Adapting your life...

Rummaging through one of those drawers of "useful stuff" recently, there was a reminder of some of those aspects of moving countries that are easily forgotten but were critical at the time. This particular item was an electrical adaptor and it prompted the thought that as well as "the big picture" we should be considering some of the minutiae of planning an international move, even if we cannot look at all the possible permutations of moving between particular countries.

It should be said that we already had some UK - French electrical plug / socket adaptors before making the move, having regularly visited France - so, there was no surprise that French plugs were quite different. It is also obvious from the existence of the adaptors that power supplies are similar enough between the two countries. However, if you were to move between, say, France (power is 220/230 volt) and perhaps the USA (120 volt), you would take a completely different view about shifting appliances, computers, etc., from one country to the other, without investigating the cost and practicality of power transformers.

If you do take electrical goods with you, eventually, as items are naturally replaced, you will end up with mainly local equipment, with local plugs - that actually seems to happen surprisingly quickly which says much about the obsolescence built into consumer goods. Nevertheless, for the transition period, we found some short cuts that worked well, particularly as changing electrical plugs on a host of items is very time-consuming and boring when you have a whole house move to deal with.

For example, we kept a couple of adaptors near electrical sockets that would be used for the more portable items (hair driers, mobile phone re-chargers, etc.). For our computer equipment, the idea of changing plugs on the mass of peripherals was frightening - so we just changed the plugs on our UK multi-blocks to French ones which enabled us to continue with UK plugs on all the equipment. It should be said that one should take expert advice on such things involving power supplies and electrical equipment, but this worked fine for us!

Something that did catch us out was that, despite having visited France quite often, we had never paid any attention to the phone sockets - and were surprised to find that they are completely different to UK connections. One can never make assumptions when crossing international frontiers! Having brought several phones and computers needing to connect to the internet, we did invest in some phone adaptors, albeit that they were comparatively expensive at the time.

That worked very well for the computers and it seemed that it was a good solution for the phones and fax machine. We were able to make calls which confirmed what we had been told - that UK telephone handsets work in France. It took a little while to realise, though, that there was a slight incompatibility between the French telephone system and UK handsets, which when connected in France, did not actually ring - a slight disadvantage when it comes to incoming calls. So, a case where a temporary measure was extremely short-lived!

Well, perhaps the planning of the physical move from one country to another gives us another mini-theme, so we will return to this in future posts...

Our cultural heritage...

Continuing our mini-theme of food, perhaps French cuisine is so exceptional that many might make the move here almost solely for the fine cooking - in fact, it seems quite certain that many have done so. For the French themselves, well they are known for preferring to take holidays within France and I have heard much speculation that this is largely because they prefer their own food! Well, our theme is rather well-timed in coinciding with a bold move by the head of state, President Sarkozy, who has it seems proposed that UNESCO should add French gastronomy itself to the world heritage cultural list!

Naturally this has created some controversy. Is this a case of a country's high self-esteem or simply perhaps a deeply patriotic gesture? The more cynical might suggest a calculated move in the face of less that ideal ratings in the polls. Or could it be entirely motivated by tourism in what is still the most visited country in the world? Well, perhaps there is a mixture of motives, but another argument says that while it helps to focus the spotlight on the importance of a national cuisine, and high gastronomic standards, it may well help to stave off the fast-globalising fast-food culture.

In any event, whether this is successful or not, it will do no harm in raising the profile of French cuisine even further and that is sure to help to attract visitors. For the more focussed visitors, particularly potential expats, I would still recommend researching what food is not commonly available as much as the delights that are on offer. Many Brits ensconced in France still import their 'favourites from home', such as Branston Pickle, PG Tips tea, Heinz Baked Beans, to name just a few. Now where's the Marmite...

Photo: Alyson Muse

A leap in time...

Should we have been saying "Happy Leaping", or something similar, today? I'm not sure of the protocol really but hope that all proposers and proposees have had a wonderful time.

Having experienced more Leap Days than I care to remember, I was surprised today by a notion that had never occurred to me before - but which is really only appropriate to this blog in the context of our having made passing comparisons between different countries' attitudes to public holidays. Well this particular point came up in the form of a question, being "why is Leap Day assumed to be a working day?"!

It is not a part of the normal working year really, and when it is worked, certainly by salaried people anyway, there is never any suggestion of extra payment. Perhaps salaries are based on a 4-year calculation?

Anyway, it was on the basis of this thought that there was apparently a (not very successful) petition in the UK to make this day a public holiday! The petition actually made it to the 10 Downing Street web site it seems! I can't say I'm terribly surprised, considering the dearth of public holidays in Britain - but what really astonishes me is that the French, the masters of the public holiday, have not already tackled this one...

Meat and no veg...

Thinking again of food in a prospective new country, this is a key factor for those with special dietary needs, whether prescribed for health reasons, a part of one's culture or religious life, or simply self-imposed.

I have mentioned before that the gradual realisation a few years ago that this region of France was about the worst possible for a vegetarian to plump for was a huge disappointment! In shopping, one soon discovered that there were few ready-made protein-alternative dishes (lazy vegetarian!). Then, in eating out, some restaurants gave blank looks, total incomprehension, when asked for vegetarian options - but perhaps that situation was more honest and preferable to those places where they would serve a dish with "just a little" chicken or ham, on the basis that this did not really count! Fortunately most chefs would be happy to rustle up a simple meat-free omelette - and what better place for omelettes than a French restaurant.

In my own case, fate took the upper hand and health reasons forced me to add fish to my diet - well, perhaps there was also a slight element of convenience... however that decision was nearly regretted at the very first meal, where the plat du jour turned out to be a whole, large, and very rubbery cuttlefish, unrelieved by any form of accompaniment - a challenge for someone facing their first fish dish for many years! Fortunately, these days there are definite signs of improvement here for vegetarians.

However, some diets, especially those for health or religious needs, are not easy to change by simple choice, and researching the availability of essential foodstuffs, special supplements, etc. , is very important if your options are quite limited.

And just as important as food, it is worth remembering that laws relating to alcohol consumption will vary in different countries. Fortunately, in that respect France has not posed us any challenges whatsoever...

The most taxing problems...

In the spotlight just recently has been Liechenstein, currently the object of various investigations and suggestions that it is one of three "uncooperative" tax havens. Without wishing to make moral judgement on countries offering total financial privacy for tax purposes, this does raise the obvious point, although one that we have barely touched upon so far, that the prevailing economic conditions and outlook must play a significant part in any potential expat's decision about making the move to foreign shores (or should I say "off-shores"?).

Well, one has to be rich to need to take such radical tax measures, and not many of us can take advantage of such havens, but where we might only speculate as to how much the cuisine, culture, language, etc., of a particular country will influence our decision, it is fairly certain that financial considerations will play a great part for most of us - as Bill Clinton's campaign message said, "It's the economy, stupid"!

So, in coming posts we will consider what financial and economic factors expats should investigate as they research or plan the big move... the economy, the cost of living, property prices, exchange rates, taxes and social charges... contributions in comments will be most welcome!

Meanwhile, on with my personal research - heads for Monaco, tails for Andorra...

Food for thought...

There was a reminder the other day of the shock of finding how tricky it was for vegetarians coming to live in the South of France... perhaps we had been too used to the easy route of ready-made protein alternatives - which are readily available in the UK but almost non-existent in rural France! Anyway, that thought brought me back to a big subject that we have barely touched on in the expat context - food and how much this would influence your decision, one way or another, about living in a country.

Although for some food is purely a matter of fuel, of course for many the type of food available, the pleasure of cooking, restaurant experiences, etc. are key aspects of life. It might be a question of what food is commonly available in the country or what you might desperately miss in being there. Personally, whilst enjoying fine French cuisine, here in rural France a disappointment has been the scarcity of decent Indian curry (commonplace cuisine in the UK and abounding with delicious vegetarian options) - on one occasion, driving some distance to a large town for a recommended Indian restaurant, we not only found it closed but it seemed to have been so for some time - so perhaps not to the local taste, in that town at least.

How important is the local cuisine, or lack of the food we are used to, when contemplating a move? I now know that the Languedoc is one of the toughest regions of France for vegetarians but I must say that I'm not sure if that knowledge would have decided me against the move if I had been aware of it at the time.

Anyway, in the quest for a curry alternative, the next move is to try a recommended Vietnamese restaurant which is sure to have some interesting options - if it is open of course... however, in these days of globalisation certain foods are available almost internationally and perhaps that will help some survive practically anywhere...

Photo: Chance Agrella

Not so happy holidays...

Following the comments in the last post about the reinstated French public holiday (Pentecost Monday), I should comment on two other traditional French holidays - Labour Day and Ascension Day. Has anyone else noticed that they fall on the same day this year? Just when you think you are getting ahead!

Guess we'll have to relax twice as hard on 1st May...