Let's Give 'Em Something to Râle About

 Râler. What a great word. It means to complain, but slightly stronger, more like, excuse my French, to bitch and moan. Complaining happens so frequently and organically here in France, even the French will tell you that their language is built to râler. I don’t like to think I’m a big complainer, and in fact, passing a conversation by simply complaining about things is one of my pet peeves, however, I find but here it’s it's just so damn easy, and sounds so gooood to complain in French: it’s also somehow so much more dramatic and satisfying.

To accompany the myriad of phrases and expressions of angst and frustration, the French also have this amazing array of stock facial expressions and sounds that I swear they master before even learning to speak. One of my favorites is the "Pfff." The way you execute it is you puff out your cheeks and blow out the air slowly, letting your lips pout like a fish. There are some variations; some people like to blow out the air in a short blast, resulting in a kind of unlanded raspberry. The noise can kind of catch you off guard if you’re not expecting it, let me tell you.  The Pfff can also be accompanied by a shoulder shrug, depending on what degree of incredulosity, I-don't-care or I-don't-know you want to express.

So anyway, we were all sitting around in the teacher's lounge the other day (actually, on Tuesday just before my 4-day weekend trip to Grenoble - how appropriate), taking turns râler -ing and pfff-ing about our jobs and the French Ministry of Education in general. The general consensus I get from my colleagues (especially the more leftist ones) is that the French education system is going to the merde. So, they were all swapping their morose predictions of what their fates will be as state workers. I mean, with the retirement age having already been raised to 63, what other abominations could there be in store? A 40-hour work week? Having to come into work at a fixed time in the morning even if you don’t have a class? Covering for colleagues when they’re out instead of calling a sub? Shorter lunch breaks??

We got to comparing school systems and discussing what we think works from others and what doesn’t. England, as described by our only British English teacher, was quickly blacklisted as they have their teachers perform both teaching and administrative duties to cut costs (one of the reasons their education system costs the state so little, and maybe the reason he came to teach in France). Spain quickly took the lead for the model system when one of my Spanish colleagues came out with: “In Spain we work from 9-12, then 3-5.” Unable to contain myself, I ventured an incredulous; “you have a 3 hour lunch?” “Well yes,” she replied, “you know we have the siesta.” 


It was there that I halted my pff-ing right in its tracks. Sometimes, you know, I have to stop and remind myself that I work less in a week than most people I know at home work in a day. Holy merde. How am I ever going to hack it back home?