The grass is always greener and all that. I spent the first 15 years of my adult life destroying my body in the trades. Sure the money was good, but the hours sucked and you’re still dealing with idiots all the time. Maybe Tracie in accounting doesn’t know to not click on every link she receives in her email, but at least she can write a coherent sentence and refrain from smoking crack in the porta-potties…

And don’t even get me started on service work. People who can’t use computers have nothing on people who can’t change a light bulb or plunge a toilet.

Inyalowda!

Mine does that too. It’s usually only for around 20 seconds, so it doesn’t really bother me.

I did the opposite lol.

No, good guess though!

This is all excellent advice, especially regarding France. Where I live, which is only 20 minutes from Geneva, you’d be lucky to find anyone outside larger towns who can speak English confidentially. And forget about it if you have an accent other than very standard British or American.

Europeans in general appreciate the small things in life much more than Americans. Like everyone has already said, try and relax and take it all in, rather than rush from place to place trying to cram as much as possible into your trip. Have that second glass of wine, or that dessert that looks amazing, or even that afternoon nap after a long lunch. Trust me, you remember those moments just as fondly as the big ones.

Lyon is pretty great. Depending on the vibe you’re going for, Marseille is also pretty awesome. I’d avoid it in the middle of the summer, but shoulder season down south is amazing. The weather is great, the people are friendly (if you avoid the worst parts of town, like anywhere) and the food is a nice mix of traditional French and Mediterranean cuisine. And make sure to get a flight of Ricard.

As an Anglophone who lives in France, I agree. Although where I live (east / south-east) English is not very widely spoken, even in bigger cities, but the people are generally very friendly.

Guitar pedals. My collection is fairly modest (20-30 pedals) but I have some neat pieces, like a couple Japanese Boss pedals from the 80’s. They are functional so I don’t feel like it’s a waste of space per se. Also they look cool, so there’s that.

Hmm. C’est peut-être anecdotique, mais mon expérience en France a été tout à fait contraire. Presque personne parle pas une autre langue que le français, et si c’est le cas, c’est l’anglais. Souvent, je pose des questions sur le patois local (savoyard) personne n’y connaît rien. C’est triste. La Savoie fait partie de la France depuis 170 ans, mais malheureusement la culture unique s’est diluée. J’ai le sentiment que quelque chose unique est perdu lorsqu’une langue se perd dans le temps. Je crois ce que l’anglais fait au monde, le français l’a déjà fait à la France. Je pense que nos positions différentes sur ce sujet sont une question de perspective, c’est sûr.

C’est clair. Il y a beaucoup de choses que je préfère dans ma vie ici (par exemple la nourriture, mode de vie, etc.), mais je crois qu’on peut pas juger des autres pour leur ignorance. Si on fait ça, on est pas meilleur.

Merci pour ta généralisation. Je suis Canadien (pas Québécois) et j’habite en France avec ma femme française. En fait où je vis (Haute-Savoie), très peu de gens parlent anglais. J’étudie beaucoup chaque jour en français pour pouvoir me faire des amis et vivre une bonne vie ici.

Nous sommes pas tous pareils.

Eh? My wife flew from the PNW to France with our cat when we moved. She gave her half a dose of the veterinarian prescribed knockout juice and she was completely fine. Of course, she wasn’t in the hold, but still.

Mildly on topic: I recently moved to France from Canada, I’m not an EU citizen, and google isn’t really sure if I’m on vacation or if I’ve moved permanently.

Every single website now asks me about cookie settings. Most have a reject all button, but occasionally I have to manually uncheck some sliders to protect my data. Time well spent.

My parents back in Canada always think it’s some voodoo magic when Facebook shows them ads about stuff they’ve recently been 'talking about (AKA searching on Google.) Duhhh. Thanks EU!