Month: February 2012

Living in France: a survival kit

I found this in the book “[amazon_link id=”2228898368″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Les Français aussi ont un accent[/amazon_link]” by Jean-Benoît Nadeau. It’s a very funny book relating the experiences of the author while he was living in France from 1999 to  the end of 2000. An acute observer, he has very good points to make on French society and the French people and it is well worth a read if you are interested in this country. The book is in French, but the same author has also written: “[amazon_link id=”1861057156″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Sixty Million Frenchmen can’t be wrong: why we love France but not the French[/amazon_link]”, which is in English. I haven’t read it yet, but I am sure it is just as good.

Here are 4 points that have helped him survive his two years in France:

  1. Only smile if someone asks you to. — In France, someone who smiles without obvious reasons is either a prostitute, an idiot, a door to door salesman or an American, which is not much better.
  2. Apologize before asking for information, and explain the nature of your problem. — French people like to help.
  3. When visiting a shop, always say “Bonjour” on the way in, and “au revoir” on the way out. — In North America, any shop is an extension of the public place, while in France it is an extension of the home of the shop owner, hence the need to introduce oneself. This explains also why one gets such a bad service in big retail stores: there is no way to make yourself heard by everyone when you say hello on the way in. They could put loudspeakers.
  4. Converse quietly. — The French have an acute sense of privacy and they hate feeling invaded.

These are helpful and I’d say that if you want your next French holiday or short term mission to go well you should try to put them into practice.

 

An other article on our work

The new issue of “Y Cylchgrawn Efengylaidd” (Spring 2012) has just come out and features an interview of Esther and myself. I won’t post it here because I want to encourage you to buy your own copy in order to support that magazine. So If you speak Welsh and don’t usually buy “Y Cylchgrawn Efengylaidd”, can I suggest that you get a copy for yourself? If you live in Wales, any Christian bookshop or Welsh bookshop should store it. If you can’t get a copy where you are, get in touch with the Evangelical Mouvement of Wales. If for any other reason, you cannot get a copy, and would like to read that article, get in touch with us.

A jazz concert in the Library.

I took the children to the Library on Saturday and as we were about to leave, Jean-Baptiste noticed there was going to be some music in the exhibition room. We stayed on, not knowing what to expect. Posters on the walls gave me a clue. It was a band from Toulouse called  “Trio Zira”. It also said they played “oriental Jazz”. Not knowing what to expect, I was a bit anxious.

Classical jazz is fine with me, but experimental Jazz is not my thing. I find it strange to my hears and difficult to understand. But I was quite pleased when they started playing. It was pleasant music. We stayed about an hour and we left before the end as the children were getting bored.

I wouldn’t have chosen to come to a concert on a Saturday afternoon, especially if it is advertised as “oriental Jazz”. I’d be afraid to be surrounded by middle-class french intellectuals trying to sound clever by discussing the intricate details of the music and its influences. But I didn’t have to speak with anyone, to my relief. You can check that band’s website and listen to some music: http://triozira.free.fr/

St Marcellin Evangelical church, a correction.

I wrote yesterday that the small town of St Marcellin, near Grenoble didn’t have any more evangelical witness. For more details, read the post here. I was led to believe this through a report on teh website of the Union des Eglises Evangéliques libres which stated that the church had closed its doors(see the report here). This report, written for a recent synod of this denomination stated: “L’Eglise de Saint-Marcellin, au terme de plusieurs années de difficulté a progressivement cessé ses activités, jusqu’à s’éteindre complètement. Plusieurs de ses membres ont rejoint les Eglises de la région dont l’Eglise libre de Valence.” I am very sorry if my initial post misled some of you.

But I am glad to say that this is not the case. Following my post, I got in touch with the former pastor of that church, who was also a friend of my grand-father. He replied to my email today to say that there is still a group of believers meeting in St Marcellin. They are mainly elderly people, but there are a few younger ones. They had to sell their building a few years ago because of the running costs (it was a very old building in a former convent). After meeting in various places, they bought another building with the money of the sale of the other one.

He also told me that a man from a church in Grenoble is taking interest in St Marcellin and has been thinking bout establishing a work there. I pray that this man won’t start a new work but would rather work with the existing church.