There’s no place like home: Embracing expat otherness

I have lived in Paris for almost exactly 8 years, and whilst itโ€™s fair to say Iโ€™ve long since been pretty damn parisienne, Iโ€™m clearly not โ€“ nor will I ever be โ€“ French. Iโ€™m very comfortable in this country; more at home than Iโ€™ve ever felt anywhere else; thoroughly assimilated in a culture that made more sense to me than the one I grew up in long before I even moved here. But I donโ€™t have the references of a native franรงaise, having neither been raised in France, nor by French parents.

Identity of an Anglaise: “British, BUT-“

As you are quite likely aware, this blog is called Adventures of an Anglaise โ€” โ€œanglaiseโ€ being the French word for English girl/woman. But in truth, Iโ€™m actually half โ€œanglaiseโ€ and half โ€œirlandaiseโ€, and although I've never lived in Ireland, Iโ€™ve always identified very closely with that side of my nationality/heritage. Itโ€™s not particularly surprising,... Continue Reading →

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑