Alternative Arrangements

My treacherous laptop is back in the shop. Just over two years old and brand new on purchase, it’s given me nothing but grief since the time it was delivered. Thankfully, I’ve found a reputable-looking PC repair at the Rivetoile shopping centre. The downside is that a diagnostic takes anything from 1-2 weeks.  It’s not the first time I’ve had to make do without any entertainment at home thanks to Asus’ dodgy manufacturing.  I haven’t yet invested in a TV and I’m still debating whether it’s worth the additional expense.

I choose not to use smart technology, thus I’m out of the loop save for the four days out of the week I’m in the office. I hear about the postponement of the Nigerian elections as well as the shenanigans of ex-Labour Party saboteurs across the Channel, a day after the news breaks. Over the weekend I fear private email accounts overflowing with unopened messages. In fact, to my relief, it’s not that bad.

To keep myself distracted I catch up on my backlog of podcasts from the likes of Novara Media, The Sacred Podcast, On Being and NEF.  It’s a good time too to do some additional reading that I don’t always get round to during the day. I rediscover the singular interpretive talents of underrated Jazz vocalist, Anita O’Day. A jazz singer’s jazz singer, if ever there were one.

A weekend without Skype and Netflix gives me a Sunday afternoon free to attend a language exchange meet-up that I don’t usually frequent.  I’ve enjoyed myself a good deal at these events of late (the positive affirmation I receive regarding my language efforts doesn’t hurt, I must admit).

I’ve met a number of stimulating interlocutors. There’s Noelle whose birthday happens to be between Christmas and New Year but who was in fact named after a nun of whom her mother was fond. A Strasbourg native, we nonetheless have a few things in common. We’re the same age. She spent significant periods living and working in different parts of the UK. Although from the region, she can understand my trepidation regarding some aspects of life in Alsace. We both bemoan the unsolicited advice from those who believe they have the right to comment on the life choices of a 30-something single woman. There’s also the confusingly Anglophone-monikered Jim; an affable French polyglot who has picked up a number of Slavic languages as well as Italian on his travels. Good-natured Roisin wears away my initial guardedness with her unflappable geniality.  She’s on an intense linguistic sojourn in France, having always wanted to learn the language.  Currently based in Helsinki, and a former resident of Zurich, she’s also a fluent Finnish, German and Portuguese speaker ( courtesy of a month's intense study in Lisbon). 

Finnish? That’s impressive. One of the most difficult European languages, they say. Everything else must be a breeze.

Not according to Roisin. She still finds French a challenge.  It’s reassuring somewhat to learn that even seasoned multi-linguists struggle with La Langue de Moliere. I’m in good company.
 

Earlier that weekend I re-join the inter-denominational group in Strasbourg that reaches out to sexually-exploited women.  It’s been a while. The timetable of the outings has been more sporadic recently and there’s often a clash with my choir schedule. Being a new member, I’m not keen on missing too many rehearsals. However, neither do I want to abandon a ministry close to my heart. Skipping one practice a month wouldn’t hurt.

 (courtesy of Crossroads Bible Church)

We gather at what I am to find out is a thriving house church, with people of all ages and backgrounds; both genders equally represented. It feels like living in the Book of Acts. I meet middle-aged new convert Billy (another Francophone whose parents confusingly bequeathed him with an Anglophone nickname). I also rub shoulders with a couple of Austrian missionaries whom the church are hosting over the weekend. Initially feeling awkward, wondering if my struggle to make small talk in French will get in the way, I’m soon caught up in the invigorating energy of it all.  I recognise a few faces from church.  We're soon joined by the group leaders, Sabrina, Dieudonné and Luc. I help translate for congenial Austrian missionary, Karin.  Despite herself being a multi-linguist (including Turkish, which she learned growing up in Ankara), she does not have French in her linguistic repertoire.

It's a sizeable group.  Over 20 of us in total.  After a moment of prayer and praise, we split into smaller groups of twos and threes depending on our area of interests. Whilst some like Karin and I will be focused on the sexually-exploited, others reach out to those sleeping rough or, like Dieudonné, share the Good News with groups of young revellers. Contrary to expectation there are many millennials/Xennials and Gen-Z’s doing a lot of soul-searching, according to Dieudonné. This younger generation respond with more enthusiasm to the big metaphysical questions than the one before.  

I team up with Karin and founding member of the initiative, Luc.  We always aim to have one male per group, bearing in mind the target group’s clientele.

It's the day after Valentine's. Alongside the usual hot drinks, Luc has brought along some roses for the women. He gamely speaks in English for Karin’s benefit. Eager and full of compassion, I try to gently disabuse her of certain preconceptions regarding the women without dampening her spirit. As we approach a couple of the girls, a car approaches and discussion ensues.

Wow, this is heavy stuff. Karin observes. 

Yet her presence that evening is auspicious. We come across several women, even the more withdrawn amongst them willingly accepting our offer of warm drinks and conversation. (We're fast running out of hot water but, by the grace of God, there's just enough to go round.)
A number of the girls also welcome our prayers. When asked if she has any requests, young Diana only speaks her family's needs back in Albania. Life is tough, she explains. Luc asks if they know what she’s doing in France.

Yes.

We exchange kisses with the bright and assertive Laura. She switches with ease between French and fluid German with Karin; just two of the several languages she speaks.  

There are quite a few women with whom I’m yet to become acquainted. Collette is one such.

Collette. That’s very French.

That’s because I am.

I’m not used to meeting nationals who work the street. I compliment her mesmerising eyes, which bear the Maghreb traits of her mother’s Moroccan heritage.  They moisten whilst we pray for her and her two year-old daughter.  Collette dreams of one day becoming a seamstress; or any in-road into fashion retail. 

Round midnight, the various groups reassemble for an encouraging debrief. Billy’s gang were so warmly received by a group of rough-sleepers, that they used their meagre funds to buy a bouquet of roses to express their gratitude. Billy gives one flower to each of the women. I’m usually bah-humbug about Valentine's, with all its build-up, caricatures of romance and cynical commercialism. In these circumstances however, I am only too pleased to accept Billy's floral offering. A pink rose takes pride of place on my dining table. 

Soundtrack: Gilles Peterson in Brazil (Part 1), Anita O’Day: Four Classic Albums.

Bonne Continuation

Between Brexit May-hem and The Organisation’s financial problems, I have the impression that those of us with Brit connection are being pressed on all sides. Honorary Londoner, Claudia tells me the atmosphere during recent trips to Blighty has been demoralising to say the least. Everything is in suspended animation. Brexit and all its uncertainty only aggravate existing socio-economic problems. She’s seriously considering moving back to Sicily.  My Labour International branch have heated discussions about strategy and possible outcomes via video conference or email. British colleagues and acquaintances with the opportunity of acquiring another nationality are doing so sharp-ish.

The putative effects of a hard or No Deal-Brexit are indirectly being felt in The Organisation. Not that they don’t already have their own difficulties.  With two major donors pulling out, the belt is going to be tightened. It looks as if the last-in-first-out policy will be applied, signifying the potential loss of hundreds of jobs.

I attend my first Union meeting since I (belatedly to my shame) joined a TU. I’ve been invited by a former French classmate.  The speaker has one of the best French accents I’ve heard on an Anglophone. She switches effortlessly between the two, giving us the latest feedback from the higher echelons on how to navigate the crisis. Not surprisingly, there’s much opaque management-speak on their end. Over free grub we discuss possible future action including a demo. Colleagues speak of eye-watering financial waste within the organisation; the cumulative effect of which would be the equivalent at least of several salaries. I can’t say I’ve witnessed anything so profligate yet in my own department, I’ve observed where sacrifices could comfortably be made.  Boss Man for instance, gives me a rollicking –more than once-for reserving a seat in a second class train carriage for a mission to Zurich. He waxes indignant over the need for leg room (diminutive man that he is), noisy children and wishing to work in transit. Always having travelled by second class on principle, I can attest it’s perfectly possible to be productive without the need for total silence and capacious surroundings. Hmm. Here am I thinking that I was saving The Organisation money. I’m learning that it doesn’t always pay round these parts to show initiative.

Lucia, one of his deputies, is proving to be a challenge with her disjointed instructions, gauche manner and underestimation of my abilities. She isn’t vindictive. I can tell when she’s making a special effort to be friendly. She just isn’t the most socially adept of managers. I’ve noticed on both sides of the Channel that such skills aren’t valued nearly enough when considering candidates for promotion.

Lucia’s management style and I aren’t gelling. It’s having a counter-productive effect and I find myself making silly errors more often than usual. I attempt to own up to my mistakes whilst being diplomatically forthright about my reservations. There's a limit to how much this can be done. She’s also responsible for my appraisals. It’s stressing me out. As a coping mechanism, I try to reframe the situation as yet another opportunity to adapt to different ways of working and show patience and compassion towards Lucia. 

All this anxiety exacerbates my already grim outlook on Strasbourg. I feel the absence of the moral support of family and close friends. On that note, one or two of my friendships back home are in a state of flux. My stubborn Love Jones for my former heartache wants to make a resurgence. The slowness of my linguistic progress brings me low more than most things. Trying times.

Never say die. I persist. I’m doing my best to simplify my life and, where I can, eliminate unnecessary aggro. I’ve discovered some helpful French grammar channels on YouTube. I decide to re-enrol on a different advanced French class at work, having already had my fill of the tutor's dismissiveness, passive-aggression, mordant humour and the suspect political views of one of my classmates. I miss my old class.

I know I’ve made a good decision when, having used a refined French idiom, the tutor Léa condescendingly declares before my fellow students that I must have looked it up in a dictionary.

As ever, keeping active is a good remedy for navel-gazing. Choir rehearsals are slowly returning to life as more members get back into the swing. I’m invited by erstwhile contralto, Yvette to watch her perform with her reggae band; a swan song of sorts before she relocates to Brittany in March. We’ve met up a couple of times since she announced she was leaving.  A few weeks earlier I have an unexpected melt-down over my linguistic frustration when we meet up at a bar in Krutenau. Yvette is most sympathetic, recounting her own experience of moving overseas (albeit, much further afield in Mali). Tears dried, the conversation turns to the global political situation, her lovely singing voice and great musical taste. 

For the reggae gig, I take my little church sister Stacee along. It’s a school night and the band is last on the bill. Alas, I can’t stay for the show but it’s a good opportunity to bid Yvette farewell before she moves on.

A couple of days before the gig, I attend a matinee of THRO Theatre Company’s long-awaited Lewis Carroll/Brexit-related musical parody.  The show is a hit; sold out performances almost every night of its brief run.  It’s as topical as satires come, casting a scathing eye at the whole post-referendum debacle.  The show has evolved quite a bit since I sat in on the first reading. There’s still a cast of thousands. You can tell the experienced from the ingénues and the kids’ performances are more wooden than anticipated. Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nigel Farage and David Cameron are given too easy a ride.  Nevertheless it’s still a pretty sophisticated affair, poking fun at Britain’s lost empire-complex and the illegitimate offspring of national identity; racism and xenophobia.  As is often the case, the bit-part actors steal the show once again (Doris Schaal's Cheshire Cat, Mihail Stojanoski's myriad roles, Paula Hinchy's Cook...). Stanislavski was right.

Soundtrack: Outer Peace by Toro Y Moi