France, Algeria, wine and philosophy.
It’s thanks to this unfortunate goal that France managed to sneak into the 2010 World Cup. As the commentator points out, the players are at first offside, and then Henry uses his hand to redirect the ball. Bad. Yet I can’t bring myself to feel as ashamed of it as I should: I can’t possibly imagine a World Cup without France, and now France is in. If they hadn’t scored this goal, they might have gone to penalty kicks. Not an excuse, but still, I’m just happy that France is going to South Africa. (Sorry for the bad quality of this video by the way.)
Interestingly though, most of the festivities last night in France were to celebrate Algeria’s qualification to the world cup. There are quite a few Algerian immigrants, some of whom have been here for two or three generations, and their passions were unleashed. Which gave me a few insights into France that I thought I would share.
After lunch today I was walking back from the university cafeteria with a (white) friend of mine. We walked past a young Arab kid on his bike, who glared at us and shoved his bike towards me, as if he wanted to run me over. Two other friends of ours were walking a little ways behind us; they’re internationals that look like they could be Arab. When they walk past the kid he gets this huge smile on his face and starts cheering for Algeria. So that’s the first racial ‘comment’ directed to me since I’ve been back in France, and it kinda took me aback.
Earlier however, I had a quick chat with someone that went somewhat the other way around. There’s a middle-aged lady in our master’s program who’s talked to me a few times. This morning she came up to me and started talking about what she had been up to. She told me that she had gone to a concert last night, and that as the group was foreign, she went mainly to support “friendship between the peoples” (“l’amitié entre les peuples”). Then she complained about the wildness in town, and proclaimed to be shocked by the Algerian flags that people were flying. What about French flags? I retorted that that could also be considered a way to promote “friendship between the peoples.” I don’t think she appreciated.
I watched the France-Ireland match in bar in the old section of the city. Seated behind us was a group of Arabs. A friend of theirs came in carrying a couple of pizza boxes. When the friends realized that the pizzas were had sausage they repeatedly asked him whether it was pork, to which he replied that there was no need to worry, it was merguez. (Delicious, by the way.) Amused, I look over my shoulder, and notice that they’re all drinking beer. (FYI: Muslims aren’t meant to eat pork or drink alcohol.) I guess some things go and some things stay…
Also – as I said, a group of friends and I went to the university cafeteria for lunch today. When I reached the register to pay I was informed that everyone was being offered a free glass of wine! Only in France. Today is Beaujolais Nouveau day: Beaujolais Nouveau is wine from my region of France that is released the third Thursday of November, and is meant to drunk young (first six months). So the day it comes out is usually one of festivities. But it was a nice surprise to be offered some for free at lunch (and at a school cafeteria, no less)! My puritan American ways had gotten me out of the habit of that kind of thing. I’m delighted to plunge myself back into the decadent ways of the vine. 
For a final touch, I thought I would quickly comment on the emphasis place on philosophy in France. It’s generally highly regarded, and it’s a required subject for all 12th graders. Even those that have chosen a science track in high school have to take three hours of philosophy a week. At supper tonight my sister, who’s in 12th grade, mentioned that she had a practice exam-essay session in philosophy. At the end of high school here all students sit extensive examinations at the end of the year. (If I remember right I sat a total of 37.5 hours of exams.) For philosophy you’re given essay topic, on which you’re meant to write a robust paper over the course of four hours. Throughout the year students will practice this skill, almost every week sitting a mock four-hour exam for a given subject. So today my sister had one of these practice sessions, during which she was asked: “What does one gain from the act of exchange?” (“Qu’est-ce que l’on gagne a échanger?”) Can you imagine doing that? You’re seventeen years old, you’re given that topic, placed in your seat in class and told: you have four hours – go! As much as I enjoyed the philo classes, I never did well for the papers. The topic I was given for the end-of-high-school exam was: “What is the/a psychic/mental unconscious?” (“Qu’est-ce que l’inconscient psychique?”) I’m still not sure what the question meant. I did not get a good grad.
Well, although the handballs are blatant, the offside argument actually doesn’t hold. Consider Henry, Player B, and Gallas. When the ball is crossed, Player B is definitely between an Irish defender and the goalie, and Gallas maybe is (can’t see clearly on this video). But both their positions are irrelevant, because the one playing the ball is Henry, and he was definitely not offside. Indeed, the new rules state that if somebody is in an offside position, but never plays the ball, no offside is to be called. If you look at the replay, you see that Player B (I think that’s actually Squillacci) is initially offside, but never actually plays the ball, because he falls down. Now, for Gallas, this ball is played to him only when Henry “hands” it to him, at which point Henry is further than Gallas, and is right beside an Irishman, so Gallas is not offside.
So voilà, just clearing that up.
P.S. http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2009/20091120_140430_roy-keane-tacle-l-irlande.html
Interesting. Thanks for clearing that up.