TO capture the world in 2008, French President Nicholas Sarkozy has taken on a strategic turn as he has steered France as a major guardian of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the key routes where oil tankers bound from the Middle East to Europe and North America pass. Sarkozy’s moves has definitely turned the tables against the French and world media who have constantly branded him as a no-gooder except being a party guy who has wasted thousands in several Christmas and New Year soirees with his new girlfriend, former Italian model Carla Bruni. In signing the agreement with the United Arab Emirates, Sarkozy has agreed that France erect a naval facility and base at the capital of the UAE itself, Abu Dhabi. But the military base will be operational only in 2009 and it will be maintained with about 500 soldiers from the French Navy.
Another reason for the French military base is to serve as catalyst and mediator during tensions in the region. France as we know it has been an independent-minded country. Although it is part of the Western bloc, it can never be swayed nor coerced into following the foreign policies of the United States unlike Britain and the Philippines. The Strait of Hormuz was the place where United States and Iranian military vessels almost clashed last week. Once the French Navy will be put in place, they can be strategically positioned in the middle of the strait so that Iranian forces will be on one side and United States forces will be on the other side and they will never encounter each other. France maintains a healthy trade and political relationship with both countries so there is definitely no harm being there. By the way, 40 percent of the world’s oil runs through the Strait of Hormuz so it really is a very ticklish place in the planet.
And it is not just the Strait of Hormuz that Sarkozy is concerned about. The French president has also inked a fresh deal with the UAE to supply military weapons and armor. And it is a very lucrative deal because as a wealthy country, the United Arab Emirates are known to buy Humvees and other all-terrain vehicles by the hundreds. We know that civilian Humvees like those being owned by Hollywood star John Travolta as well as those featured in CSI: Miami are very expensive but so are the military ones. The United Arab Emirates do not just display their Humvees, they really use them in their anti-terrorist operations.
In his less than a week of touring the nations in the Middle East, Sarkolzy was also able to ink a deal with the Qatari government for joint military exercises with the French and the UAE forces. Under the deal, 600 troops coming from France will be merging with 700 troops from Qatar and another 700 from the UAE for the maneuvers. Of course, Qatar is another rich country which can immediately come to rescue France in times of need.
PARTYING and revelry led by none other than the president of France himself, Nicholas Sarkozy, marks the final days of 2007 in France. Sarkozy has been known for stinging remarks on both key domestic and foreign issues but it is just after his divorce with his wife late this year that he has been recently spotted as a party animal. It’s like the guy just sprang out of his cage although we understand that French are natural born happy and romantic people. And romantic Nick indeed is as he has now come to terms with his divorce and sport a new girlfriend who bores a haunting resemblance to his former wife and just like his former wife, is not born French.
But everybody in France is happy to see that their great leader is happy touring around the world with his girlfriend Carla Bruni even though he is admittedly and unarguably egotistic at most times. Even Pope Benedict XVI must have not commented about the multiple marriages of Sarkozy, a Roman Catholic, during their meeting prior to Christmas in Rome. It is interesting to note that all of his weddings are not performed in Roman Catholic rites though but are civil in nature so as far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned, Nick is still single.
And single indeed he is right now as he has been seen by virtually everybody in France as partying. He is unarguably the most eligible bachelor in the country right now. In fact, Nic and Carla has just spent the whole Christmas Day in the middle of winter at Disneyland Paris. After Christmas, the lovely couple are set to go to Egypt on a weeklong holiday as they count the final moments of 2007 and celebrate New Year there with a bang. The French people never mind their First Couple though because they love him for that. They really are joyous people naturally.
Even foreign visitors to France have commented how humorous and romantic the French can be.
There is one celebrity from the Philippines that I know who has gone to Paris to take up fashion design for four academic years. She says all those years she has spent partying with both French guys and gals and she has never had a second of boredom with them. There is also one exchange student from Maine that I know who has been in Paris last summer. She told me that her experiences with French students were exhilarating.
If you are in France right now, let’s talk about what you’re supposed to eat during midnight on New Year’s Eve as you see the fireworks illuminating River Seine. The most popular dish to look forward to is the pot-au-feu and it is a classic dish mind you. Considering that France practices a strict Mediterranean diet, pot-au-feu is a concoction of various vegetables and other ingredients mixed into a stew. Hmm…they really taste yummy.
It is a good idea when you are choosing France to locate yourself and to continue your education. Education system in France is well organized and centralized; it is divided into three stages: the primary education, secondary education, and higher education. Mostly the primary and secondary education are composed of public institutions, though there are private schools that exists particularly in a strong nationwide network of primary and secondary Catholic education; while France’s higher education is both dominated with public and private institutions.
Educational system in France begins at the modern era of French education and at the end of the nineteenth century. The emergence of Jules Ferry known as a lawyer who was holding the office of Minister Public Instruction during the 1880’s, he’s works of creating the contemporary Republican School has been widely credited. With the age of 15 for both girls and boys, he required them to attend classes; he also is the one who made public instruction free of charge and material. The Ministry of the National Education is the one who regulates the education in France. And the head of the ministry is the Minister of the National Education, which is appointed of having the highest ranking of the cabinet. Both teachers from public primary and secondary schools were all state civil servants which makes the ministry as the largest employer in France’s country. While professors as well as researchers in France universities are also employed by the state.
Particularly in the country of France, the academies are the ones responsible for managing all aspect of university education in a particular region. Universities in France were the responsibility of the academies and the academies are the responsibility of the ministry. While the private institutions are independent from both the academies and the state; there are 35 academies that nestled in France. There are 26 situated in the mainland of France while of them are in the French oversea territories. Most of the academies headquarters in France is quite found in the largest city of the country. It is founded by the recteur, the reason why most of the academies are nestled in the big cities because it is the facts that there are more students found in the city either in town.
At the age of six, children’s parents already brought their kids to the primary level. While at the age of three to five, they exposed their kids to the kindergarten level of education. After a year of learning in the kindergarten level, kids are expected to hop to the primary level and here they will start to learn how to read and write the basics of education. In French primary education, there is only one teacher assigned to teach kids about many different disciplines such as French mathematics, natural sciences, history, and more. While the secondary education is divided into two significant levels; these are the college for the first for four years and lycee for another three years. When finished with the secondary education it is then the time for the students to take and get ready to another challenge of the baccalaureate education.
