Zoe: "Life is too short to drink bad wine"
British alumni share their French experience with us.
Discover Zoe’s story!
Tell us a bit about yourself (where you’re from, what you do, what you have studied in France, and where)!
I am from Beverley near Hull (East Yorkshire) and studied French with Marketing at the University of Hull. I did my Erasmus year in Bordeaux. I worked for 7 years in Paris with a Franco-British communications agency and within an international oil and gas company. I am now living in the South of France working in Software for Finance.
Why did you choose France?
I chose France because I love the language and culture. It was also a bit of a challenge for me because I wasn’t very good at French, so I suppose I chose France, in short, because I like a good old challenge.
How did your stay in France change who you are and impact your career?
France taught me patience. In my experience the French way of life is all about discovery and creating long-lasting, meaningful relationships. This steady pace enabled me to become closer to my colleagues thus spend more time together speaking French and helped to shed some light on their culture.
With regards to my career, being bicultural and bilingual is very attractive to companies wanting to export to France or vice versa so learning French really did have a huge impact on my profession. So much so that, 10 years later I am still using my French and English in business, it’s very motivating to know that the money I spent on tuition fees is still proving to be worth absolutely every penny and I would always recommend learning a language to everyone I meet.
Your favourite word in French?
Repu (adjective meaning to be no longer hungry).
We hope you enjoyed your French culture shock! Any memorable cultural fact, experience?
I was lucky to have met a French family from Bordeaux, by chance in a bar in Beverley just before I left to go to France (2010). They invited me over for dinner one evening and I remember all 14 of the family greeting me with a kiss on each cheek. However, I was not familiar to this and I didn’t know which side to turn my head to and I almost kissed the mother. It was really embarrassing. The worst part was that when I left at the end of the evening, they all got up to kiss me again. I remember walking home thinking that the good old English wave wasn’t too bad after all.
Oh and one more thing … the French really do eat baguette all the time and whilst walking with the bread the top of the baguette always gets nibbled off. They also don’t use a bread plate at the table and the crumbs drive me crazy.
What is your favorite French meal?
Pissaladière.
Have you brought back a French souvenir with you?
The language. My Erasmus year in Bordeaux helped me so much that I never stopped speaking it, even my dog became bilingual.
Any French habit you have kept?
Drinking wine and saying “hop” when I move something heavy.
Share your motto with us!
Life is too short to drink bad wine.
