What do you miss the most about France?
I think it is the little things - the way people do things. The way people do drinks before dinner...conversation...which is very different in France to here. I am reminded of that when I talk to my family. I always get shocked by how easily I forget these things. I have been here for 20 years so I forget little things - half of my life now.
When you move from your country, you forget stuff, you adopt new stuff, you reject old stuff and then sometimes you miss stuff. I miss getting my fresh bread from the bakers - so I bake my own bread, now. It is always fresh.
I think it is the little things - the way people do things. The way people do drinks before dinner...conversation...which is very different in France to here. I am reminded of that when I talk to my family. I always get shocked by how easily I forget these things. I have been here for 20 years so I forget little things - half of my life now.
When you move from your country, you forget stuff, you adopt new stuff, you reject old stuff and then sometimes you miss stuff. I miss getting my fresh bread from the bakers - so I bake my own bread, now. It is always fresh.
What did you find difficult about leaving?
Actually I didn't find it difficult because I was young and free! I had a new girlfriend which is why I came here. So we picked a city in the UK and we went to live there. I didn't really miss anything - I missed my friends and family a little bit but that really came later, the missing things and finding things difficult, because when you're young you don't really understand everything and how people are in different cultures.
What did you find most difficult about living in this country?
What I found the most difficult here is actually understanding what people mean all the time. Not the actual language, but reading between the lines. The British do that a lot! They are indirect. Look at this gluestick here (gestures to gluestick.) To a French person, that is a gluestick. If you ask a German person, they would say it's a gluestick. A British person would say, 'well it's something you can glue with, and it's sort of a stick but....' and they go (gestures to show a long way around the houses.) It took me years to understand that and accept it as well. Now, I can speak British!
In your experience how would you describe the British attitude towards people from other countries?
That's a difficult question because that's millions of people... I can only speak from experience and say I have never been made to feel bad about being French here. Just the French jokes, but that's ok I suppose.
I'd say there is a bit of an 'island mentality' here - on the continent there are borders, you cross those borders and you are in another country, it's very easy to do, whereas here there's a sea. Possibly there's something there about embracing new cultures. I do think the British are good at embracing new cultures, as long as it doesn't impact too much on theirs. It's a very tricky question to ask - there are people who are racist here but there are in other countries too, in France as well. Maybe British people don't talk about it so much because you know - the gluestick! Perhaps since Brexit though there is more open racism but also more open conversation about addressing it.
In terms of political openness to immigrants, it's not as good as it was - even with Ukraine, they are only accepting relatives. The first instinct is to go with relatives. So, they could be better, I think, towards other countries.
What do you think of education in the UK?
I think the drama culture here is amazing. It is not part of school life in France so much. It is not part of the curriculum. French students do not have as much confidence as British students and I think a lot of that is down to drama being on the curriculum. There are lots of good things about the British system, I think.
What message would you share with others moving to a new country?
Try and keep your other culture alive within you. Embrace that part of you. When you get older you will want it more.
Actually I didn't find it difficult because I was young and free! I had a new girlfriend which is why I came here. So we picked a city in the UK and we went to live there. I didn't really miss anything - I missed my friends and family a little bit but that really came later, the missing things and finding things difficult, because when you're young you don't really understand everything and how people are in different cultures.
What did you find most difficult about living in this country?
What I found the most difficult here is actually understanding what people mean all the time. Not the actual language, but reading between the lines. The British do that a lot! They are indirect. Look at this gluestick here (gestures to gluestick.) To a French person, that is a gluestick. If you ask a German person, they would say it's a gluestick. A British person would say, 'well it's something you can glue with, and it's sort of a stick but....' and they go (gestures to show a long way around the houses.) It took me years to understand that and accept it as well. Now, I can speak British!
In your experience how would you describe the British attitude towards people from other countries?
That's a difficult question because that's millions of people... I can only speak from experience and say I have never been made to feel bad about being French here. Just the French jokes, but that's ok I suppose.
I'd say there is a bit of an 'island mentality' here - on the continent there are borders, you cross those borders and you are in another country, it's very easy to do, whereas here there's a sea. Possibly there's something there about embracing new cultures. I do think the British are good at embracing new cultures, as long as it doesn't impact too much on theirs. It's a very tricky question to ask - there are people who are racist here but there are in other countries too, in France as well. Maybe British people don't talk about it so much because you know - the gluestick! Perhaps since Brexit though there is more open racism but also more open conversation about addressing it.
In terms of political openness to immigrants, it's not as good as it was - even with Ukraine, they are only accepting relatives. The first instinct is to go with relatives. So, they could be better, I think, towards other countries.
What do you think of education in the UK?
I think the drama culture here is amazing. It is not part of school life in France so much. It is not part of the curriculum. French students do not have as much confidence as British students and I think a lot of that is down to drama being on the curriculum. There are lots of good things about the British system, I think.
What message would you share with others moving to a new country?
Try and keep your other culture alive within you. Embrace that part of you. When you get older you will want it more.