Strikes

Well this fall was a crazy season for all of France. Throughout the country there were demonstrations and strikes going on, especially during the month of October. I had never seen anything like this in my life, and the French definitely should get the crown for the best strikers. The citizens were on strike because the government was changing the retirement age

 from 60 to 62. Wow, two years! To me it didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was more of the idea that the government keeps pushing the limits to them and the fact that many are unhappy with the current president. I understand the reason for going on strike and demonstrating, however many people here especially the teenagers strike just for the fun of it. They get wrapped up in the craziness and power of the people that I don't think many of them had a reason to strike besides missing school and feeling powerful. I had never known the power of a strike until they affected me. In Toulouse it wasn't as bad as other cities like Paris and Lyon, but there was still a lot of trouble because of the strikes. They would decide to block important roads causing major traffic jams. Or for a while they were blocking fuel so many people couldn't even get gas for their car! The worst is when the buses and metros were stopped. Without transportation I'm nothing almost. There would be less buses, if any at all which meant a lot of waiting and then crowdedness. This is only the start. The demonstrations stopped everything in the city and caused chaos. Life was revolving around the striking. Our teachers were sometimes on strike meaning we didn't have class. It wasn't so bad on our end because I don't mind not having history for a week. The universities were taking a beating themselves with classes stopped and school even blocked. The high schools were also being blocked around the city, some lasting for days. I was very surprised that my school wasn't blocked more since it is in the center where all the action was happening. It was though blocked two times, both times the week before break. The students piled up boxes and wood, using large dumpsters to block the gate in the entrance of the school. They even had a banner hung across. The best was the students with megaphone chanting and shouting. All the students had gathered around, most of us trying to figure out what was going on. I was so confused, and really didn't know what to do. Do I go to class? Do I go home? Do I stay here? I thankfully found some others both times, and we decided together what was best. One time we just went for coffee until it would be unblocked, and the other time we found a side door that was opened by the administration and we did go to class. It was so crazy though, and something I will never forget. Students in the United States would never get away with this. These students didn't get into any trouble or anything. It truly is a whole different world. Exchange is about seeing and experiencing new things, and this my friends is truly a unique sight! To see for yourself check out my YouTube page and you will see a bit of the demonstrations which I tried to get some footage of what was going on in Toulouse.