Living in SW France?

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synopsis

i've never got along with the french - even though my grasp of the language is almost fluent.

on the other hand i adore belgians, italians, beninois, zambians ...

and i love the czechs - even though i barely speak their language.

i think like friends or lovers - some you get along with, some you don't. quite possibly there is nothing wrong with pau, and nothing wrong with you - you just don't mix.

have you tried getting into the history and culture specific to the region (is the story of lusignan local to you)?

though even that isn't guaranteed to work - sometimes you just need luck.

ny_farhad

I am not sure what you mean? I move to Antibes for about 1,5 years ago and I love it.

People are a bit difficult, but the only snotty ones are the American and British ex-pats who think they are the owners of the universe and since they all speak French and have a established life here, they look down at the new comers!

People here have been great, friendly, nice, sincere and in many cases extraordinary.

One example was last month, we had to go to the hospital on an emergency, we got in, and I just parked the car where I thought would be OK and ran into the hospital, when I came back, the car was gone. With my limited French, I asked the security guards at the hospital to call the police, because I thought I forgot to luck the door and someone had snatched the car, but they told me that the "tow" car was there and they saw them picking up some cars, they called the station, verified that my car was there, picked up the address of the location to get the car back and when they realized I am clueless, one of them left his job early, drove me to the other side of the Nice (over 30 minutes ride) and wished me good luck!

I have lived in many countries, in Europe and US, but I have never ever seen such hospitality I have seen here.

The important thing is to show you are open minded, ready to accept their differences, try to learn French and don't act like you are the ruler of the world and they are the dumbest people on earth (the attitude I see among many Brittâ€™s who live here).

France is not an easy country to live with, it is extremely byrocratic, slow, illogical in many ways and sometimes just frustrating.

I have learned to relax, take a break, have a cup of coffee, yell and scream at them they same way they do it to me (in traffic) and just enjoy the life here, go home, stop by the local shop, buy a nice bottle of Bordeaux for 4.50 euro, with some fresh bread, cheese and snacks, go home and enjoy the beautiful view from my balcony.

To be honest with you, this is the best place I have lived in the past 20 years, and I bet it will be even better when I speak the language, so try a bit more, I bet you find it much easier if you change your attitude and look at the positive and don't keep all the negatives in your mind.

Cheers,
/Farhad
Antibes, France

tralala

j'ai vecu a londres et je n'ai pas reussi a m'y faire non plus! contente de vivre aux usa maintenant

SaiSai

Southwest of France is more countryside mentality. Well, in fact
it depends where you live exactly. Now, culture shock? Don't expect people to be quickly friendly with you. It's another country, another culture and moreover a specific region. Don't expect things.
Making relationships need time, be a "giver", try things with local people.

Beach Girl

Perhaps being English is too close to being American. As such, you are not wanted anywhere in France. I am American and spent about one month in France, mostly in Marseilles and I can only imagine what you are going through.

It is not to say that people from other cultures can't be friends w/ people from France. Our family had a foreign exchange student live w/ us for five years that was from France and she is wonderful and has become part of the family.

But, its just not the same when an outsider is in their country. I don't know if that is exactly what you are referring to when you say culture shock, but, I would imagine that if you are not truly accepted and not making good friends, then you are not going to assimilate to their culture very easily.

A couple of my observations on trying to fit in...You can not be pushy with anyone, whether it be a colleague, a waiter or the checkout person at the grocery store. Do not ever tell them what to do. If you want something to get done you have to suggest it in a very polite way as if they were the one coming up with the idea. Also, the French are very quiet and not loud. If you talk loudly they will think you are quite crude. And, you must dress in more formal attire for every day life. No jeans or active wear.

Good luck. It is exciting that you are living in such a challenging place.

jibber_wibber

leave and come to oz easy you do not have to worry about culture shock here as they have none just great beaches

ron g

cause France sucks!

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