Life in France
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Feeling like an Outsider Abroad: Why it’s Not a Bad Thing
I had a really interesting conversation the other day with some other foreign ladies who live in and around Aix en Provence. We were in a restaurant talking about how it feels to be an outsider in a Country that is not your own. After we had finished talking, I realized that for a long time, I thought being an outsider was a flaw that needed fixing. I thought I had to blend in, sound the same, and somehow fit neatly into a mould I didn’t like the shape of. But the longer I’ve lived abroad, the more I’ve realized that being an outsider isn’t a weakness — it’s a…
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Sunday Mornings in France
One of the first things you notice when you move to France is that, in most places, Sundays are still sacred. Not in a religious sense, necessarily — though you’ll still hear church bells echoing through the villages — but in the sense of slowing down, of pausing.
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What I Miss Most (and Least) About Home
I last lived in my home country, the UK, when I was twenty-one. Things have changed hugely since then — new slang, new politics, new prices — but the things I miss always seem to stay the same.
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French Bureaucracy and the Art of Staying Calm
There’s a moment every foreigner in France faces — the day you realise that your most valuable life skill isn’t language, or charm, or even patience. It’s persistence.
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10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Moving to France
(Because it’s not all croissants and châteaux — but it’s close)
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Cultural and Linguistic Fails I Can Now Laugh About
From accidental insults to culinary crimes, here are a few of the many ways I’ve managed to confuse, amuse, and horrify people across Europe — and what I learned from laughing at myself.
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What Belonging Means to Me
Belonging isn’t always about fitting in — sometimes it’s about finding comfort in your own little bubble until the world around you starts to make space. Here’s what belonging means to me.
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How to Find your tribe abroad
Moving abroad is exciting — until the loneliness sets in. Finding your people in a new country isn’t always easy, but it can change everything. Here’s how to build your tribe — one awkward coffee at a time.
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The Day I Realised I Wasn’t a Tourist Anymore
It happened a long time ago, when I was still a child growing up in Germany.My family had just moved from the UK — not all of us kids (the older ones stayed behind). It was just my Mum, Dad and me — and suddenly everything around us was new: a new house, a new school, a new language, a new life. Before moving, my parents and I had all taken German lessons, but inevitably, they forgot things I remembered. I was only eleven, and my mind was still fresh — a sponge soaking up every word and phrase. Before long, I’d become the family’s emergency translator — the one…
