Working with them back in the Philippines, them as expats and me as local, and now dealing with them everyday here in France is a heck lot of difference. There, they were the higher management, the experts, having a meeting with them was quite a privilege. I thought they were serious butts, you know, talking about work during pause café, brainstorming each time they bump into each other. But heck again, angkukulit ng mga 'to, mas makulit pa sa mga pinoy!
I just heard in the coffee room this morning that they actually circulated a memo months ago about...
So ok, I had a permanent contract a year ago and bought a house end of 2004 (with more than enough rooms for both of us). Two ideal elements to stir their kulit minds. Yep, the deal was 'little *frenchguy's surname* before end of 2005!'.
Natawa naman ako dun. Kung alam ko lang, I should have planned it a month later para mas exciting!
Kaya pala. As I flashbacked some short kulitans with my kulit colleagues, here is what I've gathered:
- Alors, ce sera quand, le petit bébé ? (So, when will the little baby arrive?)
- Il faut remplir la maison hein. (You should fill the house huh.)
- Hé, pourquoi tu manges des fraises ? (Hey, why do you eat strawberries?)
- Il faut peupler la France hein. (You should add to France's population.)
- Tu ne prends pas un peu de poids ? (Aren't you gaining weight lately?)
- Tu sais, pour les impôts, les enfants sont les meilleurs pour diminuer la charge. (You know, children are the best solution to lower down taxes.)
- Quand vas-tu nous faire un petit gamin ? (When will you give us a little baby ?)
Now I understand! Those discreet inquiries, they were actually keeping an eye on me. Haha, they probably started to worry when nothing was being announced. We actually decided to formally inform them about my pregnancy after my 3rd month. Now, those who bet for end of 2005 could breathe normally, I'm due on November hehe.
When I informed Frenchguy about this, his reaction was 'J'en étais sûr!' (I was sure of that!).
Ah, French!
13 years ago
16 comments:
Ana, am i missing something? Why do they care so much whether you have a ababy or not? Does it make them more confident that you'll stay with the company or something?
I have this impression that Frenchies like to hush hush gossip, but they do it discreetly and tactfully.
Unlike the Dutch... the gossip is not only done at your back but also in front of you, as straightforward as can be. Plus they like to insult each other. Really they have thick skins.
Are you the only foreigner in your department?
its good to know that they have taken an interest on you.
:D
Sweet naman...
TinTin, no worries, they're just plain tsismosos and tsismosas hehe. I guess it's a common joke here that if a female employee got a permanent contract, she becomes pregnant after exactly one year. Same is true if you buy a house or if you change your car into a bigger one. And its seems true hehe - thus the reaction of Frenchguy! Another female colleague bought a bigger car a year ago and she's getting married this summer, so i bet, she will be pregnant next year hehe...
Jori, actually, Frenchies are somewhat like the Dutchies (as you describe them), eg, kuripot, tsismosos, fond of insults, and reklamadors, that's probably why they hate Dutchies, ya know, ang magnanakaw, galit sa kapwa magnanakaw hehe.
And yep, I'm the only foreigner in the whole company in Dijon.
Mell, I've always been controversial to them, -> only foreigner in the group!
April, cute nga nila hehehe..
they got nothing to do in life these lots?
What I know of a Frenchman (Michel) is the type of deadma, on what you do in life.
LOL
But as you are the cutest in the group, and buntis pa, hehe, they are annoyed, you are having a family!They want to do the same, but how, when ?
I salute you for your decision.
But, oy, isa lang muna ha?!
Naku, hard to get a trip/vacation with the baby in tow!
Funny you talk about it here cos last night I and the hubby was just discussing about them expats back home, on how they are viewed by the locals especially the ones (I was one of them) who work with/for them. These expats sometimes seem to be 'playing' les intouchables but when you got to know them, you'll love them (en tout cas, c'était mon cas).
I just wonder how the Frenchguy felt when he learned about this, il a du se sentir gêné non? Ou peut-être pas...
Tell your colleagues that they have enough time to prepare their cadeaux hehe...pour la naissance et pour noël! *lol*
bises et bon dimanche,
boks
haha chismoso french guys!
that was me
-AnP
voilà, here's the word "were" i owe you...that will replace the word "was" (the 1st one) hehehe.
(coucou, bébé! c'est tata!)
:)
Ate Amy, generally, deadma nga sila. But i guess the ambiance in the office is not at all like that, well, at least sa department namin, as we have the coffee room (exclusive sa engineering dept, o di ba), so we have a sole place pour faire la sociale hehe. There, they talk just about everything, from EU constitution to anything under the sun, aka, tsismisan hehe. Since frenchguy and I work in the same department, that fuels the blahblahs hehe...but it limits to sweet asaran lang naman.
Hehe, isa isa nga lang, hirap mag alsa balutan during vacation time, but anyways, it's really planned so before my pregnancy, puro nga kami vacation and really did what we would like to do together para no regrets.
Coucou Tata Boksky, sows, di ko na nga napansin, pinansin pa hehe. Yep, i had the same impression nga, les intouchables, and when i arrived here, they were curious naman how i find them now that i work directly with them. Haha, mga pasaway talaga. One thing i hate siguro is the fact that they (our dept) call themselves experts due to the word expertise in french, tho they could call themselves technical services to be simpler, or simply, engineering team. Ngayon tuloy, when I'm in Asia (minsan with my former colleagues), je suis gênée as they call me madame expert, kainis!
Nope, frenchguy n'était pas du tout gêné! Actually everybody's waiting for the little frenchguy (except probably the bosses hehe), they're quite impatient to see the first Eurasian in our Dijon circle. And when they saw the developments (job + house), they knew he was coming...but when? ayun, nagpustahan ang mga mokong haha...
AnP, chismoso nga hehe..
Sha, nakakatuwa nga, i worked with them in the Philippines so i already had an aperçu of their kakulitans hehe.
Bon stop-over sa UK!
i think that was cute. i wish i can see the reactios when you finally make the announcement... and then the next bet will be: boy or girl? hahaha!!!
first time to comment on your blog.... wippeee your preggy .. kyut... never had any experience with french but with the way you describe them .. surely they and i will definitely jive :)))) thanks again
Ruth, pagpustahan na naman ba ko hehe. they know already that im pregnant...sweet nga coz they check on what i eat and they make sure that i/we eat on time..
Justice, yeah, healthy tsismisan nga, natuwa nga ako when i learned about it e hehe.
AirWind, yeah surely, they're just as kulit as the pinoys, and the culture is much like ours din so not much adjustments to do..
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