Is France advanced?

Well im going to put it out there that the majority of Australians are under this belief that Europe is at the cutting edge of technology and is simply more advanced than we are, but is this really so? Well since im in france for the next few weeks (and have spent the odd few weeks there in the past) I think it might be time to add a bit to this debate.

First cab off the rank is university. Like a lot of things in France (since it is practically communist – sometimes in a good way), uni is practically free, but is this really a good thing? Well I have always believed uni should be free, so im going to tentatively answer yes, but take a look a bit further, you see what we take for granted is far from guaranteed here. Simple things like signing on for classes, timetables, class notifications etc are often given in class or via a notice board – pretty silly in a day where the internet has simplified things so much. Further to the poor organization, it is common practice for students to learn things by wrote, classes to be given by dictation, or the whole thing could be brought down by a strike (the French love to strike!), and you would be obliged to sit exams despite never having attended class that semester! I guess we in Australia do get what we pay for sometimes.

Another personal hate of mine that must be mentioned with regard to university in france is the use of abbreviations for degrees, places, institutes etc. they all seem to have some kind of catchy acronym – with the constituent words chosen simply so the acronyn sounds cool. I guess its because in English we have in general more specific words – the French prefer to explain what it is they are referring to – for example, a school where one learns French is not called simpy “a French school” it is called “école de français langue étrangére” or otherwise abbreviated to “école de FLE”. Crazy. We really do have it easy as English speakers.

Next thing about the French that remains in the dark ages is their attachment to cheques. Perhaps that lies in their distrust of anything new or fangled like the internet, where someone could pinch your money? Not only are the French attached to the simple personal cheque - oh no, that’s far to simple. They have even invented things such as the chéque déjeuner (meal cheque) and chéque vacances (holiday cheque). As absurd as these things appear to an aussie, somehow they make sense, in that they can guarantee for an employer where an employee’s allowance is being spent. My only gripe is they are managed by a private instituition, not the govenment - someone is making some cash off this nifty idea! However while these other cheques are cool in principle, I can offer no such defence for the common personal cheque - the debit card is obviously far more appropriate for any task in this day and age!

Another thing bizarre about France, being an ‘advanced’ European country and all, is the complete lack of public toilets. I’m going to hazard a guess behind the logic, that they believe that having public toilets would create a habitat for drug addicts to inject or homosexual men to engage in ‘other activities’, or simply pose a too great a problem to maintain. Or maybe the culture has evolved without them? Anyhow enough evidence for the humble public toilet can be found simply by walking any back-street of Paris. Tune your nose in and you will get the hint! Or maybe this is just french culture?

Dining is another interesting thing in France. First curiosity to note is that its common practice to eat bread off the table, not only that, but to drink tea out of a bowl, really are these people advanced? Oh and they are still using pressure cookers, or is that a sign that we are too incompetent to use such a device without blowing apart the kitchen?

Well after all this negative crap that ive got on the French, you would thing that I was one of those flanny wearing bogans (well I am enjoying my flanny right now!) who would rather spend their time in a south east queensland, but there are a lot of things this place has going for it. Sure Italian cuisine is world renowned, but the French are a close match. The French are artisians, and take great pride in crafts and creations –and lets face I, how satisfying are those little things in life? To augment this passion, the French also play host to some of the worlds most awesome markets – what could be cooler? Perhaps a high-speed rail network? And who can argue with the worlds best health care system?

I guess to sum up, im going to quote a phrase that was once said to me – “the quality of life in a country is directly proportional to the quality of coffee” – well ive got news for you , the coffee is shit in France and shit in Australia. Why? Well in Australia we have a nasty habit of ordering the stuff take-away in shitty little foam cups with way too much milk, while in France they manage to stuff it up equally as well, but via different means. You see France has coffee culture, just like in Italy, no take-away’s here! But somewhere along the line, something went awry – I don’t know whether its he roasting grinding, or the excess of hot water, but the French don’t have a clue how to make a tasty coffee. So back to the point, I guess we as aussies have to revise our opinion a little – yes Europe is probably a lot more advanced on political ideas , lifestyle, transport and all that, but if your sitting in your flash new apartment on the gold coast, your way more advanced than 90% of euro’s could hope to be, but is that such a good thing? Heck at the end of the day its just different, and perhaps more so than one would expect!