Tag Archives: france

in english

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day

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That’s September 16th.  I assume it’s celebrated in the United States for two reasons:

  1. It was a victory over the French and we all know how some sectors of the American public love to hate the French
  2. General Ignacio Zaragoza, who led the Mexican troops at that battle, was born in what is now Texas when it was still part of Mexico, so its background resounds with Mexican-Americans.

Although it is certainly celebrated in some parts of Mexico, the whole brouhaha they make north of the border as “Mexican heritage day” is as alien to most Mexicans as hard-shelled tacos.

in english

The reactions to swine flu in Mexico (part II)

Roman Catholic masses were cancelled throughout the city, museums were closed and football matches were played behind close doors (my team, Chivas, tied) to avoid the creation of crowds.  People have been generally very calm from what I understand, stayed home and there is no panic shopping, but the streets are rather empty for a city of over 20 million people (some pictures here).  If you understand Spanish, a great chronicle of the past two days can be found here and here.  The city is not afraid, and people still make fun of the situation from time to time.

Video rentals and video stores were doing brisk business yesterday, and schools are closed until May 6th (May 1st and 5th are holidays anyway).  Military personnel have been handling masks around the city and now everybody is bracing themselves for tomorrow: will people go to work or will they home office (those who can)?

The Finnish media have complained about the slow Mexican response to the outbreak, but they seem to ignore that even the National University (UNAM) doesn’t have the equipment needed to distinguish this new virus from its old, previously known cousins and with the normal flu season just ending, there was no cause for concern.  On the other hand the World Health Organisation has praised the Mexican response.

There are confirmed cases in Mexico, the US, Canada and New Zealand, and suspected cases in France, Spain, UK & Israel (map here).  Deaths have only happened in Mexico, and even there two thirds of the 1200 cases have already been released from hospital.  According to some information in the Mexican media, vaccines don’t work, but antivirals such as Tamiflu do.  Airports haven’t been closed, but there is more stringent screening in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan from passengers coming over from North America.

There are two different hypothesis of the origin of the virus: one points to it having started in a farm in Texas and then crossed over to the border, the other one points to farms in Perote, Veracruz, Mexico.  None has been confirmed.

If you want to know more in real time, you can follow @Veratect and @zolliker (in Spanish) on Twitter.

in english

Against the World Music category

Anybody who knows me a little bit (or has seen my profile at Last.fm) has probably realised that my musical taste is quite varied.  On any given day I could be listening to raï, ranchera, punk, samba, rock, jazz, metal, classical music, ska, axé, or electronica from Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Algeria, France, Belgium, Israel, India, Canada, Argentina, Egypt, China, etc… which if they’re not your usual Anglo-Saxon pop-rock will usually be clumped together into World Music, with very awkward results.

For example, with the current version of iTunes you have a “Genius” feature that promises to make perfect playlists for you.  However, the database they use seems to have been made by the record companies instead of users, so when it does find the music I have (which is less often than I would expect), if I ask to create a Genius playlist out of e.g. one of my favourite Mexican rock bands it will put it together with Mexican & Argentine traditional music too since they’re “Latin”, something akin to lumping James Brown together with Enya because they come from the English-speaking world.  It gets even better when I try it with some of my favourite samba artists, as they will be lumped together  with salsa, raï, Bollywood and tango acts because they are “World Music”, even if I do have plenty of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) to make a list with.

David Byrne said it best: he hates world music.

in english

French and British working luches

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Welcome to London
Welcome to London

Was in London on Friday.  As usual, absolutely love the city, one of my favourites in the world.  One thing that truly stood out this time was that we had a business lunch during a meeting.  They brought some sandwiches, potato chips, fruit and cheeses to the room, and we continued as usual.  The attitude to it was very contrasting to a business lunch I had in a similar situation in Paris, where we had trays with 3-course meals brought to the room, and the meeting itself was stopped during lunch.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, but it drove home the point of food-as-fuel vs. food-as-a-ritual.

in english

Citizenship laws in Finland and France

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I met Ceronne briefly during my last quick trip to Paris.  Unfortunately I couldn't chat with him longer since I was on the move, but as usual it was a pleasure.

He commented that, after finishing his masters, he had a small discussion with a social worker who told him that in two years he would be able to apply for French citizenship.  I congratulated him, and he mentioned that the process works in such a way that his 2 years as a masters student in France are taken into account in the process.  This is beneficial for both parties since the person in question gets an incentive to stay and the country another educated taxpayer.

With this information, I started to think about my own situation, which compares unfavourable with his.  Even though I have lived 6 years in Finland, my three years as a student don't count, and neither do two of my years working as I had a B-class residence and working permit for some reason I don't understand.  Only one year would count, but I moved to Belgium for a year so I would have to start from scratch, which means that I would be eligible in 4 years (or after 10 years altogether of living in Finland).  It would be even longer but I am married to a Finnish citizen now, who has been my companion for the past 7 years.  When I compare my case to that of a certain discus thrower, for example, I further lose hope.

For my Finnish readers out there, even though most of the posts in this blog are in English, I do speak Finnish.  Furthermore, I will be taking the official language examination soon, if only to have a paper that proves it.

The worst part is when my Finnish friends and acquaintances ask me when am I going to become a citizen of the country I live in and my only answer is not anytime soon, if ever…

in english

Dispatch from Tokyo


Big city feeling
Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

After around 14 months, I’m back in Japan, but this time is not on pleasure. Funnily enough, I still feel rather comfortable here as I’m also from the big city.

A couple of things that I have noticed (relevant or not) below:

* The current fashionable look for ~18 year old women is small shorts with long tights. Wouldn’t work in Finland.

* There seems to be much more contacts between Japan and China. I met in the plane a Japanese woman who is married to a Chinese man and lives in Shanghai. I’m also watching a Chinese movie subtitled in Japanese at the moment.

* Tokyo has always felt a little futuristic. Both times I’ve been here it feels I’m experiencing the future of other cities. Definitely I would like more parts of Mexico City to look like this, not just Santa Fé.

* Surprisingly enough, I feel more comfortable here than in Paris or London (even though here I don’t speak the language) only because people are more polite. The service level is also excellent compared to what you get in Europe.

* Even coming from an expensive Nordic country, shopping here is pricey.

Time to sleep for me now.