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| Pedro Bond with his cuckoo clock. |
I'm Pierre
Beaund, aka Pedro Bond. I was born in Strasbourg, Alsace. Time is my passion,
perhaps, because of this I'm a watchmaker, a person who makes and repairs
watches and clocks. I also sell Cartier watches. Tempus fugit, then I'm always
on time. Although I'm French my culture is German because Alsace is a
historical German land. I like History.
-Good morning, Pedro Bond, and thanks to attend us.
-Good
morning. Thanks to you.
-Well, as I
have seen you're a punctual person.
-Always.
It's my character and I think being punctual is a signal of respect and
education.
-When did
your hobby about watches start?
-Mmmm. It's
not a hobby. It's my work and I live it with passion. I'm Alsatian. In the
past, we were closer to Switzerland and Germany than to France and although
today the maps say we're French, we really have a German/Swiss mentality
because culture is something that marks you a lot. My family came from
Switzerland and time is something very important in this country. Swiss watches
are the best.
-How's life
living in a border?
-It's very
interesting because you receive influences of both sides. In my case three
sides: France, Germany and Switzerland.
-Then,
you've a little part of all of them...
-Not
exactly. I'm Alsatian. France is a big state with a lot of nationalities and
we're one of them. Living in diversity is growing in knowledge.
-You were
born in Strasbourg where the European Parliament is. You must enjoy diversity
every day.
-Strasbourg
is plenty of civil servants. It's an administrative place. Now, all the German
countries (Alsace, Germany, Austria, Lorena, Liechtenstein...) have a good
quality of life but it was very different only one century ago when a lot of
German people emigrated to The USA. Take the story of Levi Strauss like an
example. Levi created the jeans in The USA in 1850 with European materials. He
must leave Germany to find a better future. Nowadays, lots of people are
arriving to the German lands with the idea of finding a better future, in some
cases only a possible future.
-How is the
life of a watchmaker?
-A normal
life. I must be very tidy and organized because is very difficult to make a
good watch.
-Which is
your favourite kind of clocks?
-I love all
of them but I like cuckoo clocks. They have an interesting mechanism because it
is not only a clock.
-How do you
feel being a member of The Bond's family?
-It has been
a pleasure. It's a fantastic family and we've spent unforgettable moments
together.
-How is a
normal day with The Bonds?
-The day
starts with me. I'm the first person to wake up, get up and start to work.
Later, step by step, the rest of the family starts to be ready.
-How long
have you been studying English?
-Since I was
in the school although studying English in the French educational system is not
a synonymous of success.
-Why?
-I don't
know but I think it's this Jacobean French mentality. French is a very important
language of course. It was the diplomatic language during centuries but now is
English the language of diplomacy, business and economy and I think that this
is something that Educational French system doesn't realize. There are a lot of
historical languages in France: Occitan, Breton, Alsatian, Lorrain, Basque,
Catalan, Romani and French, of course. Moreover there's an incredible presence
of Arabian because of the African colonization. It could be easy to a French
speaker learning another language because the most part of the population,
except the Parisian, speak at least two languages but the idea of parlez
français–soyez propres is still deeply in the mind of the French
speakers. It's a pity because this attitude only creates social conflicts and
nowadays we have a lot of examples of it.
-Is English
difficult for you?
-No, it
isn't. English has its roots in German. I speak Alsatian which is a German
language, too.
-What can
you explain about your life with The Bonds?
-We're a
great family with a great sense of humour, very hard workers and with a great
idea of responsibility. It's easy to stay with them.
-Which is
your best memory with the family?
-It's difficult
to choose one but I remember with special emotion when I was chosen as the
Queen of Carnival. It was a great honour.
-You like
History, don't you?
-Yes, I do.
I like a lot.
-Explain me
a story from de History...
-Well, I'm
very interested in the Catharism, the community which lived in Occitania and
influenced all the European cultures in a way that nobody can imagine. We're
all Cathars although we don't believe in it. Talking about the Catharism means
seeing the History from another point of view and destroying lots of official stories. History is written by winners and Cathars were
killed and prosecuted. They couldn't offer their vision of historical facts and
they chose literature and art to keep alive. It's amazing.
-Offer me an
example of official story...
-There are
two ways of changing History. One of them is creating another one that was
useful for your own interests, for example Christopher Columbus. The official
story says that he discovered America when a sailor saw a bird in the island
named San Salvador in 1492. Then, he confirmed his belief that Earth was round.
America already existed and some communities lived there, then Columbus didn't discover
anything. This is an example of History written from the point of view of a European
citizen. For other hand, you have the possibility of taking real stories and
change them to legends, for example, blood legends like Jack The Ripper, Vlap
Tepes, Enriqueta Martí and Elizabeth Báthory serial killers who were, possibly,
haemophiliacs.
-Tell me a
historical slogan...
-Tempus
fugit. The expression comes from line 284 of book 3 of Virgil's Georgics, where
it appears as fugit irreparable tempus: it escapes, irretrievable
time.
-Thank you
very much, Pedro Bond.
-You're
welcome.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...
We're leaving together,
but still it's farewell.
We're leaving together,
but still it's farewell.
[...]
Will things ever be the same again?
Will things ever be the same again?
[...]
It's the final countdown.
It's the final countdown.
Europe
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