Passing on things that I have learned that make being an expat easier
Monday. Evening. I wasn’t working and I had no plans. My flatmate Adrien told me he was cooking and asked if I wanted some. I paced back and forth tucking into a starter of roasted chestnuts that had just come out of the oven. Adrien had been working in a small town outside of Bordeaux … Continue reading
Today I received a letter from the bank: Bear in mind that in order to get a French bank account I needed a lot of paperwork. I had to give them a photocopy of my passport, my contract of employment, previous bills, etc, etc… and in all of these documents my name is clearly … Continue reading
In my opinion FIP is as close to perfection as radio stations get, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. You can listen to it here… just scroll to the bottom of the page and écouter direct. The songs never seem to have much in common, except that they are all interesting and top quality. … Continue reading
After finding a job, I was ready to find a flat to rent. I thought it would be hard because it was almost September and the university students were returning. Also I’d been following a thread on Couchsurfing.org where a girl was finding it difficult to find a ‘colocation’ and was looking for assistance. The … Continue reading
One of the reasons I decided to move to Bordeaux was because I knew it had a fair few English bars. With my limited amount of French, I knew applying at these places would be my best hope of getting a job and earning a living. I didn’t realise just how many English pubs in … Continue reading
When I got to Bordeaux there was an empty studio-apartment waiting for me. The girl who owned it was away on holiday so I had to collect the keys from her colleague. The girl who owned the flat didn’t live there though. She lived across town in a nicer apartment. She rented out the flat … Continue reading
Before leaving the UK I was determined to minimize the mass of belongings I owned. This was especially important because I had no certain plans and it was possible I would have to visit a few different towns in order to find a job. I didn’t have a lot of stuff anyway, as this reduction … Continue reading
