From Ireland to France: Third Culture Professionals Guest Interview for EasyExpat
https://www.easyexpat.com/en/mag/2021/01/26/from-ireland-to-france-third-culture-professionals.htm
The following is a transcipt of the interview:
Hi, I am Brid. I am originally from Ireland.
France is my home country for the last 20
years. Ireland will remain my birth country. I am immensely proud to be a
French national while still remembering and loving where I was born and the
family that are still there. It is important that we adapt to and integrate into where we live. From my experiences of living abroad, if we do not adapt, then
it is difficult to be part of the local community.
This does not mean that you have to lose your
identity, your uniqueness while adapting. This is a part of you and your story.
Why did you move abroad?
From a young age, I
always knew that I wanted to travel. My father lived and worked abroad. I loved
to listen to his stories about life abroad and really envied him each time he
took the plane! He initiated me to foreign authors and music. Books and different styles of music were my access to the rest of the world, that was until I
started packing my own bags and heading off on my own adventures.
It was at the age of 18 that I embarked on my
first long trip abroad, still a teenager and without my family. Since, I have
rarely stopped travelling, whether it be as a student, an expat, a tourist or for work.
At 18, I hadn't the slightest idea of what
career I wanted to pursue or what was my life project After completing
the first year of an introductory course at university, I decided that I did
not want to pursue my career in any of the specialisations offered. I did not
feel ready or at that stage possessed the determination to continue my studies.
It was time to discover the world!
So, I took time out and went travelling. A
friend and I packed our rucksacks and headed abroad. We had nothing planned, we
had scarce finances, but we did have an open mind and we were not afraid of the
'new'. Wherever we went, we easily found "small jobs" to finance
ourselves. During our travels, we met some really interesting people and have
plenty of anecdotes from that period. It is going back a few years now, a
period where it was much easier and safer to hitchhike and to travel on a
shoestring budget! WhatsApp, Zoom or email did not exist then, so my family was
always extremely relieved and happy to receive that occasional telephone call
or letter from me.
After that I had a period of several years
between working and studying in Ireland and studies abroad. During an Erasmus
exchange in Strasbourg, I met my husband. We kept in touch and I finally moved
to France in 2000 to be with him. For this obvious reason I moved to France.
France has also always been a country which I loved to visit. I love the French
culture, the French people, the food, the regions, the list is long.
Before the social distancing measures, what did
you do to meet people in get familiar with your country?
In 2000, I quickly found work in France. It was easy to build a social network
through work colleagues. Back then, my level of French was not the same as now
and I found the French very patient and proud that I spoke French and that I
wanted to improve my level.
What sort of measures are in place in the country where you live?
All socializing venues are closed, and French people are staying at home in
close knit communities. From what I can observe around me, French people are in
general really respectful of the restrictions in place. The world over, people
are experiencing the same restrictions. We are all in it together and by being
collaborative, we will all get out of it together.
I would like to add, that it must be
exceedingly difficult for new expats and foreign students who arrived in France
during the current sanitary crisis. I guess now that the best means of meeting
new people is online, developing the first contact/ conversations online, and
when life is back to 'normal' being able to socialize face to face again.
What is a myth about your adopted country?
There are many but
here are a few: The French beret, French cuisine, including the baguette,
cheese and wine, French chic style, French do not speak English.
Most of these are true, the food is excellent,
the French baguette is especially tasty when it has just come out of the oven,
there is a huge choice of cheese and wine from the different regions. The
French beret is apparently coming back into fashion and French people, in
particular Parisienne's are known for their chic all of their own, simple but
classy.
I do not completely agree with the last one
"French don't speak English". Over the years, I have seen a huge
improvement in the level of spoken English in France. A lot of French now move
and study abroad, as well as the employees here who are working in
international groups.
How do you manage the relationship with your
family in your home-country?
Before Covid, it
was easy to manage the relationships with family and friends back home as
France is geographically not far from Ireland. I went back to Ireland often
during the year.
Now, I unfortunately cannot travel back to
Ireland. I call regularly, have WhatsApps groups and Aperitifs on-line with my
family in Ireland and the UK. In fact, lately, I have more 'virtual ‘contact
with family and friends than I had before. It is important to stay in touch
during this period, it is difficult for all. Ireland and UK are currently on a
strict lockdown. I also have friends who are expats abroad, some of them are
alone. I often keep in contact with them, to keep their moral up.
What custom/ habits do you find most strange
about your adopted culture?
Apart from the
initial language barriers and the administration (France has a complex
administrative system which can be difficult to navigate through when you first
arrive). Overall, France is a country which is quite easy to adapt to and the
quality of life is high here.
I haven't found any strange habits apart from
the 'eating snails and frogs', which to be honest in over 20 years, I haven't
seen many snails or frogs on the menu in restaurants or at home!
What do you miss most?
What I miss most
about Ireland is my family and the Atlantic Coast. As a family, we have also
lived abroad as Expats. Therefore, what I missed most about France as an expat
was the French food: the baguette, cheese, wine and also the frozen food chain
"Picard"!
And what's the worst thing about being an
expat?
The sense of
belonging, where you fit into the new culture. I coined the following term:
Third Culture Professionals (TCP). TCP, is an acronym for Third Culture
Professional. "A third culture professional is someone who spent part of
their life living and/or working outside of their home country and home culture".
When and why did you start your blog?
In 2016, I took a
pause in my career as an Executive Search Consultant to follow my husband
abroad on expatriation. It was a great experience, to have time for my family
and time to train for and run my first marathon.
I founded the blog "Third Culture Professionals" during this period, as from
speaking with other "dual career" professionals, I realized that it
is sometimes difficult for the partner 'Accompanying Partner' who left their
job or took a break in their career to feel completely accomplished during
expatriation. Work is often a big part of our identity. After all, most of us
spend more waking hours at work than at home. The Accompanying Partner has
doubts about finding a job on returning to their home country. The idea of the
blog was simply to help and to motivate the Accompanying Partner who wants to
return to work. The content is a mix of practical and motivational articles
based on my experience as an Expat and Recruitment professional.
How is having a blog been beneficial?
Having this blog is
beneficial for many reasons. Foremost, I am a firm believer in sharing
knowledge and helping others with whatever expertise or means which we have in
our possession. I hope that the content is of use to others.
It has personally helped me "to find my
voice", the style of writing that I am comfortable with. I have to be
honest, the first few articles which I wrote, took time to write but with
practice, we become more comfortable and experienced.
What advice would you give other expats?
The following
advice is for Accompanying Partners but can be applied to any Expat. My advice
to Accompanying Partners who envisage working after their expat experience, is
to firstly enjoy your expat experience. Take this precious time to do what you
always wanted to, but never had the time for, while putting in place in stress
free mode, the building blocks for a return to work. There is so much to be
learned and enjoyed from an expat experience: the opportunity to visit and to
discover a new country and culture, as well as acquiring the soft skills of
adaptability, resilience, self-awareness, problem solving…
If there are times when you are feeling lonely
and miss the family and friends back home, especially during this long period
of Covid, get in touch with them. Keeping in contact is now so much easier than
when I first started travelling and living abroad. Start a blog with your
photos and experiences to share with them. They will really appreciate to see
you and it will give them the opportunity to see and experience with you, your new
country and culture.
#thirdcultureprofessionals
Copyright © 2022 www.thirdcultureprofessionals.com. All rights reserved on photo "Sunrise in Bryce Canyon".