nimnom
Introduction
I was raised in the UK, lived for ten years in New Zealand, where my children were born, returned briefly to the UK (too grey) then spent time in the French Alps, currently near Annecy, France but moving to Genolier, Switzerland. I work freelance as a voice artist.
I joined expat.com on 09 February 2018.
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nimnomposted on the thread Moving from London to annecy
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nimnomposted on the thread Moving from London to annecy
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nimnomposted on the thread Moving from London to annecy
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nimnomposted on the thread Moving to Annecy
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nimnomposted on the thread Hello from the French Alps (via UK and New Zealand)
Expat experience
I'm a keen trail runner, novice vege gardener, French improver, mother and wife. I also love to ski and generally be outdoors.
In the countryside about 15 mins from Annecy centre, we have the best of both worlds. Countryside with space and trail running from my door. A beautiful town 15 minutes away and the international city of Geneva 30 minutes in the other direction. I love it.
I miss Indian food, fish and chips and the high mountains from our time in the Alps (even if they aren't very far away). Also the English sense of humour, which is the best!!!
I was fortunate to be able to retain the client I was working with in the UK and bring my work to France. I worked at home in the UK, and being here makes little difference. Having published my first book I work part-time on my writing career, which is inspired by my experiences as a serial 'ex -pat'. I am a digital nomad :-)
I love the mountains. I have a view of them from my window as I work. They are so beautiful and so wild. In the summer and 'inter-season' I enjoy trail running and hiking with my family as well as other summer activities available to us in our little lake town. In the winter we ski - as much as we can. I love being immersed in a different culture and improving my French - and witnessing my children settling into a school in a new culture and becoming fluent in a second language. What a gift!
There is only one thing I don't like - and that's the dog poo. Lots of people even let their dogs roam free and it is literally everywhere. It is disgusting - and especially horrible when you feel you can't let your children go out to play and enjoy the snow near your home, because there is literally too much dog poo around for it to be safe or sanitary.
Friends were kind enough to lend us their apartment while we looked for a new home, and school for our children. Our aim was to settle here permanently.
Sunshine! The proximity of the sea and mountains. Friendly people. Sunshine. The beach in the smaller town south of Barcelona where we were looking at living. Sunshine. The ice cream! Well, the food in general really. Sunshine. There felt like a greater lifestyle balance in Spain. Less focus on work and more on enjoying socialising, valuing family time, taking time over food and coffee and drinks. Life is important - not just paying the bills. Sunshine helps - you can be outdoors more, stroll, sit around in parks and on the beach. People smile.
Having had my children in French school for a few months, the thought of uprooting them and plonking them in another language - Catalan, was un-nerving! I couldn't get any definitive information on the local schools. We weren't able to find out about potantial schools without an address, and didn't want to sign a rental contract without knowing about schools! There was, from some people, a sense of great distrust of foreigners, especially as we didn't have jobs with Spanish companies. That made finding a home to rent a lot more difficult than we had imagined. This hasn't put us off moving, but did give us pause and so we decided to do more planning before making our move.
Abandoned London life & successful career to start fresh. Worked in various temp office roles in Auckland, then as a freelance writer, actor and cook / barista / waitress in a local Helenville café. Then started an entrepreneurial international business with my husband, which ultimately had us moving back to the Northern Hemisphere.
It's so beautiful. And so spacious. With way fewer people there is simply room to breathe. People don't rush - they take their time. Friday afternoon ends early and folk go to the beach, or home to light the barbeque. There's a sense of community and caring, of mucking in toghether. People stop to talk - whether you know each other or not. We knew all our neighbours and felt cared for and part of our community. That took effort on our part - as it should! We were the newcomers and 'interlopers'!!! I enjoyed the different culture and values - it is very different to the UK, more so than people think. Especially moving from London to a 3/4 acre block outside a rural town - that's quite some change.
It's wonderful! But it is very navel-gazing and for people with a more international world view that can become frustrating. NZ is still pretty anti-academic on the whole. And don't think you'll bring your great internationally-gained skills here to share - you'll be considered a 'tall poppy' and find it strangely hard to get a job. Not impossible, but don't shout your abilities too loudly to the wrong people... It's also a very long way from most of the rest of the world, which is worth baring in mind.
I grew up in a large southern English town (not Bristol). My parents met in East Africa and travel and adventure always felt present in our lives. We didn't go overseas as a family until I was nearly in my teens, but my parents were adventurers always. Though my passion was for acting I didn't follow that path in my career in the UK, but fell into business project management - I'm an organised, process-oriented person so it just seemed to fit. But I always wrote, and kept acting at the forefront of my hobbies as life progressed. I took up running in about 2014, and fell in love with it.
The UK really is a melting pot of cultures. That makes it culturally a rich and interesting place to be. The countryside is beautiful, and getting out of the cities and towns to explore opens your eyes to a chequered and fascinating history of the people that has stamped itself even on the landscape.
It's cold. It's grey. With notable exceptions (my experience in Bristol) people can be suspicious, unfriendly and self-obsessed. London especially. Don't expect your 'Good morning's to be acknowledged, let alone returned. Renting is difficult (esp with children and pets), expensive, and homes are often freezing cold - even with central heating. And it's in a bit of a muddle with Brexit....
