Living in France, le blog

Being an American man in France is challenging in many ways, but perhaps nothing is more unsettling than being surrounded by men who seem to have been born with the ability to match a silk scarf to their socks. And everything else in between. Still, even these guys have a few things to be embarrassed about. It's time to speak out.

No, the Eiffel Tower has not been blown up: that's just what we do here to celebrate Bastille Day, a (very) rough equivalent to Independence Day in the United States. This particular excuse to blow things up, however, is a different animal altogether.

The English language is full of things allegedly French. How did that happen? How real are they? Enquiring minds want to know.

By the way, if this topic does not instantly remind you of the foreign-exchange student scene in Better Off Dead you need to stop what you're doing and re-watch it. Right now.

Throughout the health care reform debate currently raging in the United States, parties on all sides have made regular, oblique references to the French health care system, framing it as either a pinnacle of progress or a dire cautionary tale. The problem seems to be that these references, ranging from Michael Moore's glossy and biased homage in Sicko to Rush Limbaugh's equation of French health care with French inadequacy in World War II, are never based on any real assessment of the system. As an American who has lived under and sought care from both systems, I thought it might be useful for people to read an unbiased, factual account of how health care here actually works. While I have my opinions on the subject—after all, you know what they say about opinions—for this post I will keep my politics to myself and stick to the facts as I have lived them.