the other culprits. I am incredibly used to people thinking I'm British, which I guess I can understand - although it's slightly strange when it's coming from a British person - can't they hear that my accent is different to their own? But, what the hell is the world coming to when even Australians can't tell where you're from? That's right, I asked my fellow Australian at work where she came from, to which she replied Australia (no shit sherlock), so then I asked her where exactly, to which she replied Adelaide. Continuing with the niceities, she asked me where I came from, to which I replied Sydney. She then said 'But you're not Australian! You're American!' I couldn't believe it! The nerve of her! And as if that wasn't enough, she proceeded to make things worse by then listening to me speak and highlighting the very words that sounded American to her - talk about digging yourself into a deeper hole. After this lovely incident, the newsreader comes over to me and says that she overheard me speaking to my colleague and that she had never spoken to me as she had assumed I was American (seems some people have strange standards when deciding who to strike up a conversation with), but now that she knew I was Australian she wanted to talk about her 6 year stint in Oz. Incredible!
These are just some of the hundreds of comments I have received about my accent. Others tell me I sound European - one of those mixed up accents that's all in all a bit neutral, some say I sound like I'm from anywhere BUT Australia and then there are those who say I speak English with no accent whatsoever - whatever that sounds like!
And that's only the accent, don't get me started on people telling me my sentence structure, phrasing and word order is all a bit strange!
However, having said that, being surrounded by Australians for the past month has brought back my aussie accent considerably and I don't think there were any complaints from my friends this month about being incomprehensible.
So, when I'm speaking English, I'm not one to kick up a fuss if a French person doesn't know where I come from - the fact that they can distinguish the language as English is a big enough step, they don't need to be able to hear the subtle (or glaringly obvious) difference between accents from various english-speaking countries. I was slightly offended when some students guessed that I was from Sweden before suggesting Australia, given that I don't look at all Swedish (unfortunately!) and that the first language of Swedes is of course Swedish and not English. Apparently it doesn't even sound like I'm speaking my mother tongue to some of my students. Moving on though to the other culprits. I am incredibly used to people thinking I'm British, which I guess I can understand - although it's slightly strange when it's coming from a British person - can't they hear that my accent is different to their own? But, what the hell is the world coming to when even Australians can't tell where you're from? That's right, I asked my fellow Australian at work where she came from, to which she replied Australia (no shit sherlock), so then I asked her where exactly, to which she replied Adelaide. Continuing with the niceities, she asked me where I came from, to which I replied Sydney. She then said 'But you're not Australian! You're American!' I couldn't believe it! The nerve of her! And as if that wasn't enough, she proceeded to make things worse by then listening to me speak and highlighting the very words that sounded American to her - talk about digging yourself into a deeper hole. After this lovely incident, the newsreader comes over to me and says that she overheard me speaking to my colleague and that she had never spoken to me as she had assumed I was American (seems some people have strange standards when deciding who to strike up a conversation with), but now that she knew I was Australian she wanted to talk about her 6 year stint in Oz. Incredible!
These are just some of the hundreds of comments I have received about my accent. Others tell me I sound European - one of those mixed up accents that's all in all a bit neutral, some say I sound like I'm from anywhere BUT Australia and then there are those who say I speak English with no accent whatsoever - whatever that sounds like!
And that's only the accent, don't get me started on people telling me my sentence structure, phrasing and word order is all a bit strange!
However, having said that, being surrounded by Australians for the past month has brought back my aussie accent considerably and I don't think there were any complaints from my friends this month about being incomprehensible.
dimanche 16 septembre 2007
Aussies come to Paris
So where have I been for the past month? Why haven't I blogged? Because the whole world has been coming to visit me in Paris and I haven't had the time to stop and write about it - which is a good thing I think! So, when I say the whole world, maybe this only entitles - Sophie, my aunty, uncle, lucy, jessica, matt, joel, jess and bethaney. But you have to admit - that's a fair number of people within 4 weeks.
I had a great time with everyone and am so pleased that people could come over to visit. It's nice to be reminded of home every now and then. So the family (aunt,uncle and cousins) made a quick stopover in Paris - 2 nights is apparently enough for this great place. We had a fab time, seeing the sights, climbing the sights, eating and catching up. It was a shame it was so short but we certainly packed it full of stuff!
Matt and Joel made a great 4 day trip which was probably filled with as much alcohol as I have drunk since the beginning of this year in Paris. I forget how you aussies drink! Such a different culture, it was a real readjustment to make. Their visit happened to co-incide with the opening of the Rugby world cup (check blog later for all the rugby highlights), so we spent our time cheering on the wallabies in an aussie pub in the centre of Paris. Jess was also able to join us from Reims for the festivities and a good time was had by all.
Christian and the aussie ladies
Sophie, who knows what Paris has to offer, decided to stay for 3 weeks. It was so great to see Soph and to catch up on her life in oz. We had a really nice time and just being around her made me remember so much of what is good about Australia. We also caught up over a coffee and crêpe with Bethaney, which was lovely.
I had a great time with everyone and am so pleased that people could come over to visit. It's nice to be reminded of home every now and then. So the family (aunt,uncle and cousins) made a quick stopover in Paris - 2 nights is apparently enough for this great place. We had a fab time, seeing the sights, climbing the sights, eating and catching up. It was a shame it was so short but we certainly packed it full of stuff!
Matt and Joel made a great 4 day trip which was probably filled with as much alcohol as I have drunk since the beginning of this year in Paris. I forget how you aussies drink! Such a different culture, it was a real readjustment to make. Their visit happened to co-incide with the opening of the Rugby world cup (check blog later for all the rugby highlights), so we spent our time cheering on the wallabies in an aussie pub in the centre of Paris. Jess was also able to join us from Reims for the festivities and a good time was had by all.
Christian and the aussie ladies
Matt, Jess and Joel - Rugby World Cup opener
Sophie, who knows what Paris has to offer, decided to stay for 3 weeks. It was so great to see Soph and to catch up on her life in oz. We had a really nice time and just being around her made me remember so much of what is good about Australia. We also caught up over a coffee and crêpe with Bethaney, which was lovely.
Sophie and I (the day she bought Chanel - ooh la la)
Lunch in Soph's fave district - the Marais
Picnic in the gardens of Château de Versailles (hands off Marie-Antoinette - they're for us!)
Soph's birthday - midnight outside the eiffel tower (we are so romantic!)
So all in all, a great month! Looking forward to seeing more of you guys in October and November.
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