Moving to a new country can put anyone off. Too many changes. New language, bureaucracy, foods, schools, driving, housing… any one of those aspects can be intimidating. Taken together? Fogettaboutit!
Totally understandable. It’s why I spent oodles of time researching before we did the move to France, and ended up choosing a house -owned by an English women – that had previously been rented by other Canadians who had put their kids in school – and they had written all about it in a blog! I could limit some of the unknowns.
But having done that: what I saw was, each small intimidating part was actually, not so hard in reality. The language? Tonnes of people around here speak English and in fact have barely any French at all, so while my french helps me integrate I would have managed without it.
Bureaucracy? Oh yes indeed, just jumping the many hoops lately to extend my visa. But taken one step at a time, it is all doable. Getting a bank card was surprisingly long and involved, but they walked us through it. Same with every other part. Buying a car. Insurance. Enrolling in the schools. Each aspect kept me up at night before we left, and did from time to time cause headaches once here, but mainly just took taking steps to resolve.
So if you want to come to a new country for a longer stay, do all the research you can to limit the aspects that worry YOU the most, but then, put on your spirit of adventure and acceptance, and enjoy the ride. Those parts that worried you before you left? They will get sorted out.
Some of the differences are fun, like checking out the Champagne aisle in our nearby city, and some of the differences are fabulous!
