Underground becoming all the rage.
Guiding you through the paperwork minefield.
Perpignan’s surreal smelly socks election saga.
Expat women in Belgium and France most satisfied.
A moving piece about a 'school refuser' son.
| Index | Last | Var.(%) |
|---|---|---|
| BEL 20 | 2040.86 | 0.14 |
| DAX | 4708.21 | -0.22 |
| IBEX 30 | 9707.8 | 0.67 |
| CAC 40 | 3119.51 | 0.10 |
| FTSE 100 | 4236.28 | 0.05 |
| AEX | 253.7 | 0.40 |
| DJIA | 8280.74 | -2.63 |
| Nasdaq | 1796.52 | -2.67 |
| FTSE MIB | 18942.22 | 0.07 |
| TSX Composite | 10283.1 | 0.36 |
| ASX | 3826.6 | -1.25 |
| Hang seng | 18203.4 | 0.14 |
| Straits Times | 0.00 | |
| ISEQ 20 | 433.47 | 0.71 |
Text size
The Expatica Survival Guide brings you the basics for getting your life rolling in France. And now it also addresses the emotional roller coaster that is your first year abroad. Here are more of tips for surviving, emotionally, your first year in France.Clair Whitmer has lived here long enough to get settled...but she hasn't forgotten what it feels like to be fresh off the plane. This series covers typical reactions to the experience of moving to France, based on her own experience and lots of email from expats all over France.
One of the things I notice about expat 'success' stories, the people who make a home and feel at home in France, is that they've learned to love the Système D.
The Système D; D is for débrouillard(e), also a verb, se débrouiller, or in noun form débrouillardise. It's tricky to translate but débrouiller means 'to unscramble' and se débrouiller refers to thinking on your feet, figuring things out without help or instruction. In the imperative: Débrouillez vous! Make no mistake: being told you are débrouillard is a compliment.
I've heard it most often used when someone has been explaining to me how to get around some seemingly insurmountable rule or regulation. The Système D is needed and accepted because, as for you the incoming foreigner, the Administration and its endless red tape, la paparasserie, is the enemy: a source of frequent frustration and a consistent time-suck.
The Système D is the collective set of workarounds, both know-how and who-you-know. It includes everything you can think off that will help you get around the rules, but get around them through superior cleverness, not through outright illegality, which is how some people misinterpret it. Cheating is not the same thing as the Système D in the same way that cutting in line is not the same thing as breaking-and-entering.
On the contrary, the French respect for the law is nearly absolute, that's how they've ended up with so much of it. But the result is a labyrinth of paperwork that would be absolutely all-consuming—except for the Système D.
Our expert Steven Grover delves into the murky waters of French healthcare for expats and asks how recent changes affect them?
Tax and estate planning figure prominently in the list of priorities of many financially secure expatriate residents of France.
From Gaelic clubs to Canadian Alumni organisations, there is bound to be an English-speaking club for you in France.
This is what you need to consider when making an early choice between purchasing or renting accommodation in France.
Print | Send to a friend | React
General rating: Not rated yet
Rate article:



Add my rating