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Subject: Hm.

Author:
Ed Harris (Venezia)

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Date Posted: 20:37:56 11/21/04 Sun
In reply to: Jim (Canada) 's message, "Canada's image in the world" on 15:55:40 11/21/04 Sun

I'm sure that a certain North American neighbour of Canada, which, of course, shall remain nameless, is in fact the most unpopular country in the world. I think maybe Iran, Cambodia, North Korea, and even France have their moments. Ask any non-American where they would prefer to live: Tenessee or Teheran. Even the most bigotted Frenchman with a deeply ingrained phobia of Anglo-Saxons would probably go for Tenessee.

And in any case, we can do diplomatic mathematics. Britain, Eastern Europe, India, and the various unfortunate countries in Africa who have had the fortune of billions of dollars' worth of food falling on them from out of American aid aeroplanes, have favourable opinions about the USA. Who has a favourable opinion of France? Algerians, perhaps? Or the crew of the New Zealand Rainbow Warrior?

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[> [> [> Subject: France was pretty nice when I visited...
Author: Roberdin [ Edit \| View ]	Date Posted: 21:07:42 11/21/04 Sun [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: It rains a lot, though.

Author:
Ed Harris (Venezia)
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Date Posted: 23:40:04 11/21/04 Sun

And I can recommend to you the following game. Go and sit in a cafe in St Germain, either on the Boulevard or just off it, because here there will be plenty of foreign visitors. I can recommend the one opposite the Restaurant Lipp. Order a caraffe of pastis, some water and some ice in separate glasses, and an empty glass so that you can mix the above things to taste. This will gain the confidance of the French-culture-snob waiter.

Now, sit there with a leetle book and pretend to read it. Listen to the waiter as he deals with other English-speaking people. I bet you that, when asked a question in French, he will reply in English, as if to say, "Do not massacre my beautiful language with your atrocious accent." If asked a question in English, he will say, "J'suis desole, mais je n'parle pas anglais."

It gets the blighers most disliked. The irony is that they relpy in English even to Germans who try to speak French - an unconscious acknowledgement, perhaps, of linguistic reality.

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