France in My Eyes

Sabrie Noer, Angers, Winter 2012

I was a small kid when the first time I saw trees without leaves in winter and white snow on the roof top of the houses somewhere in Europe. It was so wonderful. I was so fascinated. Of course ... it was all on TV; because at that time, I was just a small kid in a small tropical island somewhere in Indonesia. An island of some twelve thousand miles away from Europe that you can not even see it on the map. 

Recorded that image in my mind,  it has been always my “dream” to go to Europe. Yes! It was twenty five years ago. Now, here I am. Feeling so small in one of  great countries in the world. The country that produced democracy, country that created revolusi, country who gave birth to many philosophies and theories: the country called France.

As a student from a developing country, having a chance to study in France is always a precious gift. Not only to study the compulsory subject materials in the courses, but also to study the culture , the people,  the habits, the lives, to study the way the people work, the way they think - to study France and french. Here in Angers, an old city of about one and a half hours by train from Paris, I feel like a “life observer” in every single day of my walking.

Facilities (Public Services)

It is a big suprise to me to know how great attention that French government pays to the society. I mean, the government of France really cares about the rights of the people: the public service. Even, it doesn’t mean that the application of administration and bureaucracy is good enough if it is compared to those applied in other developed countries. I mean, we can see various policies made by the goverment to help people for their living, such as those related to school fees, accomodation, transportation, social scurity, etc.

There is always kinds of certain regulation (reductions) available for those who poor, handicaps, for the students or the young people. French people are very lucky to have these kind of government policies because there are many countries out there, especially in the  poor or developing countries, which never have these kind of facilities and policies for real.

As a foreign student with residence permit for just one year, here in Angers, I’ve received many facilities and good service. In campus, for example, I can borrow 5 to 7 books for 21 days and I can prolong them for the next couple of weeks without rushing myself to come back to the bibliothèque (library) but I can just do it via internet from my residence. Moreover, I can get internet access for 24 hours both in campus and at home (of course, it is not free, but it is also not really expensive and included in the residence rental payment). With CAF (such family allowance), I deserve to get reduction for more than fifty percent of the normal residence payment per month. Then, I just have to pay €19 instead of €38 (the normal price) for the tramway and bus’ ticket for one month since I have an attestation de long sejour (temporarily residence permit) from the OFII. I always wish we had also all of these facilities in our country.

Information & Information Technology (IT)

It is also wonderful to know how great the government of France in providing information to the people in every corner of this hexagonal country. The availability of data, the maps, the guidance brochures, phone booth in each tram station, free newspaper, web sites, etc. The utilization of information technology (IT) is very good, as well. For example, we can easily access any information related to anything through internet, even the information about a very small museum or event. As a comparison, there are about 200 museums in Indonesia, but only few of them have official web sites

Communication

Couple of months ago, I was surprised as I received a letter signed by Mr. Jean-Claude Antonini, the City Mayor. It was just to inform a new regulation related to plastic rubbish. However, it was a very exclusive and well-designed letter, joined by two other colorful brochures content the technical steps to handle the rubbish. I was very impressed. Even I never speak to this Mayor of Angers Loire Metropole directly, but I feel like the Mayor, himself, cares about me since, in my country, I never receive any letter from the City Mayor for whole my life times. The lesson I learned from this letter is how important to commit continuous “communication” between government and the society. Communication meaning care and care makes a country and nation stronger.

The People

People might be right when they say that french people are cold. That is right that we can hear Bonjour, Merci and Au revoir everywhere, everyday. But, it is also difficult to get too close to french people. It seems that they always put a line, keep a space to the strangers; probably among the french people too. That is right that French people keep smiling, but at the same time their face also say don’t touch me or mind your own business. However, once they open theirselves, they really make a friendship and it is even more than friendship we normally have between Asian people. To me, french people are just like the iceberg: cold and hard. But, once warm sun shine shining into it, it is easily melting into water. Furthermore, ofcourse, I can not make a generalization. Different person must have different character – just like other people whole around the world. Moreover, to me personally, that is not really problem. Having people who really want to get into other people’s business is also problem, isn’t it?  As long as we can respect to one another,  it is great enough. 

Things  I’m Worried about France in the Future

I think one of the problems will be faced by France in the future is related to human resources. It is not about the quality but quantity; since almost 20% of the population is now dominated by elderly people and it has a small number of birth rate, too. Moreover, France is not really good in production.  According to me, no matter how great a country is, if it is lack of human resources, it will be problem.  Another phenomenon that I’m worried about France in the future is the fact that 44% of the population are atheists. It was the data recorded in 2004. In the present, the number might be more than half of the population. I just can’t imagine how could people living without faith. According to me (it’s just my own opinion), people will have confident in lives and to face the future if they have a belief. A belief to believe that 80 years is not the only single episode of life that someone has. A belief that believes there is another life after this life.

The Dream Comes True

It was 9 o’clock in Monday morning, 30 January 2012, when I saw millions of white particles flying around, falling on the ground, out of my window. Then, I spreaded my sight further the horizone. Gray, white and blury! There, I saw trees without leaves in winter and white snow on the roof top of the houses. It was so wonderful. I was so fascinated. And the most important thing is, for this time, it was real.