Today
On 2002 |
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Bach to
Today |
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Finland
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Maija Koski
Journalist ( 25 years old)
Helsinki |
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I should
admit that I didn't worry much about euros before having
them in hands. I have no very clear opinion. Sure that
makes trips easier but our neighbours, as Sweden and
Great Britain did not adopt it. So it is not completely a
"European" currency.
I was very amazed at reading in newspapers that hundreds
of Finn's hundreds had hurried up in front of the
distributors of notes during the night of New Year's Eve.
How can one be so enthusiastic?
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| This morning, I went to the bank
because I wanted to know how much I had on my account: in
euros, that makes horribly little, everything is divided
by 6 ! I went to have lunch at the restaurant and it
was funny, as I saw the prices in euros, I got ready to
speak to the waiter in English, as if I were abroad! As
to my husband, he had the impression that everything was
extremely cheap. I just hope that they do not too much
take advantage of it to increase the prices! |
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| Greece |
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Theofilos Mitsakos
Bank employee ( 30 years old)
Athens |
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It is true that the drachma
was the oldest European currency but personally I am not
sad.
It is a progress for Greece and it is going to allow us
to avoid numerous devaluations. Still, it's not so easy.
My mother, for example, made provisions on December 31
not to have to use euros during the first days! When I
bought my newspaper this morning, that lasted quite a
while. When I saw the queue in front of the banks I gave
up fetching notes ! |
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| Ireland |
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Ellen O' Connor
Student in Economics ( 19 years old)
Dublin |
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I have the
impression that the Irishmen are not really disturbed by
the fact of changing currency, that is very equal to them
at least for me that is so. On the other hand, it is just
a little bit boring in shops with both currencies which
mix - and the storekeepers who look completely lost. The
coins are not so bad but they look too new, they glitter
too much to make true. |
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important for Ireland to be a part of the euro zone. The
economy of our country is bad . The European Union can
maybe give it a help. |
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| Italy |
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Batti Pregliasco
Racing driver with Ferrari ( 35 years old)
Milan |
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My first
experience with the euro was rather special. I wanted to
drive out of the highway and there was an endless queue.
As storekeepers were obliged to return the money in
euros, people paid with big notes to have some change.
That was a total chaos. A man went out of his car and
shouted " Viva euro ! ".
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| For my work, it is great.
As we participate in the world championship, we travel
all year long. Except for Sweden and England, we shall
have only a single currency and not luggage filled with
coins from all the countries of Europe. Without counting
savings on the expenses of exchange. On the other hand,
in Italy, we are in no way used to having cents or even
to having coins with some value. We have coins in liras
but we can't even buy a candy with! I have never had a
purse in my life, no need with notes, but I was offered
one for Christmas. It's strange! |
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| Luxemburg |
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Claude Sperini
Technician ( 34 years old)
Luxemburg
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It was not
a New Year like the others. on the 31-st, we dined with
my father-in-law who is a banker. Just after midnight, as
excited as a flea, he pulled us to the most close notes
distributor. In a few minutes, there were about thirty
persons behind us: That was something like the gold rush!
There were Belgians behind me who even printed the ticket
to keep a trace of the date and hour.
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| I am more
interested in coins. I try to collect euro kits of all
the countries. I already have those from France, Belgium,
Germany, Italy and I expect to get more. Faces change
according to countries so I would like to have a copy of
each. As for the symbol, I do not think that it is the
currency which makes us more European. Only time will
tell us. |
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| The Netherlands |
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Peter Jansen
Adviser in communication ( 48 years old)
Amsterdam |
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The passage
to the euro did not arouse a big enthusiasm nor big
celebrations. It is a good thing for the European
construction but that does not excite me more than that.
In Holland, every citizen received a kit of 8 coins in
euros offered by the government. We were flooded with
information so as to be ready. |
| Naturally,
old people as my mother-in-law who is 85 years old, are
worried and a little lost. But that's just money: best is
to spend it! |
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| Portugal |
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Gonçalo Capela Godinho
Lawyer ( 25 years old)
Lisbon |
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The 31st at
midnight, people formed immense queues in front of notes
distributors, That was funny. For me, it is the the most
important step that the European Union has ever made so
far. At last, we are going to be able to compare prices
but also the salaries in various countries. It will be a
problem for our government when the Portugueses will
notice the difference of salaries with Spain notably.
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| The prices
risk to increase even more. To be honest, I am a little
bit sad to abandon the escudo, it is somewhat as if we
had lost our flag, well, I feel more and more European.
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On 2002 |
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