La vie à Paris II

US elections watch party in Paris

Experiencing the American elections from abroad was certainly an interesting experience. Regardless of your political affiliation or views, I think it is fair to say that the outcome was very surprising. Seemingly all the major pools had Donald Trump losing to Hilary Clinton. In spite of this, he was able to defy all odds and become the 45^th president of the United States, which is something very few people, at least in my circle here in Paris, thought would be possible. Believe it or not the US elections was very closely watched by the French, some of whom stayed up with us in to the late hour of the night awaiting the outcome. Many of my peers here believe that the US elections will certainly have an affect on the upcoming presidential elections in France. 

After seeing what took place in the United Kingdom with Brexit and in the United States with election of Trump, many of my peers at Paris 1 feel that France may be the next country to elect a right- wing nationalist candidate. And, they certainly have a case because the leading candidate for the presidency at the moment is Republican Francois Fillion, who like Trump pulled off a major upset against strong rivals, is playing on nationalistic sentiments, and proposes to fix a stagnant economy. As Aljazeera put it “Fillon ran a populist campaign expressing nostalgia for a lost France and portraying himself as the only candidate capable of restoring its greatness and fixing its problems. Sounds familiar?”

President Holland paying is respect to the victims of the november 13th attacks

            Furthermore, November 13^th, 2016 in France marked the one-year anniversary of the terror attacks that took place in Paris. The gruesome attack claimed the life of over 150 people, hence it a day that will never be forgotten in France. The commemoration of this day was marked was by people, including the French President, Francois Holland, paying their respect to the victims through a gathering in the heart of Paris and at the locations where the attacks took place. A year after the attacks, France is still in a state of emergency, which is causing quite a bit of controversy because it grants the government more power than it normally has. For instance, the government can forbid a protest for which they cannot provide enough policemen to ensure the safety of the protestors. Be that as it may, many feel this is merely a pretext used by the government to crack down of the movements it opposes. What’s more, the November 13^th 2015 attacks changed Paris. There is a noticeably large military presence in the major locations of the city and at major gathering. There are checkpoints seemingly everywhere, including before entering most universities, shopping malls, and movie theaters, just to name a few. The country is still on high alert and understandably so. The public transportation here, particularly the trains, are regularly delayed because of suspicious items that may have been left behind. French authorities are taking no risk when it comes to this matter, even if that means having to deal with angry passengers who are late for work or a rendez-vous.

French solders roaming around the Effeil Tour

            On another note, I recently took up a job teaching English to children here in Paris. I am working with two children ages 9 and 6. The kids are almost fully bilingual in both English and French. The main thing I work on with them is improving their writing and reading comprehension skills. It is extremely fulfilling when you are able to help kids better understand a language and gain confidence in their ability to speak and interact in that language. Although, I must say I find it quite amusing that the children, who learned English in London, are now starting to pick up an American accent form being around me so much. I am not sure yet whether that is good thing or not, but it is what it is. All in all I think this is a great way for me to learn more about the French culture and conversely a great opportunity to teach them about American culture and holidays such as Thanksgiving.