2018/19 GP Assignments

[Kadova]

On 26/03/2018 at 7:30 PM, Winnie_20 said:

Let's just say there wasn't a single metro ride (and I used the metro a *lot*) where there wasn't at least someone walking through the carriage wanting something from the passengers. And more than once the police stepped in to get someone off... or prevent someone from getting in. 

It was not a good experience. I'd been to Paris various times before, but this was not something I remembered from those times. Pretty strange, too, as there was also a lot more police around (but mostly on the streets) due to the threat of terrorism. 

I feel much more at ease in, say, the London Underground, or the metro in Milan just this past week. 

It's true you have police everywhere now because of terrorists threats. You do not have to worry, they're there to protect the population. 

[Winnie_20]

15 hours ago, Kadova said:

It's true you have police everywhere now because of terrorists threats. You do not have to worry, they're there to protect the population. 

Eh... it’s not the police that made me feel uncomfortable in Paris. ;-)

[Altie]

People begging in the metro are common, yes, and always have, it's almost a "tradition". But they shouldn't make you uncomfortable (not more uncomfortable than distress and poverty could, in any case).

As for the police getting someone off or prevent someone getting in ? I've never seen that myself, but I imagine that it could happen in some area. I think it really depends where and when you went. All in all, if there was a figure skating championship in Bercy, that would be no problem since it's a very safe district.

As for the terrorists threat, the Bataclan attack was a deep traumatism, if you went in paris around that time, no wonder you felt the mood was very strange.

 

(And I've lived in Paris and suburbs for 40 years and never had a single serious problem)

[Kadova]

9 hours ago, Winnie_20 said:

Eh... it’s not the police that made me feel uncomfortable in Paris. ;-)

Sorry, I read your message too fast. That was the beggars, so ?

[Winnie_20]

Like I said, I’ve visited Paris plenty of times. I always felt safe and comfortable... until the last time, and I will give returning there very serious consideration before doing so again.

Should I be okay with it being ‘normal’ that every single metro ride I make, there are beggars and “musicians” and people who are being dragged off metros screaming by police, or who try to get in a metro but who are being thrown to the ground by four policemen just before the doors close (they’d clearly been keeping an eye on him already! And probably for very good reason).

It doesn’t make me happy. I go on holiday, I like to feel at ease and travel in peace without continuous disturbances. Pick pockets etc make me nervous. *shrug*

 

Fortunately, considering the fact the GP has moved away from Paris, I probably won’t have any reason to want to go there anytime soon again (unless there’s another really cool concert!).

[Kadova]

6 hours ago, Winnie_20 said:

Like I said, I’ve visited Paris plenty of times. I always felt safe and comfortable... until the last time, and I will give returning there very serious consideration before doing so again.

Should I be okay with it being ‘normal’ that every single metro ride I make, there are beggars and “musicians” and people who are being dragged off metros screaming by police, or who try to get in a metro but who are being thrown to the ground by four policemen just before the doors close (they’d clearly been keeping an eye on him already! And probably for very good reason).

It doesn’t make me happy. I go on holiday, I like to feel at ease and travel in peace without continuous disturbances. Pick pockets etc make me nervous. *shrug*

 

Fortunately, considering the fact the GP has moved away from Paris, I probably won’t have any reason to want to go there anytime soon again (unless there’s another really cool concert!).

I understand. The police is getting more abrupt and the insecurity in Paris is the biggest issue. I lived there during 15 years, and well, I learnt to cope with it, as you have to if you live there.

[KatjaThera]

7 hours ago, Winnie_20 said:

Like I said, I’ve visited Paris plenty of times. I always felt safe and comfortable... until the last time, and I will give returning there very serious consideration before doing so again.

Should I be okay with it being ‘normal’ that every single metro ride I make, there are beggars and “musicians” and people who are being dragged off metros screaming by police, or who try to get in a metro but who are being thrown to the ground by four policemen just before the doors close (they’d clearly been keeping an eye on him already! And probably for very good reason).

It doesn’t make me happy. I go on holiday, I like to feel at ease and travel in peace without continuous disturbances. Pick pockets etc make me nervous. *shrug*

 

Fortunately, considering the fact the GP has moved away from Paris, I probably won’t have any reason to want to go there anytime soon again (unless there’s another really cool concert!).

I had no idea this was being discussed here... I went to Paris in 2016, pretty much a year after the terror attacks and indeed, there was more police on the streets and all. The weirdest scene I witnessed in the subway was one night when a guy was singing aloud to music on his headphones and another guy told him to stop it and they ended up wrestling on the floor of the subway... I've never really felt safe in Paris, but that's mostly because it reminds me a lot of home (especially the places more fitting a low budget). Also, I attended a concert around Pigalle and my hotel was just streets away from an area with a lot of refugees sleeping on the streets so that was nerve racking, but I survived. I am reluctant to go back, but not really because of that. Terror attacks do seem more likely in places with a lot of tourists like that, so it's natural to get nervous. (If an event I really want to attend takes place there, though, I'll make an effort, though...) Beggars have always been an issue in Paris, though and I guess now's as good a time as ever to crack down on it... I can imagine it'd make one very uncomfortable to witness, though, to say the least.

 

That said, I travel alone a lot and I'm always a bit 'en guarde' - except in Japan, in Japan I used to feel super safe; actually, even know, I feel a lot safer in Japan than anywhere else - but last year a guy tried to steal my necklace in Barcelona, literally 50metres away from Las Ramblas. I refused to give in and we struggled a bit - luckily for me, he had no knife - and eventually I yelled for help and he ran off, but ever since then I've been very paranoid. My point is, stuff can happen anywhere. I've walked through the unsavory pits of Paris - and not really comparable, but those of Osaka, too - and was fine. I grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Bucharest and I was fine. But on a holiday in sunny, pretty Barcelona, I almost got robbed. *shrugs*

 

As for assignments, I personally hope Yuzu will do at least a competition in Canada, because that's pretty much the only place I can go to (be it ACI or Skate Canada; GPF is off limits ^_^; ). I am curious if he will overlap with any of the Worlds top skaters...

 

GPF in France would be sad, unless they get their stuff together and actually do something properly. Seeing the GPF medals at the Takashimaya exhibition, the 2016 GPF one was beyond pathetic after the others...

[Altie]

Sorry for the off topic, it's getting political so I put it in quotes

 

Quote

 

I really don't understand the problem you had with refugees, musicians and beggars... how is it an "issue" for tourists ? How should you not be "okay" with it ? Should we hide them in porder to make people feel more comfortable ? Poverty doesn't disappear when you don't see it, and France is still one of the best place in the world to be poor, as you get free healthcare, education, and allowances... And crime is still very low.

Insecurity depends a lot in which districts/suburbs you are. Around my place, it's like heaven. Other places are like hell. But inside Paris ? It's become much safer than it was when I was younger, thanks to gentrification.

But then, there were the attacks. We all know people who live in the area where it took place, and people who knew people who got killed, and police arrested many people. You didn't say when you went, but if it was in 2016, then it's normal the mood felt strange.

And yes, there are pickpockets, sadly. And the soldiers who are meant to make us feel "safer" because of the attacks make me nervous too. And some people are just obnoxious, metro is too hot in summer and crowded, I hate it.

But really, I don't feel it's worse in Paris than in most capitals (except Japan, because, yes, I've never felt as safe as in Japan either)

 

 

[yuzupon]

7 hours ago, Altie said:

Sorry for the off topic, it's getting political so I put it in quotes

 

 

Erm, I'm guessing that's the whole point of them not wanting to go back to Paris. I don't think @Winnie_20 was trying to ask you to do any of those. It's a fact of life that those less fortunate people exist in some parts of the world, and we can accept that. But if people are uncomfortable and feel unsafe with it, you can't really force them to shake off the feeling, and it is well within their rights not to want to go back to Paris because of that. 

 

Disclaimer, I am living in the Netherlands at the moment. Before that, I lived in Indonesia for the first 26 years of my life. I love Indonesia and am proud of being Indonesian. But now that I live here, I can understand why people would feel uncomfortable and unsafe travelling to Jakarta or other Indonesian cities (except maybe Bali). I've  been robbed in Jakarta, I've also been robbed here. But overall I fell much safer here, even as a foreigner.

[Winnie_20]

9 hours ago, yuzupon said:

But if people are uncomfortable and feel unsafe with it, you can't really force them to shake off the feeling, and it is well within their rights not to want to go back to Paris because of that. 

 

Disclaimer, I am living in the Netherlands at the moment. Before that, I lived in Indonesia for the first 26 years of my life. I love Indonesia and am proud of being Indonesian. But now that I live here, I can understand why people would feel uncomfortable and unsafe travelling to Jakarta or other Indonesian cities (except maybe Bali). I've  been robbed in Jakarta, I've also been robbed here. But overall I fell much safer here, even as a foreigner.

Exactly. There is absolutely nothing political about it. I feel safe enough to half- sleep through a metro ride in London or Milan, but in the heart of Paris I felt like I had to watch my surroundings and pockets like a hawk every single second. Why? Because I saw bad things happening right in front of me, (and not even just in the metro) more than once, so I'd say my "feelings" aren't exactly unfounded... and I have no illusions that 14 months later (yes, it was that shortly ago) things will feel any different to me. And they had absolutely nothing to do with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. 

If people want to go to Paris, have a great time, so many awesome things to see. But me, nope, sorry, not unless there's really really really a good reason for me to go again. 

 

Anyway, I don't see the GP returning there anytime soon, so that's one problem solved. 

 

 

[Kadova]

On 19/05/2018 at 6:51 AM, Winnie_20 said:

Exactly. There is absolutely nothing political about it. I feel safe enough to half- sleep through a metro ride in London or Milan, but in the heart of Paris I felt like I had to watch my surroundings and pockets like a hawk every single second. Why? Because I saw bad things happening right in front of me, (and not even just in the metro) more than once, so I'd say my "feelings" aren't exactly unfounded... and I have no illusions that 14 months later (yes, it was that shortly ago) things will feel any different to me. And they had absolutely nothing to do with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. 

If people want to go to Paris, have a great time, so many awesome things to see. But me, nope, sorry, not unless there's really really really a good reason for me to go again. 

 

Anyway, I don't see the GP returning there anytime soon, so that's one problem solved. 

 

 

Sure, the level of insecurity in touristic places or in some suburbs or on some metro lines is extremely high. I do agree this is a huge issue and it should be addressed. Anyway, there's no GP planned there at the moment. So, as you said, problem sorted

[ralucutzagy]

One month to go ...

[dotsquare]

14 hours ago, ralucutzagy said:

One month to go ...

 

Aw man, I was really keen for an early assignment release sometime this week! I guess we'll have to wait some more 

[Moria Polonius]

15 hours ago, ralucutzagy said:

One month to go ...

 

It probably makes sense, lots of athletes need to decide whether to take a break or not, whether to retire or not post Olympics.

[Yatagarasu]

June/July is pretty normal, nothing late about that. It was last season that surprised us tbh.