Standoff

Oh for some German efficiency, or some French run bureaucracy - they invented it you know. I'm in the midst of a British - Canadian Mexican standoff.

Yes, it's my Qualified Teacher Status again, but now it's getting me down. Just to recap, Surrey County Council, the Education Authority I worked for when I qualified, also provided my training. Then they allowed themselves to be annexed by private industry, or at least their education services, only I didn't know that. Two of the schools I worked in for Surrey County Council were taken over by private industry, and I DID know that. I have a feeling that it may even be the same company, but that's for me to discover.

I asked SCC to provide an outline of my training, they batted it over to the private company, who batted it back to SCC. Someone in there got back to me today and said, although not in so many words,
'You have a DfEE number, you couldn't have that unless you had completed the training, surely the Canadian Authorities must realise that.' Well, ok, maybe it wasn't too far from what they actually said. And of course they're right, but it doesn't help me. Letters will have to be written.

I watched the French News on the computer at the office while I was doing something mindless. I could find little sympathy for Dominique de Villepin wringing his hands and telling us that he certainly wasn't seeking out the mantel of presidency, but well, he was dedicated to working for the good of the French people and he would rise to whatever task they decided he should have. Yeah, me too Dominique, the first e-mail I get from the French nation asking me to pop over and run the country and I'll be there. I refuse to ruin my skin for it though.

And Tim Garton Ash in the Guardian, reckons that Canada would be an excellent candidate for joining the EU. His opening argument seems to be based on Canadian interest in the World Cup, and I must concur with him there, I have been mightily impressed with the number of Canadians who now refer to football as football.
His second argument is that they understand the age-old tension between the English and the French. For some reason he thinks the Canadians are more religious than Europeans, which I find a rather bizarre comment, but then has a whole checklist of attitudes we have in common. He tells us a little tongue-in-cheek that Europe could be sort of linked to Canada via ice-floes. And he kind of hints that if we let Turkey in, why not anyone?
The main plus and the main minus to his arguments seem to be the US. On the one hand, we could gang up and counterbalance their power, on the other hand, to join the EU you must be prepared to not allow 85% of your exports go to the US. And then he gets all concerned because in fact the 'blue' part of the US - strange colour-coding to us Brits for whom blue means conservatism, red socialism - could also be asked to join.

Ah, it's all so confusing this little planet we live on. Borders open, borders close, we share languages, we are divided by languages. And somewhere in there we all have to suffer the French....and love them at the same time. After all, where would we be without Norman Bureaucracy (no, he's not a person)? Although, the Normans were really Norsemen, and the Gauls were Celts....so if the French win the World Cup again, who is really winning, and if England win because Beckers scores, is it really Real Madrid who wins?

I'm beginning to think that some of these borders and labels are rather arbitrary. Thank Heavens for honest to goodness bureaucrats.

Sour grapes anyone ?