living In France...Is It For You?
 |  About I am a British expat living in France and writing about moving to France, French culture, French lifestyle, and English-French humour. Life In FranceThere is much to like about living in France. French culture is steeped in amazing history. The language, the food, and the people are waiting to be discovered by you. |
The Back Story
As a French teacher I came to France way back in the 1970s on a teaching exchange.
Beyond the professional wish to improve my spoken French, and gain
first-hand experience of teaching in a French school, I
had more personal motives. Although I loved
teaching, I began to question the atmosphere I was working in. The constant complaints from the more senior teachers – how much they were
underpaid, how difficult it was getting to teach the kids, how they had to scrimp to live –
began to depress and cause me to view my future as little more than a
prison sentence. So, moving to France became a sort of escape plan for me. I purposely extended my stay beyond the one year term rather than returning to my English school. I also seriously considered emigrating to Australia, New-Zealand or South Africa. ‘You’re young, single and free,’ I said to myself, ‘so now’s the time to get out of the rut!’ But this fresh start to life first involved the exhilarating prospect of embracing the culture and customs of a country which had exerted a deep attraction on me from the moment I started learning the language.
