This is inside the station hall in Brest. But four years ago, I saw those same Arabic(?) and Chinese(?) texts on drapes hanged on the city wall. Anyone with an idea what they say and why they are there? (I can post larger-resolution versions of the texts if requested.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
*Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Were these the only two languages that the banners were written in? Because if so, that could be seen as a political message, e.g. only speakers of Arabic and Chinese need to be reminded of this....
But with the variety of calligraphics, it could have been some more innocent art project four years ago, 'saved' by moving it into a weather-sheltered permanent place inside the railway station. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
(NB: Colloquial spoken Arabic and written Arabic are very different, and I know quite a few people who are the children of immigrants and have grown up speaking comfortably in Arabic but are completely unable to read it -- not even street signs, let alone calligraphy, which at its most ornate can be difficult for even fully literate native speakers to decipher....)
At any rate, they are lovely banners.
Note that Buffalo is not really fast food (like Quick or McDonalds), more of a meat based restaurant chain (and they went famous for selling "mad cow" beef a while a ago...).
BTW Rennes has a fully automatic subway:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9tro_de_Rennes
Job statistics here:
http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/fichesect/service_pairA.htm
Most french meat restaurant chains use USA and cowboy images for their marketing.
From what I recall back when I could afford them (which was before I went to Oz, so more than a decade back), the first tier of sit down and get waited on with a turn-around as close to Mickey D's as possible is, like, Denny's, HoJo's, and IHOP. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
(I note my experience of US-origin fast food restaurants is from when I returned late from evening astronomy courses and nothing cheaper and non-smoker was open, and I gladly switched to Chinese and Turkish/Greek/Arab fast food restaurants once they arrived.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Wendy's always had the chili, but I guess they added some other healthier food choices after I left for Oz, in response to the pressure from Subway, and now Mickey D's trying to follow suit.
But I can't really afford to eat at most fast food places, so once I started boycotting Taco Bell because they would not serve me in the ride in window, the closest I get to fast food is canned soup or canned chili and frozen veggies added to the rice in the rice cooker. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
From the description you give of the street vender hamburgers, the traditional Ozzie burger from a traditional fish and chip shop is closer to that than to Mickey D's ... or, as they say in Oz, Macca's. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
http://www.mairie-brest.fr/kiosque/bannieres_monde.htm
Page 7 of this PDF:
http://www.mairie-brest.fr/documents/bannieres07.pdf
BTW a nice site showing train station activities:
http://www.gares-en-mouvement.com/
In the pdf you linked, the caption says that they are the work of young calligraphists Ramzi Merdjal (Algeria), ing Ling Zhou and Ruo Yo Li (China). They name the individual styles. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
http://www.enst-bretagne.fr/data/ecole/Presentation/Rapport_activite/Rapport_activite_2006.pdf
44% of the school students are foreigner, 22% of school students are from Asia. 494 foreign students are coming from 48 countries.
There is even a chinese calligraphy club :)
The school has always been internationnally oriented, one of the requirement of my diploma was to spend 3 monhtes abroad (otherwise no diploma).
Opening to asia is a recent push from school management and government (there were far less asian students in my times 1994-1996).
