Polish cleaners

[steveo]

Am I vindicated?

[VALFR59]

Steveo, just in case you would follow your Calais dreams :)

If you work for 12 months in a bar in Calais (and you are declared), you can have probably more in France than in the UK (don't know the rules of unemployment helps here but according to the comparison I can do in term of children education/school system, health system and tenant's/owners rights, France is really more social than the UK..

here it's perhaps sometimes not enough and there too much....that's a part, why your country will for sure get out of the crisis before France as you are stronger to make national sacrifices...

In that Calais 's bar experience, if after 12 months you are fired (for economical reason), or dismissed with a special agreement with your boss (called " rupture conventionnelle de contrat"), then you'll receive "Assedics", which is an income support during up to 24 months , and it will represent 80?% of your salary without decreasing over those 24months....and probably as a barmaid, not famous to be a well pay job (especially in the cold riviera of C?te d'Opale :) ), you would receive a help to pay a flat, free health system (where we don't hesitate to give medicines to get better faster, to do big exams as Xray, blood test etc much easily than here) and the private school for your child would cost only 1000/3000 ? per year maximum (depend on your salary, if you can't afford it, government gives schools helps and you don't have to refund them, same as for universities fees)...

[uncleglen]

Are the French friendly towards English people who decide to live and work in their country because I have heard conflicting reports from people who have gone there about the type of 'welcome' they have had?

[VALFR59]

I can't judge as an expert about the french welcoming to English expats in France.

I think depend in which area of France they've choosen to live. Some french areas are famous for not being the warmest to accept new people, whoever those new people are english or french from another area...

According to me, Paris is horrible for tourists welcoming...I am always surprised by the behaviour of waiters, sellers in shops etc... they are really lucky that it's an amazing city in term of beauty, culture, food etc!... I am ashamed for their behaviour and the reputation they give to France (but France is not only Paris, hopefully!)

I really love living in the UK, and I am already sad to think that we'll leave it in 2 years , at the end of my husband expat contract. But even if I've met really good friends (90% are english or not french) here since 2 years we arrived, the welcoming of english people is not that easy! believe me!

hopefully I never gave up as I was really motivated to be integrated with my 100% french family !

I didn't pretend to change english way to do things/ behaviours. I've observed carefully the english culture , way to speak, to express your opinion (less direct than in France for example), etc, and I adapted my way to be to yours staying myself in the same time. As I am the foreigner, it's me who have to make compromises and if it has been too difficult to do it, so I would have had to get back to France, but never to pretend english are wrong, they should change and being like french :)

I think that our two cultures are really differents even if our countries are so close together in distance...and here it's the mistake for both english and french, to think that it will be the same than in their country just with another language, not necessary important to speak well....it's much more! and that's the reason why it's such a rich experience to live in a foreign country :)

But it's important to try your best to speak the language of the country where you live in, even if you do mistakes (as I do :) )...and I am often suprise (and annoyed) to see such a lot of people (english or french) not making any effort to speak the language of the country they moved in...for french, staying in the french london areas,between french only, and for english living in France pretending as english speaking is the international language, so everybody has to speak english and they don't have to learn a foreing language...