Appointment at the Préfecture

Hi, just a quick update on the naturalization application.  I went today for my appointment at the préfecture and it went relatively quickly.  My husband had to be present.  The fonctionnaire took all my papers, but she wasn't enthusiastic about the photocopy of my father's birth certificate.  I told her that I have asked her colleagues by phone several times about not being able to provide an original copy, and it was also mentioned on their website that in some cases, photocopies of parent's birth certificates are accepted.  You can expect different informations from each fonctionnaires.  The other lady scratched one document off the list (of application dossier) and today this document was needed, our last income tax return.  I don't know if I've done enough so far, but it was a long process for me.  If I was born on a country where there was no war and easy access to civil registration, well the process would be a lot easier.  

Not a long time ago, you would have to hand in documents that are less than 3 months-old, which is impossible to do if you were born on a third world country.  Although things in Canada were not really fast either, for my criminal record, it took me more than 3 months to get it. (from finger prints at the Embassy and the waiting period from Ottawa). I'm glad that I made my application through a small "sous-préfecture".  The Préfeture in Lille is too crowded.  I can't imagine applying in Paris.  The fonctionnaire told me that they have only one naturalization application to process and it was mine, that's how small the sous-préfecture is, or maybe people are not in a hurry to apply for citizenship.

That's it for now, I will have to wait several months, or years?!  En tout cas, le sort en est jeté.

*fonctionnaire = public servant

It's about time for an update!

My husband asked when I will post something on my blog.  I've tried several times unsuccessfully.  Let's start with what I was up to since last December.  

A quick overview :

-A little get-away in the Netherlands for the new year.  My husband suggested Germany, but instead we went with "familiar", so Amsterdam it was.

-Then, we had a one-day trip to Paris to legalize my birth certificates, mine and my parents.  I got to visit the C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a.n embassy.  I can't believe that there was so many people lining up for a visa.  We then headed to the Canadian embassy, there was nobody and the security check was ridiculous excessive, similar to an airport.  I had to wait 30 minutes because some girl needed her birth certificate to be legalized.  She seemed in distress because she only had a copy of her birth certificate and not the original. Apparently, she wanted to apply for health care in France and they needed the document to be legalized.  When I first arrived in 2005, nobody asked for a legalized document, just a birth certificate and I had the "carte de séjour" rapidly.  We also slashed a tire on a sidewalk in Paris while parking (I was not driving), but managed to return home without a problem. Let's just say that my trip Paris didn't come cheap. And now our car needs to be checked too for its 65 000 km. So January is the month of spendings, with "les Soldes" (sales clearing), so I'm totally broke.  What a great way to start a year.

-The winter is really mild so I'm not complaining.  

-I drove 700 km so far, with my husband.  Two more months, and I can pass the driving test.  I am still struggling to park.  I have to stick a logo behind the car to let everybody know that I am a "learner".  And that encourages other drivers to be aggressive.  In Canada, we don't have to put a "learner" sign. 

-I have an appointment this Friday with the Préfecture to drop my naturalization application.  My husband has to come too because it is a naturalization by marriage. I'm annoyed by the whole process and I'm pretty sure they will ask for another ramdom document. 

So, that pretty much it for now.

ps: Here's a few pictures of Amsterdam, it was rainy and grey, but never boring.

Another Painful Visit to the Préfecture

Today I dropped by the sous-préfecture of Dunkerque.  I didn't wait too long, because it is not Lille.  Just ahead of me was a person who wanted to apply for French citizenship.  He said he couldn't provide any of the document that the préfecture wanted.  The two ladies looked really annoyed by him, because he wouldn't leave and he hired a lawyer for his application.  He was sent off and that was it.

 Then it was my turn.  All I wanted to do is get the list of documents needed to apply to the naturalization.  A lot of the documents were not even listed on the préfecture website.  I thought I have gathered even single stupid document, but now I have to "legalized" the documents (Birth certificate).  What on earth is a legalized document, well having a birth certificate from C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a is suspicious, so I would need a stamp from the C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a.n embassy in Paris to prouve that the document is authentic.  Of course, they will do it, for 35 euros, and I need to "legalized" 3 birth certificates, not only mine but my parents too.  And I have to "legalize" my canadian criminal records too.  

I have searched a bit on document legalization and only European applicants are exempted from this crap. Great, another unexpected spending ahead.  I hope they will not reject my application because the documents will get older by the day by the time I will submit my application.  French Government is so suspicious that they would ask as many documents as possible.  And to top it off, they also want birth certificates from my French In-laws.  I am this close to throw the towel, but I have spent a few bucks already and this is the final step before handing the dossier.  The Préfecture also wants a 55 euros fiscal stamp, which was also not mentioned on the Pref's website.  Seriously, I hate French bureaucracy.

December Update

Time passes too quickly, especially on December.  We had plans to go to Canada, but I decided not to go.  Because my budget went somewhere else (see last post).  In fact, I'm just back from an hour of driving, with an automatic car.  It was heaven.  I just want to kick myself for not starting with this driving school from the beginning.  I have to drive with the instructor for a couple of hours and I will be good to drive with my husband for 3 months.


December is nice here in Lille, with all the Marchés de Noël.  There always the Big Wheel in the Grand' Place.  And lots of chalets.  Alsatian bretzels, hot wines and ciders, it smelled good.

Bonnes fêtes de fin d'année.

Forever pedestrian?

Warning : long post and lots of whinings to follow

The topic speaks for itself, you may have guessed that it is about driving.  This is my most shameful secret ever : I don't have my driver's license.  I must be a rare case.  I tried to get my driver's license in Québec, when I was 18 years old.  Most of you know that in North America we can get a driver's license at 16 yrs old, without spending a fortune on driving courses, since we are allowed to drive with our parents and most cars come with automatic transmissions.  I've learned to drive with my father but gave up quickly.  My "lessons" were mostly yelling and nausea (from my father).  As for my mother, she refused to assist me with my driving.  I failed miserably the driving exam because of the lack of pratice.

 I got by just fine without driving, as the public transportation in Outaouais and Ottawa were efficient and not too expensive.  When I moved to Ottawa, my father urged me to get my driver's license before leaving the country.  Thing that I completly disregarded.  When I left Canada, I thought naively that I can get it in France.  I didn't take the matter seriously and thought that driving with a manual transmission shouldn't be a big deal or that they teach automatic transmission too over there.

Years went by and I was still not interested in having a driver's license.  I thought that I would be returning in Canada and get it there.   2 years, 3 years, I still live in France...and I really feared the manual transmission.

Last year, I finally decided to kick myself in the ass and do something about it before I get really old.  When I finally went in the driving school in my village, I was mad.  Not only it is costly but they only teach with a manual transmission.  I reluctlantly signed the cheque and swallowed my anger.  I opted for the "quickest way", driving courses with the driving school.  The other option was to drive with my husband for a year, but I thought it was too long.

They asked 800 euros for the theoric exam and administration fees, which also included exams fees and 40 euros per hour for a lesson. The Préfecture demands that a candidate must drive at least 20 hours before trying for the pratical driving exam.  But the catch is that nobody is completly ready with so little hours of driving.  The driving school charges 40 euros to evaluate how many hours of driving you must do in order to be really for the exam.  The average is 30 hours, but the guy who evaluated me said that I needed at least 45 hours.  For the theoric test, it took me a few months to get it.  Got it the first time but spent hours studying for it.  The multiple choice exam is not too hard but the ones we do in the driving school are ridiculously hard.  The questions are tricky and twisted.  That was my only preview of what must be the school system in France.  We had to say outloud our marks in front of everybody.

Then I got to drive.  My driving courses were a pain.  My instructor was a 50 something yrs old man.  He was talking 80% of the time (while I was driving) on the "driving school radio" (with his colleagues and boss).  He was doing his schedule the rest of the time.  And when he was done with the radio talking, he would yell at me like I was a kid, while using "vous" and being formal by calling me Mrs. T.  I thought that being treated like crap and being yelled at is a bad moment to endure and that I have to tough it out and wipe my tears.  I thought that maybe this is how they do it in France.  After 30 hours of driving, I haven't made any parking maneuver and started to worry.  I felt like I was ripped off because the old instructor was "old school".  I did a research on the net and learners must run away from barking driving instructors who treat their students like dogs in training.

Luckily, I had a new instructor because the old man had to teach truck driver's students and was overbooked.  I wanted to complaint to the boss about the yelling and the lack of progression after the numerous hours, but I didn't have to.  They hired a young person who was freshly out of driving instructor's school.  She was really helpful and we got along really great but I felt like I had to learn all over again because the old man wasn't at all efficient.

After 55 hours of driving, she had to let me pass the exam.  I can sense that she wasn't really convinced that I could pass the test but gave me a date for the exam.  Yesterday was D-day.  Naively, I thought that I could pass it.  I practiced so much.  Most of every French person I know passed the test 2-3 times.  What  was I thinking, that I could be better than them.  The examiner seemed friendly.  He arrived 30 minutes late, started to "bise" my instructor.  I found that odd since they've never met and thought it was inappropriate. We got in the car, the 3 of us.  He said you may begin.  Then he started to talk to my instructor like he was an old lost friend.  In 30 minutes (the duration of the exam), I got to learn that he used to be an instructor in a driving school for years and passed the "fonctionnaire" exam.  He worked as an examiner 3 years in Paris, got divorced, remarried with a driving school owner and so on.  Then asked about my instructor's life.  With all this nonsense-crazy talking, he managed to yell at me and insulted me and said that I couldn't control the clutch and the gear.  He also braked abruptly while I was already slowing down. My instructor said that when the examiner brakes, you're cooked.  Even if you drive ok the rest of the exam, you're done.  The guy who passed the exam before me, only got to drive 15 minutes.  Even if he did a big fault, he should have had let him drive so he can experience the rest of the test.  I almost cried when I finished.  I knew I failed it.  I admit I didn't do great but his behaviour was innapropriate, talking about his personal life and "examine" my driving skills at the same time.

While I got questionned with a quick question about the rearview mirrors outside of the car, I answered and he totally ignored my answer and continued with his personal discussion with my instructor.  I didn't have a coat on and it was pouring rain.  The yelling, the insults and his constant talking got the best of me.  I got distracted and failed.  I don't understand this kind of behaviour.  How can a public servant can act like terror and get away with it.  The fonctionnaires are on their own and can act like jerks without ever fear to lose their jobs.  What a constrast with the Canadian public servants who are most of the time helpful and polite.  Of course, I had to search on the net again and checked if I was the only one treated like a piece of crap.  Apparently this is common behaviour.  Terrorizing the driving candidates and testing their stress level is part of the game.  They are also protected by their union and the Interior Ministry.

The Interior ministry instructed to the examiners to only give out 57% of the driving lincense to candidates.  1,5 millions candidates try to pass the exam every year in France and only 1 out of 2 gets it.  At the same time, the Interior minister prides himself that a lot of lives are saved because of his politics on tough driving permits.  His theory : less drivers, less potential deaths on the French roads.  Getting the "papier rose", pink paper, (that's how French people like to call their driving license), is a uphill battle.  You gotta sweat it, empty your wallet to have the priviledge to drive.  A lot of middle class or poorer people are unable to drive because of this stupid mentality.  Not being able to drive is another obstacle to get out of poverty.  This is another example of lack of common sense of  this country.

I got my exam's result today by mail.  They have decided not to give the result right away, because some candidates got aggressive on the examiners.  Too bad I didn't get the courage to punch my examiner too.  (will I be deported if I did it? lol).

After speaking with my instructor, she insisted that I continue with "la conduite supervisée", which allows the candidates who failed their exam, to drive with a family member for 3 months and drive 1000 km before passing another time the driving test.  I have made a few calls at the préfecture and another driving school.  My instructor told me that the examiner said that I was made to drive with an automatic transmission and that I should try to pass another exam with this kind of car.  Why fight it, I'm not made for manual transmission.  A very few driving schools offer this service.  My best bet is to try this conduite supervisée with my automatic transmission car and have a few more lessons with a new driving school. It is a shame that I have the coolest car, a toyota hybrid, with automatic transmission and I can't drive it.  I would have to be patient again.  To be continued.