I've reported before that Paris can be unfavourably compared to London, but it is still a very important world capital where a lot of business is made. One only needs to go to La Défense on a weekday to notice that.
It is still, for good or bad, full of French peculiarities that give it a certain taste (of cheese and wine, of course).
People with Vietnamese, Moroccan, Mexican and French names speaking French, switching to English, and back to French.
Who said globalisation was americanisation?
Look nothing like me and as over-the-top this article is, I know it has a grain of truth. Sometimes I feel like giving up, but I really like this place and my life here.
So much so I'm taking the official Finnish language exam that is needed for citizenship, even though it's still at least 4 years before I would be able to apply for it and, frankly, I'm not sure whether it would make any sense.
I was on the bus to work this morning, and a comment my wife had made once suddenly clicked. She said sometime during the weekend that she's starting to get wrinkles (which I don't believe for a moment, but anyway) and that they're the kind of wrinkles you get on the corner of your mouth when you've been smiling too much.
During my commute, I noticed how people really don't smile. Not only that, but their mouths have been arched downwards for so long that it is their natural state, which makes them look even sadder. The act of smiling on its own can make you feel better, and it definitely makes you look better.
So, even if at a specific moment you don't feel like it, remember to smile every once in a while.
Some of my readers may wonder why I haven't posted about Chivas, the football club I follow. The reason is simple: there hasn't been much to post about. After the end of last season, it was a him or me between the coach and "Bofo" Bautista, and the coach won. However, the team played horribly and after a string of very bad, unsuccessful games, including a defeat last Wednesday agains DC United in the Copa Sudamericana, has meant that "Chepo" de la Torre has also been let go, even if he took the team to their first championship in 9 years last December.
The team obligingly won their first game under the new coach, against Veracruz. However, I'm not sure if Sergio "El Gauchito" Ávila is ready to step in the shoes of "Bofo" day in and day out even if yesterday he proved he's definitely first team material.
Some couples have "their song". Besides that, we also have "our videogame".
Unavoidably, we ended up married.
Heard in the street:
"French sounds erotic, German pornographic."
Sometimes nature offers us moments like this. We better take them.
A couple of days back, I took a taxi from the office to a congress. The ride was short and it was slightly over 10 EUR. I was chatting with the cabbie in Finnish when it was time to pay. When I gave him my company credit card (and this is when it gets interesting) the guy asks if my name is the one in the card and if I could show him an ID.
I did and after he filled all details in the receipt that was the end of it, but it was rather surprising, since it was the first time in 7 years a cabbie asks for it and the amount was rather small. Why would he do that?
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