We are delighted to announce our new sister blog which gives very practical pointers for those considering property in Europe - primarily a directory of estate agents, property portals and related services, it will also provide sources of information on living and working in Europe...
...hopefully a useful resource for potential expats considering Europe!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Bubbling over...
After an unexpected absence, many apologies to regular readers. However, a blogging break perhaps gives the opportunity to reflect and take a fresh look - and hopefully the lack of recent quantity may be compensated for by future quality!
In fact, it is thinking of quality that has been at the forefront just recently, particularly following the last post and reflecting on France being rated again as number one country in terms of quality of life. In thinking about expat life much of our thoughts are about the practical challenges presented in terms of a foreign culture, language, administration, etc., but perhaps we should be thinking more about the positives that contribute to the enjoyment of being somewhere else - so, for another mini-theme in coming posts, we should take some time to discuss the pure pleasures of being an expat.
On that note, what better starting point than a recent announcement in France - seemingly untouched by worldwide economic events, it has been announced that the official Champagne area is to be expanded, taking in another 40 villages (and the related vine growing capacity) to cope with international demand for the finest fizz! Now that is taking the pleasures of life seriously...
In fact, it is thinking of quality that has been at the forefront just recently, particularly following the last post and reflecting on France being rated again as number one country in terms of quality of life. In thinking about expat life much of our thoughts are about the practical challenges presented in terms of a foreign culture, language, administration, etc., but perhaps we should be thinking more about the positives that contribute to the enjoyment of being somewhere else - so, for another mini-theme in coming posts, we should take some time to discuss the pure pleasures of being an expat.
On that note, what better starting point than a recent announcement in France - seemingly untouched by worldwide economic events, it has been announced that the official Champagne area is to be expanded, taking in another 40 villages (and the related vine growing capacity) to cope with international demand for the finest fizz! Now that is taking the pleasures of life seriously...
Photo: Chance AgrellaMonday, March 24, 2008
And the winner is...
If you are a prospective expat, considering a particular country or even various options, then a bit of research will not go amiss if only to confirm your own thoughts and experiences. So, where do you begin? Of course this blog is a good stopping-off point for some general discussion of life as an expat - you can also trawl the web with specific country searches - or even try the "I'm Feeling Lucky" option of a certain well-known search engine!
However, there is an interesting starting point, just recently up-dated, which could give you the inspiration for on-going research - the Quality of Life Index 2008, published by International Living magazine. This rates different countries according to an impressive range of criteria, including cultural, social, environmental, climatic and economic factors, to arrive at comparative rankings - you can see the published chart here...
If you have already made your move, you may be interested to see how your country ranks - and if you agree! You could probably offer many suggestions as to why a country should rank differently and, of course, our decisions about moving country often arise from more than the very pragmatic considerations and can include sentimental and emotional factors that are hard to measure by any scale - so this kind of assessment can only ever be a helpful guide, to give us pointers to some key aspects of life in different countries.
That said, this seems to be a quite detailed survey and assessment and we are delighted to see that the number one spot is again retained by France...
However, there is an interesting starting point, just recently up-dated, which could give you the inspiration for on-going research - the Quality of Life Index 2008, published by International Living magazine. This rates different countries according to an impressive range of criteria, including cultural, social, environmental, climatic and economic factors, to arrive at comparative rankings - you can see the published chart here...
If you have already made your move, you may be interested to see how your country ranks - and if you agree! You could probably offer many suggestions as to why a country should rank differently and, of course, our decisions about moving country often arise from more than the very pragmatic considerations and can include sentimental and emotional factors that are hard to measure by any scale - so this kind of assessment can only ever be a helpful guide, to give us pointers to some key aspects of life in different countries.
That said, this seems to be a quite detailed survey and assessment and we are delighted to see that the number one spot is again retained by France...
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Vive les Gallois...
Nothing raises friendly nationalistic fervour quite like an international sporting event and it can be on such occasions that the expat's position can be a little uncomfortable. Usually for us, as Brits in France, we have no problem showing support for local teams in big matches, or for a French national team against most other countries - that seems the most appropriate thing to do in our host country.
Even when France is playing England at soccer or rugby, where there is a long history of intense rivalry (which probably reflects the two countries' relationship for many centuries!), there is not really a problem. It is generally assumed we are English but at times like this we can stress that we are actually Welsh (Gallois) and adopt a certain impartiality about the match!
Well, yesterday saw the Welsh succeed in winning the annual Six Nations rugby competition and on top of that achieving the "grand slam" - not losing a match to any of the other countries. A superb feat which will have have been celebrated throughout Wales! With there being five other nations, yesterday's deciding match could have turned out to be against England, Ireland, Italy, or Scotland, but in fact this final struggle for the championship was between Wales... and France.
So, forgetting about the outcome yesterday, what is the appropriate stance when your home country is playing your host country? Some carefully phrased diplomatic comments about the strengths of both teams? Some might think that would be a typically British approach. I'm not so sure how French people living in the UK would generally play it but I have a feeling that most would be more likely just to be openly patriotic. Perhaps that is the most honest approach and would actually be the most respected. For us, other things kept us away from sharing the match with anyone local, so we were not put to the test - however, maybe one might think twice about cheering on another nation in the middle of a packed French bar...
Well, yesterday saw the Welsh succeed in winning the annual Six Nations rugby competition and on top of that achieving the "grand slam" - not losing a match to any of the other countries. A superb feat which will have have been celebrated throughout Wales! With there being five other nations, yesterday's deciding match could have turned out to be against England, Ireland, Italy, or Scotland, but in fact this final struggle for the championship was between Wales... and France.
So, forgetting about the outcome yesterday, what is the appropriate stance when your home country is playing your host country? Some carefully phrased diplomatic comments about the strengths of both teams? Some might think that would be a typically British approach. I'm not so sure how French people living in the UK would generally play it but I have a feeling that most would be more likely just to be openly patriotic. Perhaps that is the most honest approach and would actually be the most respected. For us, other things kept us away from sharing the match with anyone local, so we were not put to the test - however, maybe one might think twice about cheering on another nation in the middle of a packed French bar...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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...
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...
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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...
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
Friday, February 29, 2008
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...
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...
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