As the French would say..

I am in the middle of negotiations over a contract that would see me live the rest of my life in France. Now, the problem is that I do not know French. I do know the basics when it comes to deciphering technical standards and phrases in drawings etc, but when it comes to conversing in French, I make as much sense as TR would make if he spoke in English. Or Tamil. Or any other language for that matter.

So I get a meeting request from a Profession-HR (if you are scratching your head wondering what that post means, you are not alone) to discuss monetary tidbits in my contract. Seeing as how this is the most important aspect for me, I called her immediately & set up an appointment. She asks me if I would be willing to discuss it right away (trying to catch me off-guard) & I agreed without any hesitancy. I had a whole truck load of Excel sheets to unload on her. If she thought she could cheat me over a few thousand Euros, then she really did not know who she was dealing with!

As it turned out, customary to any French colleague talking about India, she delved in to a scintillating story about Taj Mahal & how dirty India's Finance Capital Bombay is. I shot back saying a few complimentary things about the Eiffel tower & how Paris was similar to Bombay in terms of its filth-ridden streets. Now that the pleasant exchange was over, we got in to the more excruciating details of pay and allowances. I think it is safe to say that she hates Excel now :P

And the fun part is that in the middle of the conversation she was checking with a senior/colleague as to how to respond to my statistically correct questions. Thanks to my recently acquired BBC French Phrase glossary & Google Translate, I was happy to know that I was ruffling a few feathers a few thousand miles away.

Well, they did drive me out of the country last time citing labour laws and how they fear for my safety, but this time I intend to stay. Threatened or otherwise.

And as the French would say, Laissez le bon temps rouler!