French Friends: No more lessons from French tutors
Only yesterday, our French friends were chiding us for inviting the ocean in to drown the poor folks of New Orleans. Gallic hearts broke at the sight of desperate Americans perched on the rooftops of the Big Uneasy, and the 50 million Frenchmen who can't be wrong were ready and eager to tutor us in righteousness and rectitude. What a difference a fortnight can make. Paris, if not burning, is certainly simmering this morning, and most of France with it. When...
French Friends: Differences matter little
FINDING FRENCH FRIENDS Other than Kansas muscle and a preference for handshakes, exchange student mostly finds similarities in France NICK CLAYTON SUBMITTED Topeka High School senior Nick Clayton, far right, has bonded quickly with his French peers.OMPEY, France --- After a month in France I have observed enough to write a book on French behavior; for the constraints of a column I'll give the highlights.There are very few true differences in the behavior of...
French Friends: France's Will to use Nuclear Arms if Threatened
GIBSON: Get this. A nuclear warning from our French friends. President Jacques Chirac says there should be no doubt about France's will to use nuclear arms if the country is threatened by terrorism.Joining us now, John Jacques De Mesterton, a former radio talk show host and former Chirac campaign advisor.So, John Jacques, this seems like the -- I know you're familiar with the French exceptionalism -- rules apply to everybody else except France -- but this is a...
French Friends: FRENCH LIKE `LA DIFFERENCE'
Immigrants eager to share in Dallas' healthy economy
Laurence Verge sees her French friends every day, is surrounded by French food, and has a French boss. But she lives in Dallas where, she says, she prefers the suburban lifestyle to the crowded urban housing of her native Nice."I'm living in a very big city, but I feel like I'm living in the country,' she said. Like previous generations of immigrants, the French who arrive in America in 1985 come for a variety of political or economic...