Is Teaching a Good Job?

If teaching is a great thing, teachers are the least paid in the economy. At least in France where teaching languages is one step from starving. And that is true for the large companies that charge a fortune their students (in general businesspeople whose companies want or need them to speak another language for professional reasons) and a very small part of it goes to the teacher. And that is a contradiction because the teachers are the second main important persons in the organization. Salespeople are, indeed, the main actors who sell languages lessons. But without the teachers, no school, in this case the company, could make money. Because the students have in front of them human beings who are, all the time, trained teachers who do the real job. But in France, and in large organizations, as well as in smaller ones, management act like in all companies: they think that they are important when in reality they are only hurdles and very often incompetent and therefore useless for the company.
So teachers are underpaid and also poorly regarded. Well that is not the only sector of the economy where the most important people of an organization get the worst paycheck monthly. But the French system is based on incompetency and non democratic ways of managing a company and people. One could write books about this and still would miss a lot of points. The problem is that that the system here is still like it was in the dark ages: one person gets (through force and relations, not to mention political help) to the top job of a company and thinks that it is his or her company. Therefore does not act as a normal and modern manager but as if he or she has the knowledge and as if it is only him who knows the truth. For him (more than for women manageress) everyone is wrong but him. So we can easily guess what is happening next: when the company does well (and it is not common unless the manager is from another country: we have a lot of such examples in France) it is him who is the main responsible for the good results. But when it does not go well, it is everyone else fault.
And teaching in schools, whether they are elementary, secondary or universities and of course private ones, is exactly the same picture. And to add another bad aspect, the pay is bad.

Fast Food and (Bad) Quality in France

If France has been known for its food and its gourmet dishes it might very well be something of the past. Today every bakery, eatery, even some restaurants offer a sandwich to carry out or some dishes for those who are in a hurry and cannot sit to have a real lunch. Furthermore, one can go to any supermarket and buy either a sandwich or even a ready-made dish that he or she just needs to heat to eat. However, this food whether it is a frozen dish or a sandwich bought in a french chain of supermarket is absolutely disgusting. The taste, if it has one, is of plastic and eventually a artificial sauce or dressing that has no flavor. In the bakeries, even the bread looks like a piece of plastic made a few days before and once in your mouth tastes everything except what a real "baguette" should taste: flower and yeast. Where are the old days where every city in France used to smell great bread in the early morning and where the taste of this very popular "baguette" or "viennoiserie" was just fantastic and made you dream while you had it in your mouth.
In fact what I want to point out is that the French who are still thinking that they are the only ones in the world who know what good food is, have lost something important in life: what a good dish, piece of bread or a pastry could make your day a happy one. They used to laugh at the Americans who, according to them, did not know what good food is and how important a good meal could be.
Believe it or not, the worst dishes (in general ready made and even in a lot of so-called French restaurant for mid-income people) I have ever had in my life are those I ate and still eat (unfortunately) in Paris. Even the famous "quiches", that you could have with a lot of different flavors, are not what they used to be. To get a good one, you have to cook it yourself or go to another country where people give some importance to food.
So to come back to what I was saying, I had the best dishes in my life in the USA (and in London and in Brazil, two other places where I lived) and not in Paris or in France. Why is that?
Well I would like to know but it is a fact that the worst Pizzas, to take another example, I have ever had in my life are also in Paris. Unless you go to an expensive restaurant where the chef is Italian. Even Pizza Hut in France (not to mention McDonald's) is not good. It is much better in England and even in Morocco.
If I want to have a good sandwich or a good ready-made dish I need to go to a bakery (but not all, only some are still good: so one has to know which one) or to .... Marks and Spencer where frozen food is great. The other day I had an Indian dish in a french supermarket that I just had to put in the microwave for 5 minutes to eat: it has a taste of tomatoes, nothing more. But I have bought often the same dish at Marks and Spencer and not only it was cheaper but much, much better. It had the taste of the same dish that one can have in a good Indian restaurant.
It is a pity that even the international fast food chains taste differently in French. I still don't understand why but it is a fact.
Too bad.

Management: The French Touch

Management is the key to success for a company. Today managers, good managers know how to lead a team, how to make them work well for the company but also know how to congratulate them and above all how to stimulate them. They know how to stimulate each member of the team showing him or her that his or her part of work is important for the company.
But French managers are still working like if they were a few centuries ago when a manager was a little king of his or her company. First of all, they don't know how to really smile when they get in the company. On the contrary they always frown and when they try to smile it is obvious that it is a false and a strained smile. It is very rare to hear a French manager greet the team.
So that is just to start. As for leading the team it is like if we were in the Middle Ages in front of the master of a castle who had all rights toward his people because they used to be his property.
Some people might think that I exaggerate but unfortunately not. I live this everyday in the company where I work. But the worst of all is that those so called managers are absolutely incompetent and have no sense of what a real leader should do in a company. They still act as if the company was theirs and the staff their slaves. At each meeting, we hear absurdities from people who are sure that their word is the absolute truth. One can say that it is typically French as these people are arrogant and think that they are superior to the rest of the world.
All around me, I have people who have worked in other countries, like the USA, the UK and even Brazil, who have the same comments about French managers. In fact it is the exact replica of what happens at all political levels in France. Once a French man or woman is elected at a political position, he and she forgets what democracy means and only thinks of him and her. We can see it at the highest level of political life where even former presidents, former ministers, members of parliament and senators are sure that first they acted perfectly well when they were holding a position and second that they need recognition and money and privileges given to them by the state. To cut a long story short by taxpayers money.
Last but not least thing: promotions and responsibilities. A good manager cannot keep a good team without promoting and giving them higher responsibilities after a while in the company. But only on merit. In France promotions and responsibilities are given to members of the staff who are friends and members of the manager's families. Not to mention that people from Arab and African descents don't get high position in companies because French people are still racist towards these two "races".
But the worst, is that this situation will not change soon.

Bad Weather in Paris Means Bad Thoughts in Heads

It seems that winter has already arrived in Paris. After a few weeks of great heat it has quickly started to be cold and rain made the temperature drop. Unfortunately it is the weather in France and in part of Northern Europe. Is it the reason why people always look sad and grumpy? Not really but it might be one of the reasons. People don't look at each other in Paris. They always look sad and never smile. In the metro it is incredibly gloomy and people either listen to their music with their Iphones or look at nowhere in particular but never to each other.
It is true that living in a place like Paris, in particular and France in general, is not satisfactory as people are always complaining about everything and anything. But it's depressing. This country is a depressing one as everybody complains all the time. In fact nothing has changed for ages.
My dream is to go back to the USA to live and work. One of the things I learned there is never to give up dreams and projects. Even at my age, I have to believe in the future and in the fact that it will be much better than it is now. I need to go on working on opportunities to leave here for good, this time. I have made a lot of mistakes that I am paying for now. However, I cannot go on beating myself up and thinking that nothing good will happen to me. On the contrary, I need to go on being optimistic about my future. And I am which is great. The problem sometimes is that I don't really know how to act in order to see my dreams come true.
It is a pity that I haven't lived in the USA during the Obama's years as president. I try to follow what he does almost everyday and I feel some melancholy to be away from the USA now. I do think that the election of Obama as a president in the USA is a great page of history that have been written by the Americans. They showed the whole world that even though there still is some racism in the country, a majority of Americans cast their ballots for him. Isn't that great?
This day was a rather good day although grey and rainy. But interesting.
OK guys, I'll leave you with a question: how can I do to go back to the USA?

Incompetency in business: a given in France

France is a country where incompetency is not important in business. What is important is to be sure that one has someone he or she knows in a position instead of looking for someone who would be the right person for the job. I have been thinking that it was exaggeration from my part while I have been seeing this situation repeatedly in companies where I went to give languages lessons. But now that I work in a French one, it is so clear that the skills of someone for a specific job are not what will give it to him or her. What is important for French so called leaders, is to put someone they know to work with, someone they can control. In fact, what is happening is that they are so arrogant and so selfish that they really think that they are good in everything and therefore they make the right decisions by naming someone they know to a position. But in reality, it is just because they are so unsure of themselves that they better have someone they can control to keep their job. Everyone unknown is a danger for them. He or she could be much more competent than them and it is a danger for them. But one can see this very clearly everywhere. Just look at the French importance in the world. Fortunately the country and the people don't have any importance in the world. One has to live an another country to see this reality.
That was great for me when I was living in the US and before in England. And when I went to Brazil it was also clear. Not one single mention of France in my everyday life.
Unfortunately now I am in Paris and I have to live through this. If one believed in what he or she hears on the radio or TV, one would think that the whole world works thanks to the French.
I really don't like this country and even less the French. But I need to work this out by myself in order to be able to go somewhere else for a better life.
What I did learn in the US is never to give up. I want something therefore I need to work on it to make it happen. It is not easy, for sure and with age it is becoming harder but until my last breath I will do anything to leave France.
My dream is to go back to the USA because life there is great. Now I do know for sure that the famous "American dream" exists and happens much more than one can think. So I have it in my mind and I'll make sure that it'll happen for me.
Just one thing is important: I cannot give up nor hope nor efforts to make it happen.
And another thing: I need to keep it easy for my mental health. I need to keep on smiling and being positive. And it is not only a decision but a state of mind.
Today, September 12, 2013, I swear that I'll succeed in leaving France for ever and to succeed in business.
And I need to forget about incompetency in this country and think of my skills and my expertize that could and must be used somewhere else by people who understand its value.

The Russian's Proposal to Syria Might Be the Perfect Solution

Finally, as I wrote yesterday, the Russian proposal to Syria, to put its chemical weapons under international control to avoid US military strikes, might be the perfect idea to avoid a war in the region. Because it is clear that if the US had struck Syria there would have been retaliation or at least attempts to retaliate. Maybe not from Russia or China, the two major allies of Assad and two big superpowers, but from isolated people, probably even from "terrorists" who would have used these strikes as excuses to attack the USA and Americans.
But the solution has not been yet sorted out. We have to wait for various answers: first Assad and his government's response to the proposal, then what the Americans will say. We have to wait and see if Assad the decision (if he accepts the Russian's proposal) to let international experts destroy and control its chemical weapons stock. Then there is the question of its membership to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which is the other part of the Russian proposal. Will Syria become a member and therefore abide to its regulations about chemical weapons?
It seems that Syria is not against the proposal but there are probably various factions within the Assad regime and some might not accept. Now if Assad agrees and starts moving, will he be strong enough to oblige whoever is against to accept his decision?
Now what about the international reactions to the Russian's proposal? For the moment, various head of states have welcomed the proposal although with care. It is the case of David Cameron and even Barack Obama who are now waiting for the Syrian's answer. In fact it is, in a way,  a relief for all superpowers, even if they do not admit it officially. I don't think Obama would really want to start a war, because if the US strike Syria, it is a war that will probably begin and nobody knows when it can stop. Obama has criticized his predecessor to have started the Iraqi war and he was right, and it would be ironical if he would do the same thing.
The other good news is that the Americans don't want another war that would cost them a lot of money and a lot of casualties for nothing. To tell the truth the Americans are not really threatened by Syria's attack with chemical weapons. To be very cynical Assad's army attacked Syrian opponents with chemical weapons (if it is true that it was the army that used them because some people are saying that it was the opposition that did it) and not the Americans. Syria did not threatened the United States nor the Americans. At the same time it is also true that we cannot stay mute while a country uses chemical weapons to attack part of its people. Nobody can watch this without taking a position and eventually intervene. But at the same time nobody, except the UN (but we all know that this organization is very often useless in tackling international crisis), can be the law officer of the world.
So now it is a question of hope and of wait to see what will happen in the next few days. But hope is possible. Hope to see Syria accepting the Russian proposal and to defuse the crisis.

Great Proposal from Russia to Syria to Avoid a War

It is a great proposal that Russia gave to Syria to avoid a war. Russian foreign minister stated that Putin told Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control in order to avoid US military strikes. And the Russian president, through his foreign minister, told Syrian authorities to go even further by destroying all its chemical weapons and becoming a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
One has to say that this proposal could avoid US strikes on Syria and a non ending war, like the one former president Bush started against Iraq. Not to mention the financial cost of such a war for the US.
As a lot of Americans are against any war in Syria, which is a good news, they will be relieved if Assad accepted. Of course, that would need a strict control on the chemical weapons and the opening of all its sites to international experts to see that Syrians are serious about their decision. Americans don't see any threat, at least directly, from Syria even if the country doesn't accept the Russian proposal. And it is true that there is no threat against Americans, which is the same situation than with Saddam Hussein. In this case, it was the madness of George Bush that lead to a non ending war in Iraq. Everybody knew at the time that Hussein did not have any weapon of mass destruction but that was the false reason Bush gave to justify the war. And ten years after what is the result: a destroyed country, Iraq, people killed including American troops, and a financial crisis in the USA and in the world that is only starting to end. Americans paid a high price for a war that was not necessary and a lot of them remember this terrible reality and don't want to repeat the same mistake in Syria.
One can understand that a strong country would like to help people killed or repressed by their own government. But the super powers are divided and they cannot come to agreement in such situations. China, Russia are against any military strikes against Syria as well as British people. Prime minister Cameron asked the British parliament that did not allow his government to participate to any strike or war in Syria. Other countries, like Brazil, India, Australia, Canada and South Africa gave a negative answer to the US proposal to strike Syria. So what now? The US would go alone to a war that will not bring anything positive to the country? I hope that Obama will not make this mistake. It will be a big and long mistake that will not bring anything good to the Americans.
Now the question of Assad stays open: what can we do? A large chunk of his people don't want him and have been fighting against the loyal troops. As much as 110,000 deaths since April 2011 when the uprising started. It is more than enough and Assad should understand that his regime cannot rule anymore without taking into account his opponents. But what is the solution?